Whether you’re a part of a large or small nonprofit organization in Kansas City, you may be wondering whether or not you need a website in 2019.
Or maybe you know you need one, but you’re not sure why.
Lifted Logic works with nonprofit organizations all over the country (with a focus in our own community of KC) to help guide decisions on what you need and why you need it.
Over the course of nearly 12 years, we’ve evaluated, designed, and built hundreds of nonprofit websites along with thousands of others.
Due to our extensive experience in this niche online sphere, we’ve noticed a lot of trends in the nonprofit sector’s web presence that can either make or break the success of a particular organization.
Read on to learn how a well designed, high functioning website for your nonprofit in Kansas City can dramatically influence your organization and the surrounding community.
8 things your nonprofit website could be missing out on
In our experience, there are eight main things nonprofit websites miss out on by not adequately planning for a local online presence (in no particular order):
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
By optimizing your website for search engines, you can set your website up for success by ensuring it’s easily found when people search for the services or aid you provide to the community.
There are a variety of best practices for optimizing your website for search. Lifted Logic provides hundreds of hours of free education to our community every year regarding SEO and how to make the most of your website using a few key techniques, such as how to use keyphrases, how to earn backlinks, and more.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
It’s not enough to simply be found on the web. Your website should also be designed and written in a way that makes it easy for visitors to reach out to you for any reason. This could include requesting an appointment, requesting a donation, making a donation, volunteering, or just generally contacting you to learn more about what you do.
Do you know how to convert your users at a high percentage? We do. In fact, the websites we build convert between 24 and 56%.
User Experience + User Interface (UX/UI)
Your visitors can’t “convert” into a lead if they have a hard time navigating your site or finding the information they need. They’ll just end up clicking into your website, then clicking right back out. You should always take into account both user experience (functionality) and user interface (design) when designing your new website.
Your visitors will definitely thank you later for making a website that’s attractive and easy to use!
Ongoing Content Creation + Authority Building
Once your website has launched and is out in the world, it’s not enough to just let it “sit.” Your website is a living, breathing, organic tool that can help you continue to generate leads and provide people with the information you need—if you use it correctly.
Your website can become a platform for creating fresh, helpful content for your community (such as how-to guides). This ongoing content creation can help you build authority in your space by providing relevant, useful content that visitors can bookmark and reference back to when they need it.
Measurable Marketing Goals
How do you know how much money to spend on direct mailers, online ads (PPC), social media, or labor hours for blogging? A website, if used correctly, can help you intricately understand the ins and outs of your web visitors’ behaviors and how best to allocate marketing spends. This is because websites can accurately track every detail about a web user’s visit, including where they click, how much time they’ve spent on any given page, how often they leave your site without converting, and more.
Networking Opportunities
Have you ever seen a billboard with a very long URL printed on it? Did you cringe? We know we do. Every. Single. Time.
Establishing a clean, easy-to-remember domain and URL structure can help you reference your site easily when networking or printing other marketing materials.
Functionality Beyond the Web
When appropriate, Lifted Logic can build a variety of functionality into a website. By integrating with a CRM or other third-party app or platform, your website can help you better track contact information, purchases, donations, and more for the convenience of your staff and recipients.
Donations
One of the cornerstones to any nonprofit organization is the ability to accept donations. Ensuring a smooth process for your donors is the easiest way to thank them for their generosity! (Trust us).
Are you a nonprofit in Kansas City?
Reach out to Lifted Logic today and we’ll be happy to discuss all of the opportunities you could be missing out on by not having a well-thought-out web presence in your community.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can improve your website, feel free to schedule a 1-hour free consultation. The experts at Lifted Logic can evaluate your website, educate you on best practices, and help you build a sustainable, long term plan to help your organization achieve its goals.
Becca Stebbin, Lead Content Strategist
Becca was a Content Strategist before it was cool, building SEO best practices into digital marketing strategies for our clients well before it was an industry standard. Her experience at the forefront of digital marketing and SEO serves her well as the intrepid leader of Lifted Logic's Content Department.
