Website for a Women’s Centre in Watford

20/2/2019

 

Watford Women’s Centre were really struggling with their website. It looked dated and was not very user friendly. The content management system was cumbersome and inflexible, so it was also difficult for staff to update the website themselves.

 

Working with charities can be challenging as budgets are inevitably limited. Staff resources are also pretty stretched so it can be difficult dedicating time to collate the content. With this in mind, we try to make the process as pain free as we can.

 

 

Usability

 

It’s not a large website but we were still able to improve the navigation and information architecture, making it easier for visitors to find what they’re looking for.

 

Simplicity is the key. When visitors arrive on a webpage with a pleasing simple design that has an easy to read layout they are more likely to remain on the site. We provided:

 

• Stronger messaging.
• Prominent calls to action.
• Clear entry points from the home page to the 4 main service areas.
• Responsive design so that the site is easy to use on mobile devices.

 

 

 

Visual

 

Pictures play a big role in first impressions. But it’s also important that the photos are representative of the organisation, whether it’s staff, volunteers or clients. It’s usually best to get a professional photographer but you can capture candid moments or interesting group shots that evoke a friendly and personable organisation with your phone.

 

We used a mix of bespoke and stock photography with the idea that some of the stock photos will be gradually replaced. But it has certainly made the website more engaging.

 

 

 

 

Talking to their audience

 

As well as providing information to service users, the website also needed to attract volunteers and donors. Before deciding to support a charity they want to know:

 

• The charity’s mission – we now have a dedicated page for this along with information about the leadership team.
• Where donations are going – we now explain what a specific sum of money can buy. Even a donation as small as £5 could help to provide general refreshments such as tea and coffee for women visiting the centre.
• How simple is it to donate – the charity uses BT My Donate and is also part of the Co-op Local Community Fund that helps pay for local projects.
• What sort of openings are available for volunteers – the list of volunteer roles ranges from board members to assisting with social media.

 

 

 

Website management

 

The site was out of date because it was simply too difficult to make changes. We provided a content management system (CMS) that is very intuitive to use. It’s now a breeze for the client to add or edit text, upload images or documents, and generate new pages.

 

We don’t usually offer face to face training as we provide a step by step instruction document for using the CMS. However, on this occasion we ran an onsite training session for 10 members of staff. There were differing levels of web literacy, but everyone seemed positive about how easy the system was. A few days later we noticed that a lot of updates had been made to the site  and all completed perfectly.

 

For more information about a website for your charity why not have a chat with Jane on 01223  873349.