If you’re a nonprofit communicator, marketer or fundraiser, website strategy is a key component of your job, but it feels like you will never keep up with all the technology.
So here’s a handy outline of the four most important things to keep in mind about responsive websites in 2016 along with an explanation of why each one is important to your organization.
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1. Google cares. It cares a lot.
Google cares whether your website is responsive (also referred to as “mobile-friendly”) or not. In 2015, Google updated its algorithm and sites that are responsive are now more likely to appear in Google search results.
Many of the nonprofit sites that I work on receive 50% or more of their traffic from search engines like Google.
That means that if your site is responsive, you’re likely getting more visitors from Google. And, of course, if your site isn’t responsive, you’re likely getting fewer visitors from Google.
2. Donors care too.
I reviewed the analytics of several nonprofit websites for the month of December 2015. Can you guess what I found?
Mobile visitors were more likely to visit the donation page – even more likely than visitors who were using their desktop!
Think about it. You send tons of fundraising appeals via email, right? Most email messages are opened on mobile devices.
That means donors are opening your fundraising appeal email on their mobile device… and then following the links right over to your website.
3. You don’t have the luxury of time.
From the first day that the website became your responsibility, you started hearing about how you had to grab a visitor’s attention within a matter of seconds.
That time span is even shorter for mobile visitors.
And the crazy part is… it just keeps getting shorter!
From 2015 to 2016, I saw several seconds shaved off the “average time on site” for mobile visitors.
4. Tech be damned, your most important priority is still your content.
“Should we use this plugin to make a mobile version of our site?”
“Should we have a slider?”
“What about a social share bar?”
All interesting questions that I answer for clients and students.
But for the purposes of this list, the answer to them all is: it doesn’t matter.
Your content is far more important than the tech.
Your content is what will drive traffic. Your content will keep visitors interested. Your content will convince strangers to become supporters.
Focus on creating relevant, original content and use an easy-to-follow layout.
Ready to master just the tech that matters to your career and your organization?
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