The document discusses considerations for designing an organization's website to serve a variety of visitor types and needs. It suggests the website should provide basic information like location and events as well as convey the organization's mission through engaging visuals and updates to feel welcoming, informative, and easy to navigate for different audiences seeking information, volunteer opportunities, or to learn more. The goal is for the website to act as an accessible introduction and connection point for people drawn to the organization's work.

1. Our Organization’sWebsite
Some thoughts and practices

2. Our site serves as an introduction for many types of visitors
to our organization

3. Regular members checking information

4. Visitors with a range of different interests and needs –
including the following . . .

5. Those drawn to our mission and cause

6. Those looking for a place to volunteer nearby

7. Those wanting to learn more

8. University students looking for a future field of work

9. Those wanting to align with social justice issues

10. Seniors with newly discovered free time

11. In summary – a variety of needs and opportunities to address them
There is no one size fits all approach. We need a variety of offerings
Feel free to

12. Ideally the website mirrors the life of our organization
and can respond to a variety of visitors’ needs –
even if it is their only experience of it.

13. So we need to Imagine who will visit it
– and why

14. What are they looking for?
What needs do they have?

15. Kinds of services
and events
offered
On a very basic level
Location, travel
options and parking
but also. . .

16. A sense of the organization’s ethos– and what to expect

17. How easy it is to find out more and connect?

18. Does the site look good on all screens and platforms?

19. And how attractive it is

20. Books – get it right. They lure us in with the cover

21. Especially kids’ books …

22. On the net we’ve moved away from things
that look somewhat like this. .

23. To this! - The look and feel is more like Pinterest

24. Good template designs are now designed to look good anywhere.
If your site design is more than five years old –
probably it doesn’t

25. Organizations don’t need a website AND a blog.
The two can now combine for maximum impact

26. Site top and side menu items direct users to specific and basic information.
Links on the menu pages drill down to more detail.

27. Blog entries can use inviting images pointing to signal the
content waiting beneath

28. They are entered as Posts – and can highlight what
has happened and what’s going to happen

29. Whether Post or Page - images can lead the way and become the doorway

30. Language counts - we need to insider language or acronyms in
introductory levels on the screen

31. The key question for the site visitor is
From my visit here now . . . How will I respond?

32. Other ways for our site to engage its visitors

33. Up to date photos of people and events from our smart phones .
(we don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on professionals)

34. We need to replace out of date information immediately.
(it says a lot about us when we don’t)
The good thing about continuous blog entries is that they update and
replace obsolete information.

35. We can make use of sound and video – A smart phone is a production company. We
can also develop an image library and encourage contributions from all

36. A one-stop information hub for first time visitors is helpful.

37. Seeing the leaders in advance makes people feel at home
We can show their faces and make it easy to get in touch with them –
to make them recognizable to site visitors if they meet them later

38. Last of all, we can keep the site simple. Its primary
purpose is to engage and invite – not overwhelm.

39. How we can we all collaborate to make our site inviting and
engaging to a group of diverse audiences?