Five signs you need to fix your website

The world of websites is inconstant. One minute, you’ve got the most up-to-date, state-of-the-art website, and the next, it’s out of date. 

It can be difficult to keep track of, especially in the charity sector. Undergoing a website refresh is no easy – or cheap – task, yet failing to regularly analyse your performance and set new goals can mean your organisation falls into a rut. 

Looking after your website should not be an afterthought – people are picky about those they visit and those they dwell on. It takes us 0.05 seconds to form an opinion about a website and nearly nine in ten online consumers said they would not return to a website that gave them a bad experience.  

It is crucial, then, that charities get their site right for both now and the future. Handily, as part of The Successful Charity Website Playbook, Access has compiled a free checklist to guide charities through the process of testing and improving their site’s performance.  

It highlights the importance of setting targets and using those to benchmark your performance. As with anything, goals can change over time – perhaps once the goal was to gain more subscribers on your mailing list. In the future, it could be converting these supporters into donors.  

If your charity’s strategy changes, it makes sense that your website would change with it. It should adapt to the changing needs of your organisation and work in support of your new goals when they arise. 

The playbook lists five key tips on how to accurately assess your website and its performance, outlined below.

Five things to keep your website on track

Your targets have changed

This is where your metrics come to play. A website geared towards helping increase awareness of your brand is good, if that’s your goal, but if it’s volunteers you’re looking to sign up, it may be less effective. Know what your site’s purpose is and restructure as appropriate.

Conversions need improving 

Maybe your site has a lot of visitors, but not a lot of donations coming through as a result. This could be a sign your user journey isn’t working as seamlessly as it should. Time to change it!

Your site no longer caters to your audience 

Ensuring your website is as accessible as possible is essential to make sure everyone can interact with your organisation as and when they would like. Keep track of updates to the World Wide Web Consortium’s accessibility guidelines and listen to feedback from your users to confirm you are meeting their needs.

Your site is lagging behind your competitors 

Access advises keeping an eye on the sites of other organisations in your industry to ensure that your content and web design is as up-to-date and competitive as it should be. Inspiration can strike anywhere, and new ideas can help you reach new audiences too.

Your targets are not being met 

As always, the best way to identify where you’re going wrong is to look at your data. Where are your targets failing? Trial and error doesn’t work without the error part – find out what needs improving and adjust as necessary. 

Of course, these five steps are not the end of the story. Looking after your website is not a one-time job and the work is never done.  

Your site needs to be tended, as if it is your charity’s digital front lawn. It is what people see first when they search for you or your cause, it is what welcomes them to your door or turns them away. 

Following Access’ checklist will help ensure your charity website is as fresh as a daisy and not a late bloomer.