Time to Increase Your Value by Expanding your Chapter Website Checklist
Updated: Sep. 14, 2021 | Categories: Website
The importance of a strong, effective association chapter website became much more important during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With most in-person association chapter events cancelled or moved to a virtual platform, websites took on a larger role, as members and guests looked for ways to engage with other association chapter members online.
Creating and following a website checklist can help ensure your association chapter website remains current and relevant to members and guests, from both a content and a design standpoint. Based on what we’ve seen and heard recently, we’ve updated our website checklist with a few areas you might consider adding to your own site. Having these options will continue to increase the value your association chapter website provides to your members and guests, now, as things are still a bit unsettled, and in the future, as things open up, but people continue to expect visit your site for valuable information and resources.
Consider adding the following three things to your association chapter website and to your checklist.
Forums. Your members may be experiencing more stress than usual, from changes to their jobs, early retirements, dealing with COVID-19 related health issues, etc. Adding a forum to your association chapter website can give your members a private, secure place to talk openly, to get support and to support each other. Here, members can connect, network, and crowdsource information away from social media where it sometimes gets diluted. And by restricting your forum to members, you show additional value to your members and give prospective members another idea of the value of membership.
Blogs. This is a great place to add value to members as well as guests and even sponsors. Highlight an organization in your industry doing something special. Interview a member and share some of their company’s best practices. Ask a sponsor to write about a topic that would be of interest to your members or use your blog to share changes happening in your industry along with trends and resources members should be aware of.
Library of members-only resources. Many chapters have been holding virtual events and recording them. A library of past event recordings, restricted to members, is a great way to show value. Sharing the recordings in your library also helps extend the longevity of a topic as members continue the discussion.
Website design is as important as content for an association chapter
It’s wonderful to have well-written, engaging, relevant content for members and guests to digest, but if your site is difficult to find and clunky to access, is it really helpful? Earlier this year, we discussed some of the big web design trends for 2021. Is it time to adjust any of the fonts, colors and shapes you use on your site?
If your association chapter website remains unchanged, it loses its value to members and member guests. Adding these areas to your site, and updating the design if it’s time, can help better engage members virtually and give the site the staying power it needs.
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