TOPIC:

Hello.

We just set up our web site a few days ago and I was hoping someone could take a look and possibly offer suggestions. We are a closed Corporate club so I removed the Contact Us links. My Home page is a little plain so if anyone has ideas on some wording I can use or anything to add, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

WINning Communicators - 2615720

Hello.

We just set up our web site a few days ago and I was hoping someone could take a look and possibly offer suggestions. We are a closed Corporate club so I removed the Contact Us links. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you.

WINning Communicators - 2615720

http:\\2615720.toastmastersclubs.org

Hi Addie!

It looks like you just getting started, so I won't overload you with too many things. I APPLAUD you for doing something WITH your site! If you are new to Free Toast Host (your website), just learn and do a little at a time. You do not have to know code, though they tell me it helps. If you can upload, cut & paste, and are fairly proficient with other design software (Word, Publisher, etc.), you can build a really nice website.

Understand, I am the V.P. of PR in another club (in Tennessee), so I CANNOT access your "members Only" menu, nor do I need to. I mention that because your "Meet Our Members" is not up, so I can't see that. You may want to bring that back, even if it's not FILLED with bios. It shows how many other people are interested in your club. Interested enough to join.

First, you will want to pick a color scheme. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just some color to make it seem "warm and friendly". I simply stuck with the colors in our Toastmasters banner to make everything look uniform. Though, I lightened them a bit on the advice of other webmasters who said they looked too gloomy, and depressing. I think I have at a nicer shade now. Too much white just makes your site look EMPTY no matter how many pictures you upload.

Second, I would put up some LOCAL photos of your club, NOT the TM stock photos. They LOOK like stock photos! You want to show YOUR members, so any visitors will know how friendly the group is. A couple of meeting photos are a good start. Your awards are GREAT, but I am always partial to ACTION photos. You would be surprised at how many Toastmasters sites never show photos of people actually SPEAKING!

A lot of clubs begin their online presence with a facebook account. If this is the case, provide a link in the social media section. Otherwise, you may want to begin one. Either Facebook or Twitter, whichever one YOU are most familiar with. Just one, is fine for now, don't bite off more than you can chew in the first few weeks. Social media will help you DRIVE people to you website!

Those few things will really get the ball rolling for you. You can design custom web pages later. Make sure your members know what you are doing. They can help you build and online presence.

Other little tidbits; add more content to your calendar, membership info in public downloads, photo gallery, etc. Normally, I would say add a map to your meeting info, but if you're a corporate club, just make sure everyone in the building knows where the training room is. Personally, I hate the "flying tiles" option at the bottom of FTH websites, but until you get a little more content, they might serve a purpose.

Just remember, do a LITTLE BIT every couple of weeks, and you will get there eventually.

You are free to visit our site. It's not the end all, be all, but we are getting visitors from it, so it serves its purpose...
heartoftennessee.toastmastersclubs.org/ Good luck to you!

WINNING!!!
Blaine Little,
VPPR, TM 1757

Thank you for taking a look and offering suggestions. I will definitely play around with it some more. What you saw was a huge improvement from what I had this morning; I just had the flag picture. I was excited to learn we could have our own web site. We have been using an internal site but you can't do as much with it as the official one.

Thanks again!

You're welcome. Remember, just a little at a time gets the job done.

By the way, you mentioned you had to remove your "Contact Us" button. Why? Can you include an email address that is outside of work to answer any questions of potential visitors AFTER HOURS?

Blaine

Blaine67@gmail.com wrote:

You're welcome. Remember, just a little at a time gets the job done.

By the way, you mentioned you had to remove your "Contact Us" button. Why? Can you include an email address that is outside of work to answer any questions of potential visitors AFTER HOURS?

Blaine

Could create a dummy member called ~After Hours~ or similar with appropriate contact information. That dummy member could the contact assigned to Contact Us.

We're a closed corporate club so we've never had outside guests. They would have to be specifically invited by one of our members.

Hi Addie,

I see your point, but some in your corporation still may not know about you.

Years ago, I was in a couple of closed clubs. They were with the State government, and in two separate buildings. There were HUNDREDS of people working in each. Most of which, did not know about Toastmasters. Peer recruitment is great, but only goes so far if you are in a really large facility. It might still be good to establish a general form of contact. Our club has it's own google account and email. Currently, I forward it to me. You know your company's rules best, but if your employer allows posting on break room bulletin boards, some form of contact may come in handy.

When someone outside your organization does a search through the TM International website, they SHOULD notice that you are a closed club. This is a setting you should double-check, if you have not already. It's NOT done through FTH, but through your club's settings in TMI. Also, you do not HAVE TO post your website on Toastmaster's website. If you minimized your search engine optimization to your company specifically (not you TOWN), that might eliminate people looking for an open club. You could then, promote your site through bulletin boards and company newsletters, etc.

Just some things to consider. I hope this helps.

Blaine