0:00  


1:30  
All right, well, I would love to go ahead and get started. We have a really wonderful webinar for you. And I just want to run through a couple of housekeeping items before we kick it over to Austin. My name is Abby and I am part of the team over at Neon One. If you're not familiar with us, we are a nonprofit platform that has all kinds of tools and services that help nonprofits be more efficient and effective fundraisers. I'm especially excited about today's topic, because we just had our newest release, which is me on websites. And that's a website design platform that will help you accomplish everything Austin is going to talk about today. So if you are a neon websites user, you will be able to do anything Austin talks about today in that product. And if you aren't any on websites user, I am still thrilled you're here, everything you're going to learn is applicable to you as well. So I hope you all get some very cool takeaways out of this. Just a couple of little things, I do encourage you to ask questions. We want this to be very useful to you and your organization. But I wanted to call out the best way to make sure we see your question is to drop it in the q&a box and not the chat. The chat can move really fast. And having it in the q&a section will make it much easy for us to find and answer your questions. That said, please avail yourself of the chat box. I love seeing you all interact with each other and kind of getting a feel for what you're doing with your own websites. And then because it is a popular question, every time we have a webinar, I promise, we are recording this, you'll get a link to the recording and an email tomorrow morning. We'll also include Austin's slides and any references or related materials that that touch on the same topic. So that is all you have to hear me talk about. I am thrilled to turn it over to Austin from pixel lighthouse, and I cannot wait for y'all to see the presentation he has prepared for you.

3:35  
Really, so I will

3:39  
move over our screen.

3:44  
Anybody see a slide? Yeah.

3:47  
Cool. Okay.

3:50  
Well, as Abby so graciously introduced our topic. For the next 40 minutes or so, I'm going to walk you through some of the things that I've learned that are most effective for creating community, as well as inspiring action on your nonprofits website.

4:09  
And one thing that I wanted to call out right from the get go, you know, the elephant in the room, is that I recognize that your organization's website probably isn't what you like to work on for fun. What I've found when speaking with nonprofit staff members, is that the website is kind of seen as this necessary evil, that we just have to struggle against it. And there's this overwhelming sense of gloom and doom. When it comes time to do something like add a new page or swap out the photos on your website.

4:43  
And I just want to say you know that I totally absolutely 100% get it. I know I see you.

4:51  
But I have good news. It doesn't have to be this way. And so the way that I like to think about it is that your website is a tool

5:00  
But you have to use that tool in the correct way if you want to see results. So with this webinar, I'm going to make this topic as actionable and practical as possible, so that you can get more people taking action when they come to check you out online.

5:19  
So you're probably wondering who is this presentation for? This webinar is perfect for you if you've experienced any of the following.

5:30  
Number one, your nonprofit has a website that is certainly functional, but you wouldn't call it thriving. So it's online, it works. But you know, there's probably something more you could do to better connect with your community.

5:46  
Number two, you made updates to the website before it trying to better appeal to your various audiences. But it's unclear if any of those changes are actually working. You know, it can sometimes feel like you're in this Twilight Zone, you're rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, with no real impact on the way that visitors experience your organization online.

6:12  
Number three, you may also feel uncertain about how you can tell your story in a way that feels at once authentic, but also keeps things informative. Storytelling is this kind of like superpower that we all agree is essential. But it isn't necessarily easy to translate that into something more tangible, like your website.

6:34  
And then finally, number four, you are intrigued by the idea of using your nonprofits website as a tool that you can leverage to build deeper relationships. And so if any of these describe your situation, then this webinar will be useful to you.

6:53  
Now, an honest question to ask is, why should we care about our website in the first place? You know, websites are just so ubiquitous, that we can often just take them for granted is something that you're supposed to have.

7:07  
But there are several reasons for why you need a website, and why it needs to provide that strong experience.

7:15  
So the thing that's important to realize is that your website is the gateway into the larger picture of your work, is the first stop where someone's gonna go, whenever they want to learn about what you do. Like, you know, there's this moment where someone's interest in your nonprofit for sparks. So they may not know much about you, they may know a little bit, but they're intrigued, you know, they want to learn more.

7:42  
And so maybe they heard about you from a friend, or maybe they saw one of your posts on social media.

7:49  
And so the first thing that they're going to do is either search for you on Google, and the first time they're going to use your website, or they're going to click through from your social media, also to your website.

8:01  
And it's precisely that initial encounter that can set the tone for the rest of your interactions online. So, you know, when someone new comes to organization's website, we need to ask ourselves, are we providing the kind of experience that makes people want to stick around.

8:18  
And these decisions happen lightning fast. Research shows, it only takes 50 milliseconds for visitors to form an opinion about you based on just your website.

8:29  
And if that impression leaves them feeling confused or overwhelmed. Your website is just going to feel like work. Like it's too much trouble to read and maybe not worth the effort.

8:41  
And the truth is that most websites do feel like work for visitors. And so if your website feels that way, then that's when the visitor will hit the back button. And maybe they'll return later. But you'll still have to overcome that first problematic impression, making it harder than has to be.

9:00  
And so the real power of your website is that it's an experience that you have total control over, you decide to lay out the overall structure, you choose the imagery, and you set the tone for the messaging. And so with the right approach, which we're going to cover in this presentation, you can craft that first impression to be a favorable one that sort of like rolls out the red carpet for your visitors and invites them to become more invested in your mission, and really to go a little bit deeper in the relationship with you.

9:37  
So to kick start the conversation, I want to begin with a short quiz, where I'm going to ask the question and give a little explanation. And then if you could type into the chat, what you think the answer is, and then later on, we're going to answer the same questions in depth as we cover the top nonprofit website best practices.

9:59  
So

10:00  
prompt number one is, what's the first question a new person asks when they arrive on your nonprofits website?

10:12  
We'll give everybody a couple seconds here. And then we're gonna go to the next question.

10:18  
But what's the first question a new visitor asks, when they come to your website, they click on a link, load up your homepage, you know, what are they gonna ask themselves first?

10:30  
Okay, what's, what's in it for me? What do you do?

10:34  
What's, uh, what do you do is where do I find something?

10:39  
What's the focus?

10:41  
Perfect? Yes. Okay. These are all absolutely things that people ask when they first come to the website.

10:48  
So that's our question number one.

10:51  
Our second question is, how do you build connection with your organization's website?

11:00  
And so I'm gonna take a little sip here.

11:06  
But how do you build connection online? You know, how do you reach to the screen and get people to care about the information that you're presenting?

11:16  
Am I in the right place? Tell stories. visuals, storytelling? Photos?

11:25  
Yeah, these these are all really, really good. Absolutely.

11:29  
Yeah. Okay. Well, that is our second question. And our third and final pop quiz question

11:35  
is, how do you inspire action on your nonprofits website?

11:41  
So how do you prompt somebody that they don't just bounce off your site, but they actually do something meaningful? When they come to check you out online?

11:51  
Make it easy.

11:54  
Tell how somebody can make a difference.

11:57  
Invite to event or post online, make them the hero.

12:03  
Okay, these are all yeah, really, really good. And these are all absolutely a part of the equation. It we're going to talk about these little bit more later. But these are our three questions for the day.

12:14  
In my promise to you, oh, nonprofit leader is that by the end of this session, you're going to have the exact answer to these questions, along with actionable steps for how you can implement things on your own organization's website.

12:34  
And to lay my cards on the table here, you know, I don't know if you're like me. But these were exactly the types of questions that I struggled with when I first started getting into the web development space about a decade ago.

12:50  
And it's one of those things where it matters. Because if my job as a software developer is to create you a website that gets results gets visitors taking action. But that begs the question, you know, like, how do you do it? Like, what's the secret.

13:07  
And I think what a lot of web developers don't understand is that what makes a website resonate is not the perfect feature or snippet of code that you can just copy and paste.

13:20  
You know, just creating a website is relatively easy to do. You could spend one up in an hour or two if you really wanted. But creating a website that gets people to pick up and pay attention and actually care about the information you're presenting. You know, that is far more important than just having a website where somebody can see your logo, and read your mission statement.

13:46  
So for those who aren't familiar with me, my name is Austin Haddix. And I run a web agency called pixel lighthouse, and a pixel lighthouse. We help nonprofits that are ready to grow, create brands and websites that take visitors on a journey. And these are a couple of pictures of me and my wife, and she's also my business partner, her name is Andrea. And she oversees the creative portion of our projects.

14:11  
And it was really when we started working closer together, like when my left brain approach met her right brain perspective, that everything started to click about how to create websites that resonate.

14:25  
And so through my work with pixel lighthouse, I've had the opportunity to analyze over 200 nonprofit websites. Some of those websites were good, many were not so great. But after looking at just so many different ways to present an organization's work in a compelling way, I've identified several common patterns that maximize engagement. And I can guarantee that some of the organizations on this call are likely missing some of these foundational pieces on their own websites.

14:54  
So, that is our goal for today is to answer a previous three questions and get

15:00  
Use some actual tactics to take your organization's website to the next level.

15:06  
So that brings us to our first best practice, which is to orient your visitors as soon as possible when they come to your organization's website.

15:18  
And when we say orient your visitors, we mean that you start off the experience by stating your nonprofits, big idea.

15:28  
And so, I'm a big reader. And I like to think of the first heading that appears on your nonprofits website, as like, it's the title to your organization's book.

15:39  
So if you're at your local bookstore, you're just browsing around, looking at the spines of books to see which ones to investigate, you're going to place a lot of emphasis on the title of that book as you're scanning around. So if you care about being productive, then a book called Getting Things Done would probably catch your attention.

16:02  
But if you're more interested in learning new European cooking techniques, then a book titled Mastering the Art of French Cooking, would probably make you stop and want to pick it up.

16:13  
In the same way, you want to present that hook to visitors so that they can know what to expect, you know, the moment when someone first comes to your website can be a little confusing, especially initially.

16:26  
And you want to give visitors an idea of what you're all about.

16:30  
And so you do that with a short and clear overview of what your nonprofit does, front and center up the top of your homepage.

16:42  
So I think examples are always helpful. And so here's one nonprofit website, I found that does a great job of stating their big idea at the top of their homepage. So this organization is sitting here. And the first thing you see is help students become who they'll be tomorrow. So right off the bat, they're connecting the dots for visitors, and giving you just enough information so that you can orient yourself, and know what kind of website that you're about to step into.

17:14  
Here's another example from Donors Choose, they've got a couple of other things going on here. But the first bit of text that you're likely to read is their main goal, which is support a classroom and build a future. So you immediately know what to expect if you keep reading on.

17:32  
And one note here that I just wanted to call out. So this is not the organization's mission statement. You know, this is something that's closer to your elevator pitch, something that you could actually say, using pretty plain language, you know, it's not your mission or vision statement, which is usually a little bit more verbose and complex, a little bit more involved for somebody to wrap their head around. So keeping things straight into the point here, really is the goal.

18:03  
As you probably guessed, the first question when visitors come to your website, is, where am I? So what what am I looking at? What is this website? Or what is this organization all about? Does this sound interesting to me? And should I keep reading, you know, it's all about the initial impression. And you want to speak to that as quickly as you can.

18:28  
So here are a couple good rules of thumb that you can use when you're writing your big idea. You want to ask yourself, Does it use plain language? You know, is it something that you could say, in real life, when somebody asked what you do?

18:44  
Number two is, is it to the point? You know, is it something that's quick and simple, and relatively easy to read?

18:51  
Number three, does it describe what we're working toward? You know, does it focus on the tangible result or the outcome of your work?

19:00  
And then number four, is does it specifically call out the who the What the Why, or the where, or all the above. So you're making sure to insert some aspect of specifics regarding your work.

19:16  
Here's just one more example just for good measure. This is nourish California. And they recently went through an amazing rebrand. And the main headline states the outcome of their work. So everyone in California should have enough to eat. So they're taking a stance and it's their central idea that kind of undergirds everything that they do.

19:39  
And we've got the who, which is everyone in California, as well as the what, so have enough to eat. And so this is a really great introduction into the rest of their work.

19:54  
So that's our Best practice number one for today, is to orient your visitors with your big

20:00  
idea and put it at the top of your homepage so that visitors can know what to expect.

20:08  
Tactic number two is to get your visitors where they need to go when they come to your organization's website.

20:18  
So, it shouldn't surprise anybody. But the fact is that visitors came to your website so that they could do something, you know, they didn't just stumble there by accident, they're not trying to kill 30 minutes, because they have nothing better to do. But they want to accomplish something. And we need to make sure we're helping them get to where they need to be.

20:39  
One approach that's really effective for this is to add a new section containing your audience paths. So as you can see from this screenshot, this would be a section that divides up your major website audiences into two, three or four major buckets. And then it lets your visitors very quickly and easily self identify and jump straight to the page that's most relevant to them.

21:06  
And so what we're looking at here is this website's three main audiences, we've got program participants, donors, and potential partners. And this section contains information for each group, as well as a link to the appropriate page on the site. So program participants get sent to the application page, donors get sent to the donate page, and partners get sent to the comma partner page.

21:33  
So a new section, similar to this, it would go in strategic areas of your site, like your homepage, or get involved page.

21:45  
And the reason this is so effective, is that nonprofit websites are kind of like those nesting dolls. So there, there are websites, within websites within websites.

21:55  
And different areas of your site are created to speak to different audiences. So it's of paramount importance that you point people to the right place quickly, so that they can find the content that's relevant to their situation. You know, something that I like to keep in mind is that nobody reads a website, front to back. And when you offer a little guidance, it really does go a long way.

22:26  
So here are a couple of other examples is the same idea across different nonprofit websites. And you can see that it's all working to send visitors exactly where they need to go as directly as possible. So whether they be donors, volunteers, students, learners, teachers, parents, you know, everybody kind of has somewhere that they can be sent.

22:50  
In this new section doesn't have to adhere to a specific format necessarily.

22:55  
But in general, there are a few helpful guidelines. Number one, you want to try to keep the number of groups relatively contained, if possible. So three or four buckets are best if you can manage it. But that may not be realistic, just depending on who makes up your community.

23:15  
Number two is to try to incorporate some kind of icon or image along with each audience. And that does a number of things adds a little bit more visual interest makes things easier to scan also makes things feel a little bit more inviting.

23:32  
Number three is to identify each group. So you're you say explicitly, you know, if you're a potential partner, click here. Or if you're interested in our programs, go here. And keeping it as specific as possible is really the key.

23:48  
And then number four is to make sure you're picking a page that's relevant to that audience, you know, make sure that you're sending visitors somewhere that is going to help move them closer to either wanting to work with or otherwise support your organization in some way.

24:06  
So the big takeaway here with this tactic, is that for your visitors to actually use your website, you have to think about the journey they need to take as they navigate around. And if you want to help visitors get from point A to point B, then inserting several reminders, such as a section with quick links for your major audiences will make a big difference.

24:32  
Our next best practice is about making sure you're covering the problem. So really the issues that your organization exists to address.

24:42  
And this is one that may sound obvious, but it's consistently one of the things that I find missing most often from nonprofit websites, especially on the homepage.

24:55  
And when we say talk about the problem, it's really about communicating the other side

25:00  
out of the equation.

25:02  
Most nonprofits do a great job of describing themselves, you know, they, they talk about their work, their history, their team, the better future that they're working toward. And that's, that all makes sense, that's all very essential new visitors came to your website to learn about your organization. So you want to give them that information.

25:22  
But it opens up this storytelling gap, you know, where strong storytelling is all about contrast. So most good movies and books have this story structure where there's some kind of opening, and then a problem happens. And then the solution occurs. And so the the shift happens, as the story progresses from low point to high point, low point back up to a point again,

25:50  
and is that kind of dynamism that draws people in and keeps them invested, so that they want to learn more, you know, sort of the get to the end of the book, or the you know, the movie.

26:00  
And, you know, I could tell you that Pride and Prejudice is a story about two people falling in love.

26:09  
And on the surface, that's true, but it isn't particularly interesting.

26:14  
It you know, it doesn't really make you care about the book.

26:18  
But if I told you the ups and downs of Elizabeth rebukes Mr. Darcy, and other people cast doubt on Mr. Darcy's character, you know, it starts to create depth, there's a little bit more substance to it. And even if you're not a reader, it sounds a heck of a lot more interesting than just a story about two people falling in love.

26:41  
And your websites the same way, you know, the end goal, the better future, that's important. But you have to set the scene first by describing the problem.

26:53  
It's about knowing what's at stake. And really, you know, what life would be like if your nonprofit never existed, you know, and one thought that kind of puts it into perspective is that it's only when we understand the problems that we're facing, that we can become invested in organizations who are working towards a better outcome.

27:16  
And so here's one example of the problem from safe and sober, an organization that's working against substance misuse. So on the left in the purple area, we can see an overview of what they're grappling against, with some to some statistics. So 42% increase in opioid overdoses, over 10,000 deaths from drunk driving in 2019. And then they juxtapose that with the right side, where they're introducing their solution, which is what they're all about.

27:49  
And I think this is a great example of just how much more impactful the information on the right becomes, because it's contrasted with the problem on the left. You know, they could just say, substance misuse is a problem. And we're delivering a solution without sharing anything about the problem.

28:07  
But I think you'd agree that it would be leaving out a lot of helpful information that helps us understand why we need an organization such as theirs, and why we can't just ignore the problem.

28:20  
And what you're doing with an approach like this, is you're really creating a narrative where if the problem appears, you know, on your homepage, it might look like this. So big idea up at the top, and then the problem right below that. And then somewhere below would be your solution, which is your organization.

28:38  
And if we had to visualize it, it's like there's this curve or shape to which your messaging flows.

28:46  
And it's a curve that keeps people moving down the page. So you read the big idea. And it makes you intrigued. Like, this sounds interesting. I want to know more. And then they read the problem. And the reader is again nodding their heads, you know, they're thinking like, okay, yes, these are clearly problems in our community that need to be addressed. I agree. And then that makes them want to know the next step, which is the solution, you know, we have a problem, how are we going to solve? So they think, Okay, this organization is working to fix x, y, and z. Now, I understand how they fit in the big picture. And you know, why somebody would want to get involved with them. So it's helping your visitors know, kind of the why behind your work.

29:33  
I think there are a lot of reasons why this section is often missing from nonprofit websites. Number one, I think we can sometimes feel like we're coming across as too negative. You know, we don't want to be the ones that only focus on the things we wish weren't true.

29:47  
But I think the thing to keep in mind is that we're helping get everybody on the same page. You know, we still have the positive elements surrounding your work on your website. But talking about the problem

30:00  
helps ground your work in reality that needs it. You know, it's the context for why you're doing anything in the first place.

30:08  
The second major reason I think it's often overlooked as a messaging point is that sometimes, you know, we feel like these problems are just so obvious that we don't have to bring attention to them.

30:20  
And they may be very obvious, depending on your mission. But I would still say that 100% of your community probably doesn't understand 100% of the problem. And sometimes stating those things that we just assume that everybody knows, can help fill in the gaps for people. And it can also serve as a reminder for something that's just been so ever present, that it might have even become background noise for certain groups, you know, you're you're shining the light where there might be darkness.

30:51  
And it's also a confirmation for your readers that your work is tackling these things. There's no room for misunderstanding, that if you care about fixing these problems, then that's exactly what we're working toward. It's just like this additional layer of clarity that you wouldn't have otherwise.

31:11  
And so this is an organization that takes a slightly different approach compared to a safe and sober to stating the problem.

31:17  
So rather than showing statistics, they highlight the problems they're tackling in regular text. So single mothers and other women in need, they risk not being able to go to work, take their kids to school, or get to medical appointments. So it helps you understand why, why do we need an organization that's meeting the transportation needs of mothers and other women in need.

31:44  
So, tactic number three is all about providing clarity surrounding the problems that you're tackling, it's getting specific about the issues that we're currently facing, that we want to address.

31:55  
And by highlighting those aspects, we create a storytelling narrative within our website, that gets everybody on the same page, and really makes people want to keep reading.

32:10  
So our fourth, best practice is all about keeping things human.

32:16  
So we all know that it's really easy to come across as cold or impersonal online. And there are just so many websites out there, they really feel like there's no heart behind it. And the last thing that we want to do is lose that human element, which would push people away. So how do we keep things human online?

32:40  
One of the best ways to do that is by keeping people front and center in your website, photography. So showing real people and authentic feelings situations, that shows a different layer of emotion than what you can get from just text alone.

33:00  
And I think we all know this intuitively, every organization thrives due to the people that make up your community, and your leadership and your staff.

33:09  
But if you want to form that connection with your visitors, you have to highlight people, so that you can have that three dimensional human feel.

33:21  
But when I make this suggestion to nonprofits, I do often receive one of two primary concerns.

33:28  
The first is that we don't have any photos of our own. And that can be due to many factors. One common one is that your mission involves people who may not be able to provide consent, or otherwise they need to remain confidential. And that's totally fine. There are still a lot of options open to you either way.

33:49  
I think something many people don't realize. And I also didn't for the longest time

33:55  
is it stock photography has become really good over the past couple of years. And you can find a lot of strong images that still feel authentic.

34:05  
And you know, the way I like to think about it, is there's kind of like this stock photos scale, where some photos over here feel really fake, like a bunch of people shaking hands over a conference table, versus something that feels much more real, like you know, a real live person showing emotion and doing something meaningful.

34:28  
And so some good places that you can find strong stock photography are pixels. Unsplash is another good source. Freepik is one that we use pretty frequently. And Pixabay is something we haven't used, but we've heard really good things about.

34:42  
And so we use stock photos from these websites in virtually every project that we work on. And it does. It's one of those things, it takes a little bit more time to source those images. But once you have them, you know you can use them again and again on your website and your social media and anywhere else that you might need them.

35:00  
Okay.

35:01  
So that was the first concern that a nonprofit doesn't have photos of their own.

35:08  
The second concern is if your mission doesn't explicitly center on people, so think environmental organizations, or animal focused nonprofits.

35:20  
And that concern makes a lot of sense. You know, if your work is more about something that's not people specific, then your photography should probably also not be people specific. And I broadly agree with that. But I would push back, that humans should still play a not insignificant role in your photography.

35:40  
And so you can see a few examples of some organizations like that here on the slide. And what they've done is they've strategically incorporated people into their photos, without losing sight of their mission. And, you know, I think that even just from these images, you can see how much more emotion you're able to inspire when it's done. Well. You know, these organizations don't work with humans. But by including humans in key areas, it makes their message message feel a little bit more impactful.

36:14  
The reason it's so important to lean on the human element is that we evolved to react to read other people's expressions. You know, when we see other people, it activates our empathy neurons. And it didn't instinctively makes us lean for it or see it a little bit more. You know,

36:32  
human connection is something that we're always craving. And incorporating people in your photos makes things feel more real and concrete. It makes things feel a bit more vivid, like there's more depth there. And it really adds a lot of life to what could otherwise just be considered a bunch of texts with colors, which is your website.

36:54  
So we want to have people in our imagery. But what else do we need to know about our photos? Well, your imagery is an excellent way to highlight members of your community, to incorporate some diversity, and then to also show your personality. And also, I would say, wherever possible, it's really good practice to show the outcome of your work. So what does our community look like after you clean the streets? What are people's expressions, like? What kind of life is someone able to live after you help them secure affordable housing, you know, your photography is a really great place to paint that picture for what a better future looks like, if your nonprofit flourishes.

37:39  
So I'm not gonna belabor the point too much. But the same is true for your stories and testimonials. And so if you can get them, you know, having a photo a person, instantly lanceton air of authenticity and emotion to a story. You know, it's like being able to put a face to a name, put a face to somebody's words, experiences, like a story on your site.

38:04  
So to summarize, tactic number four, if you want to come across as human on your website, make sure your photos feature people, and they don't feel too stock photo, we, you know, show some outcomes, highlight diversity, reveal your personality.

38:21  
And you want to maintain that emotional connection with visitors so that readers experience empathy alongside the words you're using.

38:32  
And then our last tactic of this talk, which I think is also the most misunderstood, is to always present a next step.

38:44  
And as a general rule of thumb, you know, something that I like to keep in mind when I'm working on a new nonprofit website project is that nonprofit websites are all about maintaining momentum in motion. And what I mean by that, is, it's really easy for visitors to get tripped up as you navigate around your website. And you want to keep people moving by always giving them a next suggested action to take.

39:15  
And the reason that that's so important, is it figuring out that next step is frequently really hard for your visitors. You know, it's kind of like this analysis paralysis, where after somebody goes to or they read your about page, it probably isn't totally clear where they should go next, you know, should they go read your blog? Should they join your newsletter? Would it be better if they went back to your homepage and dug into some other aspect of your work?

39:44  
And when you have 100 options for what somebody could do that all seem equally valid, that's when your visitors can start to feel overwhelmed. And that's the moment when they just decide to leave

39:57  
it just to be clear here, you know

40:00  
We aren't, we're not talking about anything big, like something relatively simple like a headline, a button, and maybe an image can get you pretty far. We just want to make sure that we're reminding visitors of what we would like them to do.

40:16  
But even that is a tricky place to be. Because there are likely dozens of pages on your website. And so how do you select what should go on each page? You know, how do you pick the right next step?

40:31  
Well, the first thing to do is to create a list of all the next actions you'd like visitors to take when they come to your organization's website. So whether that be subscribe to your newsletter, submit a form, contact somebody, call a number, read about your programs, donate, you know, it could be a lot of things.

40:51  
But you should create that list. So that you know all the ways you'd like visitors interact with your organization, once they're on your website.

41:01  
And then step number two, is to put all these actions together, and sort them into buckets, according to each of your audience groups. So for your program participants, you might want them to view your programs, read your resources, and submit an application form about your donors, you know, they're slightly different. Or you might want them to subscribe to your newsletter, also read about your programs, and obviously donate. So it's about getting clear on who should do what.

41:34  
And then the third step, is you want to take an inventory of each of your website pages. And this includes all of your pages, because it's good practice to always have a next step regardless of where somebody is on the website. But if you have limited time, you could just stick to say the top 10 most visited pages.

41:53  
And so for each of these pages, you want to get really clear about that pages purpose, you know, what are we trying to do here? Who are we speaking to, and then what would be a good next step for the readers based on what they just read.

42:10  
And then the last step is to just add it to the page. And I would also say you want to make it as blindingly obvious as you can. So if it's a short page, then add the action as a new section, right above your footer. So could be subscribed our newsletter, check out our programs, right about your footer.

42:33  
And then if it's a longer page, you would still add it above the footer, but then also somewhere in the middle.

42:41  
And I would also say don't worry about repeating yourself here. You know, you're not going to annoy anybody. But you do want to make it obvious, because the more obvious you make it, the more likely it'll be for somebody to actually do it.

43:00  
And so here's a couple of examples from other nonprofit websites that all have different next steps listed. And, as you can see, there's a lot of ways to present this information. But all of these sections are all driving that same result of directing visitors to do something new.

43:21  
And so that is our final tactic, always offer a next step on your pages. Definitely include one on all of your most visited pages. But if you can manage it, then adding a next step to all your pages across the site will drastically increase the number of actions your visitors take.

43:41  
So just a quick recap, all five of our best practices from today. Number one is to orient your visitors by stating your big idea upfront on your homepage. Number two, is to prompt your visitors to where they need to go on your site with a new section that takes your major audiences and directs them to the appropriate page.

44:05  
Number three is to state the problem so that your visitors understand why we need a solution.

44:14  
Number four is to keep things human and maintain connection by featuring people in your website photos.

44:21  
And number five is to always prompt visitors with a next action, regardless of where they are on your website.

44:31  
It's a so those were our five major tactics. Here's where we bring it all together.

44:38  
So now you know what's the first question a new person asks when they arrive on your nonprofits website.

44:48  
The answer is

44:51  
what's your big idea? What is this website all about? And that's really important for helping visitors orient themselves and decide

45:00  
If they want to keep reading,

45:03  
we also learned

45:06  
how to build connection with your website visitors.

45:10  
We do that by keeping things human focused using strong photography that connects with our mission and shows the emotional human element.

45:22  
We also know

45:25  
how do you inspire action on your nonprofits website.

45:30  
The way we do that is to direct visitors to where they want to go. And then actually prompting them to take action. And having those reminders in place, helps your visitors maintain the momentum, and not get overwhelmed when they come to check you out online.

45:49  
And these concepts are far and away the most common issues that I've seen across hundreds of nonprofit websites. And I'm confident that if you fix them on your own website, you would experience more people taking interest in action.

46:05  
And so that's all I got for today. But before we move into questions, I did want to throw out where everybody can find me online. The first way is you can always add me on LinkedIn. And each week, I share three actionable piece of content just like this on how to improve your nonprofits website and brand. So if you'd like more quick tips on nonprofit website, best practices, definitely add me there.

46:30  
And if you're looking for another quick boost, I've also put together a framework for what to include on your nonprofits homepage. And it's a free resource. And you can access that resource by going to pixel lighthouse.com/home.

46:47  
And with that, our journey comes to a close. So if anybody has any questions

46:54  
I'd love to hear. Yeah, we have a fair few.

46:57  
I can't figure out why mymy screen won't work. But we have some really interesting questions. One, I'm interested in hearing, as Christine asked, if you're suggesting adding an action step to every page on a website, is there ever a page that you don't want to include additional action steps?

47:18  
That's a good question. Yeah, I would say I have never come across a page that I thought should not have a next step. So I think

47:29  
it's also a good idea to kind of have like, maybe just a general catch all. So that could be subscribed to your newsletter, or something that's kind of like your default, if there's not always just a clear next action for that page. And so for your blog, blog articles, for example, that might be a good use case there. But I would say that every time you have a page, it's just sort of sort of culminate in something, where there's a suggestion there where,

47:55  
you know, you've interacted with us in some way, you've seen some of our content. And here's the next logical step that you might want to do, whether that be subscribed or newsletter or some other action.

48:07  
That's really helpful. And I like that you call it out, there are specific actions that are not necessarily related to giving. I think that's really valuable advice. So one question, I'd love to hear some additional thoughts on, I think he may have touched it on it. But someone asked how do you know if your website actually feels like work to your visitors? What steps can you take to identify that?

48:33  
That's a really good question.

48:36  
So I'd say

48:39  
one, one really good

48:43  
kind of canary in the coal mine tool that you could have is your if you look at your analytics, so looking at the data to see how your visitors are navigating around your website, and what they're interacting with what they're not interacting with.

48:59  
And especially looking at things like your bounce rate is a really big one.

49:04  
Things like your your time on page. So how much on average? How much time are people spending on your homepage? Are they come to your homepage and just leaving? Where are they coming to your homepage and typically going to your about page and somewhere else? And then also like looking at the exit pages? Where are the exit pages are those pages that are kind of like a dead end for your community for your visitors. So

49:29  
if there's like a page, that's kind of obviously a choke point, like, that's kind of weird, a lot of people are getting to our about page and then leaving. And that's also kind of like a signal where you can dig in a little bit deeper. And you can say, maybe there's a problem on our about page that we might want to adjust and maybe make some changes to see if we can get people maybe going somewhere else afterward.

49:50  
That makes a ton of sense. Do you prefer to track that by like Google Analytics or do you prefer another? Another tracking platform?

50:00  
I like Google Analytics because it's free.

50:04  
And I'm less familiar with other platforms. I know, I think Phantom is one that

50:10  
I've heard some nonprofits enjoy. But Google Analytics is good, it's free, and it works out of the box. So it's usually a pretty cost effective solution. And it gives you a lot of information like way more information than you'd ever want to know.

50:25  
Yeah, I know, all of those reporting pieces can be very helpful once you've parsed through all of the statistics. Um, I got an interesting question from Kathleen, who asked, what's the alternative to highlighting a problem when you are in arts organization? So if you have a mission that's not necessarily oriented towards like solving hunger or anything water or solving homelessness? What do you do if you don't necessarily have a problem to highlight?

50:58  
That's a really good question. Yeah, I would say, there's still kind of the,

51:05  
the problem of like, potential. So you know, like, we need arts so that people can reach their potential, they can explore these new areas, and maybe develop these connections, linkages, that they wouldn't otherwise. I think, also like,

51:23  
depending on kind of the direction that your arts organization takes things like,

51:29  
you know, just growth and development and being able to

51:34  
be, you know, a little bit more.

51:38  
And I think that can be a good way to kind of what you're trying to do is really just set the stage for your organization. So, you know, we're working to rectify these things, because there isn't enough arts education in our community. And we know that it can lead to these great outcomes, but we're not able to see those great outcomes, because we don't have this kind of focus that we should. So really just any sort of way to frame it so that it's clear, you know, why do does the world need an organization such as yours?

52:12  
Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. And I love it, someone called out in the chat and like how horrible is a world without art. So that in and of itself is a problem that you may be able to solve if you work for an arts organization.

52:24  
That's very helpful. So I have kind of related to the same thing. We know when someone lands on your homepage, they will be asking, Who are you? What do you do?

52:34  
Would you recommend highlighting special events and like urgent needs on the homepage? Or would you rather keep the homepage much more high level and mission oriented?

52:46  
I think there's a little bit of a space for both.

52:50  
In general, you do want to keep it a little higher level, since the homepage is meant to speak to all of your different communities. And I see the homepage is kind of this clearing house where we're trying to get people to the part of the website that's really relevant to what they're looking for the homepage is sort of like the,

53:08  
you know, the menu where you can kind of see all the things that are going on.

53:13  
But

53:15  
one good area for like timely announcements or things that are important to get the word out on is I think having a little bar at the top of your website. So it's kind of like above your logo above your primary navigation menu. So I call that the utility bar. But that's a really good place to have kind of a message. That's just a reminder of like, Hey, this is going on,

53:40  
click here, you know, the single line of text to tell you about it, and then click here to go to the longer page that has all the information that actually pertains to this. And I think that's a really effective way to still get the word out on important things. But it doesn't,

53:56  
doesn't make the homepage so busy and confusing for new people who maybe, you know, they might need to know, the broader strokes before they're ready to learn more about your COVID policy, for example.

54:08  
True, that's very, very good advice. And I know we talked a little bit about measuring your homepages effectiveness, making sure that there are ample opportunities for people to engage with you on your website. And that's why I'm interested in Randy's question about moving from the current Google Analytics Suite to moving to GA four.

54:31  
Well, moving to GA for change the metrics that nonprofits need to look at

54:39  
when they're gauging their their websites, I guess efficiency, how would you approach that?

54:46  
Yeah, so

54:49  
full disclosure, I am very familiar with the old Google Analytics and I just started to scratch the surface for GA four

54:57  
but my understanding

55:00  
Is that the data collected is still the same. So the name might be slightly different. But it's meant to collect the same information, just kind of present it a different way. And also maybe collect like even more information. So it's kind of like the original Google Analytics, but more packed with information that you don't necessarily have to configure. It just kind of works out of the box. And it's supposed to collect all this stuff at the same time. So things like exit pages. I don't know if it's still called that in GA four. But they are still

55:37  
measuring that and things like bounce rate, and time on page as well. I would be surprised if there wasn't some kind of equivalent there. 

55:44  
Okay, very cool. Randy, you are in good company, I think all of us are, are starting just to wrap our heads around you for and how that's going to change the way we evaluate our website. So really appreciate you bring up that question. It's very timely, um, do you have any kind of benchmark around what you consider to be a good bounce rate and a good time spent on page that people can start using to work toward?

56:11  
Yeah, it's, it's gonna vary a little bit, just depending on your organization. And also things like, how much traffic you're receiving. But I think

56:23  
somewhere around like, for your bounce rate, I think somewhere around 65, to 70%, if it's higher than that, that's a little bit alarm bells, where

56:36  
you want to whenever somebody bounces, it means that they just view a single page, and then they leave. And that can indicate that that page, they left it was kind of not relevant, it's not really what they're looking for. So if it's over 65%, then that's kind of where I'd start taking a closer look.

56:52  
And then time on page. It also really, really depends, I think, a minute is a good amount. But it's also specific as well, like your homepage versus your about page versus your in depth 2000 word blog post, it's going to kind of be all over the map. So but but those are good metrics to to have is kind of a starting point. And then you can say like, I want to improve our homepage, and you can look at those two metrics, and then see, you know, like we made a change, maybe we add a new section, maybe we updated our copy. And then you can compare and see like, Okay, our time on page went up or went down. And that's indicative of making it a little bit more relevant.

57:35  
Awesome, that's very practical and actionable, which I know everyone here is excited about. I have one more question for you. And this actually comes up pretty frequently with a lot of nonprofits. So Emily notes that she has two different audiences on her page, or on her website. One, its donors, it's the nonprofit is a community health clinic. So they have donors who are visiting their page, of course, but they also have patients and they have volunteers. And

58:05  
I think Emily is looking for some guidance on which audiences should you speak to on a homepage, and how do you communicate effectively with different audiences that may be landing on your site?

58:17  
Yeah, yeah, that's really where?

58:21  
It's a really good question, because there is always kind of this tug of war a little bit, because I'm sure your patients are very different than your donors. And maybe they're very different from your volunteers as well.

58:33  
What I try to do is think of the homepage as kind of like the Venn diagram, you know, the circles that overlap, where we have the different audiences that we're trying to reach. So we have our patients and our donors and our volunteers. And then we look in the middle and kind of see, like, what is the crossover there. And then the homepage is really where we're trying to set up the story. So we have a big idea, the problem and the solution. And then we have a few other things, sections that can be more catered to those different audiences and, and what we're trying to do is just kind of peel people away so that they can go to the patient portal, or they can go to the section that's maybe more related to donations. And, and so in that way, you're sort of like structuring things so that whenever people find something that seems relevant to them, like oh, okay, you have a page dedicated to me, or you have something, some events going on that are very relevant to me, then they can go over there. And then that's where you really start to

59:41  
make your copy a little bit more specific, where, you know, we're speaking directly to our volunteers, we're speaking directly to just our patients, and, and then the experience becomes a little bit more impactful and more

59:54  
relevant because you know, they're pulled in a little bit further. 

59:58  
Definitely. Yeah, that's very practical.

1:00:00  
Oh, and I think I think there are a lot of organizations that are facing that kind of variance in audiences. And I think that's really great advice for how to deal with that.

1:00:10  
Okay, it looks like we have gotten through all the questions just in time.

1:00:16  
Austin, thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us. I know websites are a huge deal for a lot of different nonprofits. And I hope everyone here has some cool ideas about how you can, I can update your website and move your community to get involved.

1:00:33  
Just to remind you and to reassure you, you will get an email from me tomorrow morning with a link to this presentation. We've also included some assets in that email that you can use to evaluate your website and start improving it. Definitely check out pixel lighthouses website. They have a ton of great information there. And yeah, let us know if we can do anything. In the meantime, I thank you all for spending your Wednesday afternoon with us, and I will be in touch with you tomorrow.

1:01:05  
All right. Thanks, everybody.

1:01:08  
Thanks, Austin. Yeah, take care.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai