Digital Marketing for Non-Profits: Lack of Time – Developing your Digital Architecture – Website
This all may sound very convoluted, but it really isn’t. We’ll break down the basics and provide some examples and links so you can get set-up quickly and easily.
If you need someone to help you get the basics set-up, we’re here to assist. You can use our ‘contact us‘ page or leave a comment.
Let’s get started…
Here are basic elements of what it is that you need: A Website, Social Media Outlets, and a Content Marketing Calendar
The first thing you will need is a Website:
We all know that every non-profit or business needs a website now. Most companies may spend at least $10,000 or more on a high-quality website. There’s a reason for this, as a professionally designed website has the best design elements to maximize user experience and optimize it for search engine optimization.
That sounds pretty fancy, doesn’t it?
However, the reality is you don’t need an expensive one. You can use Wix.com, WordPress, or another website creation tool. In fact, you don’t even have to worry about paying for anything at this stage as you’re just getting started. Take advantage of the free level of service with these tools, and practice a bit to see what you like best. When you are ready, then look at what personalized URL (web address) would be easy to remember, is available, and can coincide with social media account creation (which will get into on the next step).
Do the research and see what other non-profits in your niche market are doing with their website design, and have some fun with it. Play around with some design ideas. Find friends or members of your organization to assist in this process with pictures, or even helping to create the site. You’ll find many low-cost ways to bring a site online.
The bottom line is you need to get a website up that has the basic elements to it, then as you grow and have funding – you can improve the site.
For the Autism community, take look at the designs of the most popular sites and organizations in our community, such as AutismSpeaks.org or Autism-Society.org or any other major Autism organizations websites that you admire and respect. These sites are usually designed by professionals and optimized for user experience. The way the content on each site is presented makes it easy for the visitor to know where to click and find more information. Just take some notes on what you like on each site, and apply it to your own efforts.
Here are the main sections you’ll need for your website:
- Main Page – to show your mission and vision, and can be updated appropriately for promotional means. Remember though, that most people now won’t see your main page first. They will come to your site first through your blog… more on this in a moment.
- Information Page – to showcase relevant statistics and supporting documentation about the issues your cause is addressing. This section is to build trust, and also to provide relevant information that can help visitors with a specific topic associated with your cause – and why you are doing what you’re doing.
- Blog – This is where your content will be created. This is your anchor for all communication efforts for your site and organization.
- Donation page – This is where transactions occur, to get people to donate. If your wondering about how to acquire online donations, check out Paypal, Swipe, or another similar service.
- Contact Us page – where your phone number and a contact form with a mailing address is located. Suggest not using your personal phone number, or placing your email address directly on the page. The last thing you’d want is more phone calls to your phone than you can manage, or spam messages from bots because you put your email directly on the site.
Having the above pages are the basic fundamentals of website creation for a non-profit.
The biggest challenge in creating a website is what you want to say and getting that information on the website. But once it’s set-up, then you can move onto the next step – Social Media outlets…
If you need any assistance in this step, feel free to leave a comment or fill out our comment form. We have a team of people ready to help.
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your ideas about too good about social media marketing
Thanks. And I see your link about actonvideo. It’s a good option for those who want to provide how-to vids, etc… There are many similar options out there.
Hi Admin
On the “Digital Marketing for Non-Profits: Lack of Time – Developing your Digital Architecture – Website” topic your article is contemporary and logical. The writing is very good according to me. Though if you explain it more detailed, it would be better than ever. I hope, your next article will be of same quality and if you can please discuss the matter thoroughly. I have already written the “Advantages and disadvantages of digital marketing” topic just like your “Digital Marketing for Non-Profits: Lack of Time – Developing your Digital Architecture – Website” topic. I request to read the article and give your comment.
Thank you for such a nice response, much appreciated.
Stay tuned, more content is being developed to address some items in more detail, but our current focus is this series is to deal with the basic fundamentals. As those reading these blog posts dive into each topic and blog post, they are more than welcome to leave a comment or reach out to us via our comment form for more specific answers. Each organization and individual has a different knowledge base on different platforms that they want to deal with. They also may utilize a different platform to host their website. Getting into specifics in a blog post may limit our ability to serve a more general audience with this series. So, if anyone wants to reach out, leave a comment or use our contact us form (see footer), and as we move forward we’ll look at updating these articles with more information.
Thanks again!