TOPIC:

Club# 4260

Hello fellow Toastmasters!

I would love to hear feedback on our Club's website: content, design, visual appeal, informational value etc. Please note that I am not a techie and do not know how to code etc. but I am learning as I go along.

This forum and the administrators have been invaluable in assisting me in my journey.
[EDIT] I am aware that the iFrame links are no longer working due to https transition discussed in other forums

Thank You!

humbershorestoastmasters.toastmastersclubs.org/

Hi!!

Your site is visually pleasant to look at, and presents your club as a vital and active organization. In addition, you highlight members' accomplishments, which may help encourage other members to grow. Your site seems much more heavily aimed at members rather than visitors to the site, which may or may not be a problem for you...

..as your "Meet Our members" page is impressive; you've got a LOT of people on there! On my club's site, I've noticed thru Google Analytics that visitors who show behavior that suggests they're contemplating a visit to our meetings (looking at the Directions page, and some other pages that describe our club in more detail) also look at "Meet Our Members." If you want your Meet Our Members page to go from good to great, have your members fill in a bit of biographical info.

Since many people may not want to put too much personal info right next to their names, they might instead include short testimonials praising your club and Toastmasters. Either way, you fill in all that empty space.

Some potential visitors might be more comfortable coming if they could see a picture of the building where you meet on the Directions page.

You might consider including a photo of your club during a meeting. This would be especially nice since you've got lots of members. Take lots & lots of pictures until you get one or more that looks interesting, the speaker looks comfortable, and the audience appears interested (laughing, leaning in, etc.)

While some of the more "traditional" Toastmasters photos, like people holding awards or standing around the club banner are nice, I'd suspect that visitors who come to our sites would like to imagine themselves speaking, and succeeding at it. A picture that shows this happening might help them visualize themselves there in the meeting with the rest of you.

This one's minor and I'm not sure of the mechanics behind it, but on some TM websites, anyone can click on the facebook icon to go to their facebook page. On others (like yours) you have to be logged into facebook first. if you can make it easier for people to see your facebook page, it probably couldn't hurt.

Over the long term... when I google the three words Toastmasters Etobicoke Ontario, I see other Toastmasters clubs, but not yours. Appearing more prominently on a google ranking takes work and time, but people who do the google searches would seem to be particularly interested and worth the effort. (When you get that mastered, aim for people who don't know what Toastmasters is: make yourself appear in searches like the 5 words: learn public speaking Etobicoke Ontario.) A lot of toastmasters clubs vanish altogether when the word Toastmasters is gone, and then all of our non-Toastmasters competition pops out. (It's mildly scary.)

Also, the text you put in for your site's Description, under the Basic Settings tab, is the description that shows under your site in a google search. Compare it to your non-Toastmasters competition, and amp-it-up if you think it needs it.

Feel free to check how my club has solved some of these problems. We're still learning too, but I've been hammering at some of these myself, lately.

Take care...

Wes B.

Hi Wes,

Thank you for your insightful and comprehensive feedback. Your points are well taken and I will share them at our next exec meeting to see how we can further improve our visibility.

Cheers!

On the biographical info stuff that Wes is mentioning, one way that you can help facilitate that is to create a simple Q&A form for your members to fill out that will help with the bio. Sometimes this sort of thing helps when members are not sure of what to submit for a bio.

That's a great idea! I know members, including myself, have struggled with coming up with a bio. The Q&A should help with that.

Cheers

SteveTheTechie wrote:

On the biographical info stuff that Wes is mentioning, one way that you can help facilitate that is to create a simple Q&A form for your members to fill out that will help with the bio. Sometimes this sort of thing helps when members are not sure of what to submit for a bio.