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By: Scott Kinser
Your nonprofit could have a wide variety of excellent blog content, but if your blog’s design doesn’t make a positive first impression, then few will read it – much less share it with their followers on social networks. The same is true with a website as well.
Today’s fast-scanning Internet users need online content that is visually appealing and easy to read on desktop and mobile devices, and they have little patience with poorly designed blog and web content.
A decade ago, a nonprofit could get by with winging it online and use the low-overhead excuse for poor online communications (we spend no money on marketing!), but not today. Your credibility is judged harshly if you can’t communicate your nonprofit’s success stories in a professional, visually compelling, modern format.
That’s where Fusionmarx comes in. We can re-design your website (or blog) and create a fresh atmosphere that engages everyone that comes to your site. If you’re not utilizing this service from us, then you’re missing out.
Here are some examples of how a professional, engaging website design can look and if you want to see proof of this from clients, we’ve worked with.
Please contact George Sackandy at gsackandy@fusionmarx.com or call us at 814-941-9218.
1. Select a two-column, responsively designed template
A blog template with a body column width of 600 pixels and a call-to-action column of 300 pixels in width is ideal. First, the body text column is wide enough to feature photos and large font. Second, the call-to-action column provides ample space to feature your nonprofit’s most important calls-to-action. And of course, your blog should be responsively designed so that it is easy to read and scroll on mobile devices.
2. Prominently featured a “Donate” button, e-newsletter opt-in, and social network icons
It’s very rare to find a nonprofit blog that has strategically designed their call-to-action column to include a “Donate” button, e-newsletter opt-in, and social network icons. Nonprofits use social media and email to drive traffic to their blog and its a lost opportunity to not try and convert blog visitors into donors, e-newsletter subscribers, and social network followers.
3. Feature and rotate promotional graphics
Think of your call-to-action column as free advertising space. Create and rotate on a regular basis promotional graphics for publications, special events, volunteer recruitment programs, special fundraising campaigns, etc.
4. Use large font for headlines and body text
To accommodate today’s Internet users, at minimum your headlines should be 18 point and your body text 13 point. Your stories should be as easy to read as possible.
5. Insert large photos that encompass the width the blog post
Increasingly “reading” blogs is a mobile, scrolling, skimming experience, so its very important that your blog posts prioritize visuals. Information overload requires online content creators to package their content effectively. Also, having large photos ensures that your content is more visually compelling thus shareable on social media.
6. Embed large call-to-action buttons within posts
Now that social media and email is predominantly a mobile experience – and thus your blog readers are mobile, it’s crucial to create large, tappable call-to-action buttons to embed inside blog posts (and e-newsletters), such as “Donate Now, Sign Petition, Subscribe” buttons. Only a handful of nonprofits are currently doing this, so it’s a quick, simple way to stand out from other blogs (and e-newsletters).
7. Invest in well-designed graphics
Again, your blog must make a good first impression or people won’t take it seriously. If your staff is not adept at graphic design, then hire a graphic designer to create a blog banner and call-to-action column graphics or you can contact us about utilizing our graphic designer (Ben Mazur).
8. Enable social sharing
A social sharing plugin empowers readers to easily share your blog posts on social networks. It is also gives you, the blogger, an idea of how popular a blog topic is based upon the number of shares it receives. This helps you become a better blogger by knowing which topics your readers are most interested in.
9. Enable social comments
Using Fusionmarx’s SocialGood™ or Conne><ted™ allows blog readers to easily comment using their social network logins.
Utilizing these tips will help you stand out from the rest of the crowd and get the engagement from your audience that you’ve been looking for.