Understanding effective website design for nonprofits
Your website is the front door to your organization. It can either be your greatest asset or largest liability. After all, you don’t want to lose your audience before you even get a chance to tell your story. Today, people expect a certain experience when they visit a website. One that is modern, mobile-optimized, intuitive and human-centered. How does your organization’s website stack up?
What makes a good website?
As a rule, websites—and all forms of communication—should be developed in a way that optimizes the journey for the person experiencing it (also known as UX or user experience). While you may think your organization’s website looks new enough, we recommend a website refresh every three years to keep up with web design and UX best practices—ultimately creating an optimal, frictionless experience for the audiences you’re trying to reach.
8 website design best practices to keep in mind
Here are some critical user experience principles to apply to your nonprofit web design:
- Mobile-first responsive design. Responsive design allows your website to seamlessly adapt from desktop to tablet to phone—even to a smartwatch. Today, 91% of all internet users in the U.S. access the internet with a mobile device, with 59% of all website visits coming from mobile. It is imperative to have a responsive website designed with mobile in mind (rather than as an afterthought). You may decide to use larger buttons and text, or simplify your site’s menus so they are accessible within a thumb’s reach. It’s all about making sure your site’s design and functionality are optimal in a mobile browser view.
- Navigation. A user should be able to navigate your site from the header and footer. Simplifying the experience with intuitive navigation driven by insights can help visitors find what they’re looking for, easily. Ideally, a visitor should land on your site and not have to think about where to click next. Moving from point A to point B should be as frictionless as possible.
- Visual hierarchy. Studies show it takes 2.6 seconds for a person’s eyes to land on an area of a website that will stimulate their first impression. It is critical to arrange and organize website elements so that visitors naturally gravitate toward the most important elements. You can adjust the color, size or position so that viewers will be drawn to the right things, first. This allows a visitor to complete a specific call to action in a way that feels enjoyable and natural.
- Simplicity. Less is more.Some of the most compelling websites use no more than five colors and have streamlined content that is easily scannable. Hick’s Law tells us thatthe more choices you present your users with, the longer it will take them to reach a decision. In a world where thousands of messages compete for our attention, don’t over-complicate the experience. Make calls to action clear and easily accessible.
- Accessibility. Since roughly 1.3 billion people across the globe live with some form of a disability, it is important to create a website that anyone can use, including people with limitations that impact their browsing experience. A few examples of this are using high-contrast colors, as well as including alternate text descriptions for images and captions for all videos.
- Credibility. The content on your site (or lack thereof) can make or break how trustworthy you appear to visitors trying to learn more. Deliver what users expect, be transparent and build trust. Be clear about who you are and what you do right from the homepage.
- Insights and empathy. Before making any decisions about your website’s design, learn about your key audiences. Find out their interests, needs and pain points, and use that to guide you. Take stock of search volumes and the most visited pages on your site—and make sure they are easily accessible.
- Iterations. As you gather insights through A/B testing and analytics, tweak your web design often and accordingly. It can be just as harmful for users to visit an outdated, clunky, error-filled site as it is to have them experience one that is newer but stale in updates and optimizations.
The front door is just the beginning, though. All great organizations pair healthy website experiences with a thoughtful digital content strategy that spans social media, e-communications, search engine optimization (SEO) and even media relations. Guardian is here to help.
