TOPIC:

Club #1844 http:// romegeorgia.toastmastersclubs.org
Please evaluate our website.

Hello there!

On the home page: add more information about your club. Maybe a link to the directions page, possibly your facebook page logo if you have one.

On the Meet our members page, either make the page lighter or the lettering white. It is hard to read

Great start, but you need more information on the whole website if you want guests to stay awhile and linger and possible visit...

I hope this helps... I hope this is not to much information...

Linda

I wanted to see your Website but I couldn't, the address for your website doesn't work for me, Aida.

Maybe you typed in the wrong address. It is romegeorgia.toastmastersclubs.org

Linda,
There is a link to our meeting times and directions page at the top left, and a link to our FB page in the bottom left. I didn't realize it was hard to find. I will look at our "Meet Our Members" page. I have had trouble getting people to allow their info. to be put on that page.
Thanks.
Merrill

Linda,
I lightened it up some, but I'm still not sure it looks good. Would you take another look and see what you think? Thanks.

When I searched with your club # in TI, they directed me to the address http//rome.freetoasthost.net Perhaps you should contact and make sure they have the right website address. Aida.

I couldn't attach the address that TI showed. Sorry.

BENSONIA wrote:

When I searched with your club # in TI, they directed me to the address http//rome.freetoasthost.net Perhaps you should contact and make sure they have the right website address. Aida.

I couldn't attach the address that TI showed. Sorry.

This is good point that Aida brings up. If that is the address listed on Find A Club, it is invalid and wrong, and you will be losing prospective website visitors as a result.

It looks much better since you lightened up those pages. I still suggest that you put more information about your club on the home page, so that you can attract potential members. Also, get feedback from your members.

You can enlarge the type too... I would suggest not more than 125%

Linda

welshharp06@yahoo.com wrote:

Maybe you typed in the wrong address. It is romegeorgia.toastmastersclubs.org

I went again this morning, to make sure you have the right Website address for your Club in TI www.toastmasters.org/Find-a-Club/00001844-rome-club, they don't have the right address. Anyone who knows the name and # of your club and wants to see your Website won't be able to see it. Aida.

Thank you for pointing out the problem with our website address on TI I guess I thought it was updated when they changed our website to the new format. Anyway, I have gone on TI and updated it. Please check to see if it is linked to our website now. The other viewers had just used the link I gave in my post, so they had been able to view it. Anyway, thanks for your feedback!

welshharp06@yahoo.com wrote:

Thank you for pointing out the problem with our website address on TI I guess I thought it was updated when they changed our website to the new format. Anyway, I have gone on TI and updated it. Please check to see if it is linked to our website now. The other viewers had just used the link I gave in my post, so they had been able to view it. Anyway, thanks for your feedback!

"They" would not have changed anything. FreeToastHost is not connected to the TI website and FTH is not directed by TI. We are an independent effort by Toastmasters, and for Toastmasters. Just remember that there is no connection between the TI database and the FTH database. (unlikely that there ever will be)

Linda,
Thank you so much for your help. I have looked at the the Simivalley and aujus websites and decided that maybe you and I have a little different "take" on what is good practice--busy vs. simple and easy to digest, so I may try to adjust a little and put a little more info. on the home page. I liked some of the links on the left side, and I certainly know it might be helpful to add some info. I really like your suggestion about asking my members for feedback. I'll do that next week!

I changed the info. on TI --I did not realize that when TI changed our website over to the new one that it did not also change our address, but I have fixed it now. I hope! Thanks so much for the feedback.

welshharp06@yahoo.com wrote:

Linda,
Thank you so much for your help. I have looked at the the Simivalley and aujus websites and decided that maybe you and I have a little different "take" on what is good practice--busy vs. simple and easy to digest, so I may try to adjust a little and put a little more info. on the home page. I liked some of the links on the left side, and I certainly know it might be helpful to add some info. I really like your suggestion about asking my members for feedback. I'll do that next week!

What matters is what a prospective new member thinks when they visit your website. That needs to be the focus of your home page if you are using your website to promote your club.

Put yourself in the mindset of a new member that does not know anything about Toastmasters or your club. How can you provide them enough encouraging information that they will want to visit your next meeting? Yes, everything in moderation, but I would also agree that you need some more stuff on your home page.

I agree with Steve...

Linda

YES!! Now I can see it. I will give you an evaluation of your Website tomorrow! Aida.

Steve,
Thanks for your input. We have had several new members recently, and some of them said they came because they had seen our website. I will ask them what else would have been helpful to have had on there. I am trying to keep it current, but have not added any info. recently--just kind of keep it minimal. I was thinking about adding something like FAQ's because people often come with little or no knowledge of what it's all about.

Me too!

welshharp06@yahoo.com wrote:

Steve,
Thanks for your input. We have had several new members recently, and some of them said they came because they had seen our website. I will ask them what else would have been helpful to have had on there. I am trying to keep it current, but have not added any info. recently--just kind of keep it minimal. I was thinking about adding something like FAQ's because people often come with little or no knowledge of what it's all about.

Feel free to ask for ideas, input, and feedback. That is what the whole point of this forum section is about. We want you to have a great website that is *effective*, not just one that functions ok.

Lastly, we request that once you are satisfied with the feedback and evaluation, that you "pay it forward" and contribute to the evaluation of at least one other website.

Your Web site looks very nice, It is great that you know how to post pictures, it took me 2 years to learn. I like to be able to have a slide show of important ones, but I haven't learned. Some clubs have a Website but never change the information, so keep yours up to date!
One of the biggest problems we have in our club is having a current group picture! But it is nice to have one, the picture that you have is overpowering, could be a little smaller. If you have other pictures, have them like a collage.
If I were interested in joining your club, I would like to know where you meet and when on the home page. I believe that first impressions are important, so I would take advantage and use colors and try different ones until you are happy with it. The banner for the club comes in different colors, I like to have ours with a background color that blends with one of the colors of the banner on top. Take a look at my links to see what I mean. Also in the main menu I have information that you will find very useful. Aida.

I appreciate your comments. I will take them all into consideration and make some changes. Between managing my own website and trying to keep up with this one, I must admit that I have not learned all the things it will do. On my personal website I do have a slide show of pictures, but I haven't actually tried to do it on the TM one! I do change pictures often and keep all the copy up-to-date. I agree that keeping it up to date is very important. I hate to look at a website that hasn't been updated in a long time.
--Merrill

You can use this to produce the iframe code for a slide show: flickrit.com/

A lot of great stuff has already been shared here, so I won't go into a details about your site. However, to Steve's point about wanting to attract prospective new members, I have posted evaluations of other websites using home page criteria I believe helps to do just that. (You can see those evaluations if you click my user name and look under "recent posts.") Given that others have given you great input, I will just repeat my criteria in the hopes that they will be helpful.

---

When evaluating a site, I look at it with one major question in mind: Will the home page grab the attention of potential guests and get them to a meeting? With the assumption that potential guests came to your site interested in learning more about Toastmasters and seeing if your club is one they would want to visit, I would expect that the content of your home page (which does not include the Main Menu) would:
A. Make it exceedingly clear that guests are welcome to visit the club and that it will cost them nothing to do so.
B. Provide the address to your meeting and give (or link to) explicit directions for how to get to your meeting room.
C. Say something that distinguishes the club from other clubs in your area.
D. Demonstrate that your club is energetic, active, and vibrant.
E. Reinforce that your club will help them be better speakers and leaders.
F. Briefly describe what Toastmasters is all about.
G. Have embedded links to additional information about both the club and Toastmasters.

Aesthetically, I believe the home page should be professional-looking and appealing. With that, I expect the content portion of the home page would:
H. Use headers that clearly delineate the topics being covered and make it easy on the eyes.
I. Not use any clip art, stock photos, or bad animations.
J. Not look like a ransom note (i.e., the page should not have a lot of different fonts or different-sized fonts, lots of different colors, lots of centered text, that sort of thing).

---

Those are the criteria I've come up with; maybe they can be useful as you make changes to your site. (BTW, others on these forums have given great input on the use of color, which I still find myself struggling with. And still others have gone deeper into sites and given keen feedback on other pages that are linked-to in the Main Menu, which is awesome.)

I look forward to seeing what changes you make to your site and to reading your evaluations of other sites.

SteveTheTechie wrote:

You can use this to produce the iframe code for a slide show: flickrit.com/

I will try to use "flickrit" where can I find the easiest instructions so I can understand them? I always wanted to have a slide show, I believe the pictures don't have to be stored in the Website. Am I right? Aida.