Note: This article was originally published in March 2012. It has been updated with current links and tips.
Take 10 minutes and make sure your nonprofit organization’s website is in great shape.
Check the year in the footer.
Make sure it’s current. Fini.
Look at the date on the most recent update or news item.
If the date is within the last 60 days, move on. If the date is older than 60 days, start the process of posting something new.
Update the email message that donors receive after checkout.
Does the name in the signature belong to a person that still works in your organization? Is the email address in the “From” line still valid and regularly checked?
Test out the contact form or contact email address.
Send a message to verify that the form is still working or the email address is active.
Verify that a contact person is listed on your press release landing page.
Check the page that lists all your press releases. Is there a current contact person and contact information listed on that page?
Try visiting a broken link or searching for a term that doesn’t exist.
It’s important to engage all website visitors, even those that try to visit a broken link or are searching for a term that doesn’t exist in your content. Try visiting http://www.yourdomain.org/test or searching for “something that doesn’t exist”. What do you see on the 404 error page or on the empty search results page? If it’s empty, start thinking about how to make this a useful page. Consider posting a list of your 10 most visited webpages.
Check the links to your organization’s social media sites.
Are all the links still valid? Facebook and Google Plus links can become outdated as organizations evolve towards custom URLs.
Verify your website’s RSS feed.
Try subscribing (or re-subscribing) to your site’s RSS feed.
Download bonus to get you ready for 2014
Download this checklist as a handy PDF that let’s you check off each item as you complete it!
