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Website Tools & Resources
Building an Online Presence for Your Council
What is an “online presence?”
It is all identities you create for your council and the interactions
therein.
Your council can be represented on one or all of the following:
■ Website, the home base or hub for council information.
■ Facebook, where you can like and be liked, engage others.
■ Twitter, where you can follow, be followed and engage with
@replies, retweets, mentions.
■ LinkedIn, where you can interact via posts and acquire followers.
■ Instagram, where you share photos and videos with followers.
■ Blog, a web-based journal where you share information, thoughts
and ideas.
Navy League of the United States
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services
Website Tools & Resources
Building an Online Presence – Why?
Before you begin, strategize!
■ What
are your goals?: What is your objective or what
do you want to achieve with your website, Facebook
page or Twitter account?
■ Make a list: Write down those goals so that you can refer back to them
as you go along to make sure you’re on track.
■ Commit to your platform: Don’t build an online presence because that
is what you’re supposed to do. Your online presence introduces others to
your council, your mission and your activities, and you want to look your
best. If you can’t give your online presence time and attention, there’s
no point in building it. You want to make a great first impression and
keep people coming back for more.
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services
Website Tools & Resources
Building an Online Presence – Your Website
You don’t need the skills of a webmaster to build a website. There are
plenty of low-cost companies that offer domain name registration and
website hosting services and plug-and-play templates that make design
easy. Just remember the following:
■ Email & websites rule: For nonprofits, the most important
communication tools are email and websites, even though most are on
Facebook as well.
■ What’s in a name?: The domain name you select and register should
reflect the name of your council as closely as possible. Make it easy for
people to find you. Don’t let that registration expire!
■ Know what’s important: Just as newspapers put the top stories “above
the fold,” visitors to your website should be able to see who, what, where
and contact information without having to scroll, scroll, scroll.
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services
Website Tools & Resources
Building Your Council Website
You don’t need to know computer code to build a website.
Webhostingfreereviews.com, an online resource for people just like you,
recommends:
■ Find a web hosting package that offers a free site builder. You receive
hosting services as well as great tools to help you build a great website.
■ Consider the type of website you want to build, but also pay attention
to your own level of internet experience so you do not find yourself in
over your head.
■ No matter what type of site builder you choose, it is always handy to
know that you can have access to online or telephone customer support.
www.webhostingfreereviews.com
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services
Website Tools & Resources
Building Your Council Website
Browse before you buy! There are plenty of web hosts and builders to
choose from. Here are just a few top-rated choices:
■ www.websitebuilder.com
■ www.sitebuilder.com
■ www.sitey.com
■ www.sitelio.com
■ www.ehost.com
■ www.squarespace.com
Do your research!
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services
Website Tools & Resources
Building Your Council Website
You’ve found your website host and builder. Now what?
■ Identify your audience. Know the purpose of your site.
■ Plan your website. Sketch out a site map that shows you how many
pages you will make and how they link to one another.
■ Use images wisely. A site overloaded with large, high-resolution
images will make it slower to open, less responsive to the visitor.
■ Make it user friendly. Don’t bury information or make navigating to
that information complicated or counterintuitive.
■ Fun with fonts and colors. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you
should. Make your site easy on the eyes.
http://webdesignledger.com/20-dos-and-donts-of-effective-web-design/
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services
Website Tools & Resources
Building Your Council Website
Your council website is your No. 1 communication and marketing tool.
Content is king, but not just any content.
The information on your website MUST be
current, relevant to your mission and the
Navy League brand, and encourage
engagement.
Most importantly, the content must be YOURS!
Make sure you are not using copyrighted
material – including text and photos – that
are copied from another site or source. Original content is key.
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services
Website Tools & Resources
Building Your Council Website
The 2015 Mackie Award winning council websites are:
Bremerton-Olympic Peninsula
Offers local content, relevant sea service and HQ links, easy-to-find
contact information and an opportunity to engage.
Sarasota-Manatee
Offers local content, calendar of events, relevant links and links to other
social media platforms.
Corona Riverside
Simple, easy to navigate, relevant links and contact information, nice
photo galleries.
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services
Website Tools & Resources
Growing Your Online Presence
If your council now has a website, Facebook
page, Twitter account, etc., make sure there are
links to all your platforms on all your platforms.
That is how you build and grow your online
presence!
Remember, no website or online page is ever finished. It’s an organic
thing that needs to be revisited, reviewed and refreshed. There is always
room for improvement.
http://www.eofire.com/7-ways-to-build-your-online-presence/
Citizens in Support of the Sea Services