TOPIC:

Dear FreeToastHost community,

Can we get your feedback on our new website bayside.toastmastersclubs.org

We have had a long standing webpage which has great google ratings baysidetoastmasters.org.au/
However the old site is static and not as content rich or engaging as we would like.

We would appreciate your evaluation of the proposed new site bayside.toastmastersclubs.org which is still in soft launch status.

My main worry is that the new site will be poor with ratings compared to the well established and linked older page.

Thanks in advance for all of your valuable feedback and suggestions.

Shan @ Bayside Toastmasters

Hello there!

Here is my evaluation

1. Have address so that people will see where you meet right when they go to the website.
2. I like the group photo at the top, but personally, I would put all other photos on another page, highlighting them. Maybe have your bi-weekly winners on this page, changing it after each meeting.
3. I would darken the light blue to another color. Either a darker blue or something that others can easily see..
4. Maybe place who your officers on the home page, with their names being linked to the FTH contact address. That way, people have some way of knowing who to contact.
5. Maybe even have the contact us link to that email address

I hope that is not to much....

I only looked at the home page this time.... I believe that if you want others to view other pages, you first need to get the home page to pop

Good first impression.
You tell them they're welcome, and when and where you meet. This answers their most immediate questions.

The little grey bar right next to the "Main Menu" header tells what you do & that you're a friendly bunch. Good, because I suspect there are far more who plan to visit us but never get around to it. There's no way to measure this, but we're wise to take every step to encourage them to step out and visit. You say guests, not visitors, which is more inviting.

I'd suggest you move the Toastmasters logo down below the group picture. I think that someone viewing on a small screen should see as many of your friendly, smiling faces as their very, very first impression, and the logo may shove many of you down, off the screen.

Info For Guests page:
Gives a lot of useful info. I love the, "May all who come as guests leave as friends." Again, every nudge to encourage them to step out and visit a group of strangers is A Good Thing.

Meet Our Members page:
You'd do best to have a LOT more of your members put entries here. If your members don't like having a picture next to their names posted online, I've seen people use pictures of stuffed animals, circuit boards, cartoon characters, patterns, etc. Have everyone include a blurb, either about themselves, or saying something positive about your club.
In my club's website, we've used Google Analytics, which has let us see which pages people visit, and how long they spend on each page. A huge percentage went immediately to Meet Our Members, after a quick scan of our home page. There seems to be an immediate question of what they'll be getting themselves into if they visit. You want to answer that as positively as you can.

Meet the executive team page:
Great picture! looks friendly, not woodenly-posed, with just a tiny flourish of playful body language, which people may not notice, but are likely to feel.
And yes, as you say, you are a stunningly good looking group. A little playfulness is great.

Meeting Highlights page tell the really interested people what to expect. They ARE asking that question, so you answer it nicely.

Your First Speech Page:
I notice "your", not "our" -- may help get people in the mindset of visualizing themselves as Toastmasters. That's what you want.

Google Reviews -- a GREAT idea.

Very nice introduction to Pathways.

Pictures of club activities on the homepage are good; it helps those interested enough to scroll down see what you're like. Having the videos at the very bottom is probably the best way to do it, because they are NOT of your club, and many visitors to your site will not identify with the excellent speakers you show there. (Don't get me wrong... some will be inspired by them, but not all.)

A possible bridge to add between the club pics and the videos might be some videos of your club members in action. Consider adding this over the long term. People looking at your club pics will want to see how your club members speak, and THEN are more likely to be inspired by the "high flyers," in the videos you have, as they gradually see a progression, and might more readily visualize themselves as they progress in their own lives.

As far as your concern with Google ratings goes, there's no reason you can't keep both sites, and put a link from your old site, to the new one. This will not only help immediately increase the new site's Google rating, but it will guide people to the richer, newer site. If you continue to add new pages with engaging, helpful content (my club has added articles on speaking and such, which include lots of the keywords people will use in a Google search) they'll please both your site's visitors, and Google too.

All in all, you've done a nice job...

Wes B.