Websites are always evolving. We build new websites and software tools and are constantly improving existing ones in response to changing needs and new opportunities. How are Covid lockdown restrictions affecting our work?
Planning and building a new website should be an exciting and enjoyable process for a charity comms team. Thinking carefully about your users' needs and planning what you want to say is all part of the planning process.
But when it comes to content, what do you need to bear in mind to rank well on search engines? Here are my top tips for making your content SEO-friendly:-
Option 1 - stay with the technology platform you have and rebuild.
This option is definitely the easiest provided you are happy with your current digital partners and hosting and support service. If your admin experience is fine and your support agency are helpful and responsive, your best option will be to rethink your audience, your priorities and goals and redesign your site. You’ll have no need to retrain and get used to a new CMS plus you can keep your data where it is which is a huge attraction.
If you are seeking a new digital partner for your charity's website, or are looking to improve the way your site is hosted and supported, the following guidance should help.
Most web builders will tell you that the two nicest parts of most web projects are (1) the excitement of planning out the new solution, and (2) the delight of the launch. It's great to see your efforts - and those of your client - bear fruit and find their place on the Internet.
This month we have been pleased to launch successfully two websites that we are very proud of.
While large charities may have the digital expertise or budget to deploy effective donation systems, this is not generally the case for small to medium sized charities. This is because the donation landscape is confusing, costs variable and the levels of expertise and technical knowledge required for comprehensive solutions are very often beyond the reach of small busy charities lacking deep pockets.
It's often the case that charities first use recommendations and Google to engage a digital partner to help with a site rebuild. However, some of the most successful redesign projects start with a period of internal negotiation and planning. Apart from normal bugeting and timescale setting, charities should take the time to review their site anlytics and think through their goals. Where is their current site failing? Where is site traffic coming from? Which search terms or social media channles are visitors using to find content? What is the best perofrming content?
Vetlife does a wonderful job of providing independent, confidential and free help for everyone in the veterinary community including veterinary nurses and students.
They needed a robust and secure website to backstop their activity. They needed a site that would:-
Two years ago, at the Drupal conference in 2017, Dries Buytaert, Drupal’s founder, discussed the ways in which Drupal could leverage its sophistication and power and not compete with small website building platforms that take care of all the design and hosting for you - eg Wix, Squarespace. Drupal has always excelled at flexibility, security, scalability and providing industrial strength websites.
Sereno Charity Websites & Intranets
Sereno builds bespoke websites & intranets for charities in Drupal & WordPress.
