TOPIC:

Hi all,
Could you please provide your feedback on my club's site:
northerngourmet.toastmastersclubs.org/
we don't get many hits compared to other local clubs and we haven't received any contact through the page for a few months. It would be great to get some commendations and recommendations to help me improve it further!
Thanks!

*I really like your pictures of both your in-person venue and your group via Zoom!
* Also like the fact that your president is introduced on the home page.
* In regard to you not getting much traffic or response to the website, you might want to make it clear how to contact you, either by mentioning the link on the left, or leaving an email address on the home page for interested people to contact you.
*I am not sure the list of all the meeting dates is a good use of space. You might try mentioning the next meeting date along with the fact that you meet the 2nd and 4th ____ of each month at ___time.
* I like the fact that you have the video, the club mission, and how TM can help on the first page.

Merrill J. Davies, VPE Rome Toastmasters, Club #1844, romegeorgia.toastmastersclubs.org

Thank you Merrill, that is useful feedback. I will take your advice and put our contact details on the home page and also remove the meeting dates.

Hi, Jeremy...

Sorry I've taken so long to respond on this; I really do enjoy doing these.

Since you asked, first some suggestions on on getting more traffic to your site. You've got everything listed properly on Find A Club at the TI site, which is good. You're at a disadvantage in being way, way down on the list as TI shows it, which we can't really do anything about. This means that people searching for a Toastmasters club may never get down as far as you are. We can compensate.

First, we've found that, in my area at least, the people who find us through the TI site are a distinct minority, compared to Google and social media. The following is a huuuuge list of things that can improve your Google visibility, and you probably won't accomplish them in a week or even a month, but they work:

support.toastmastersclubs.org/doc/item/improving-google-ranking

Next, while you point to your Facebook page from your website, Your Facebook page never points BACK to your website. While the "Send Message" button there can be repurposed to instead bring people to your site, you may prefer to use it as is, so there are other options. You can include links to your website in the text of some of your actual Facebook posts. Do this a lot; it's free.

If you can find local Facebook groups for community activities, you might consider (only very occasionally!!) sharing one of your Facebook posts there. Make it a really good post: clever, visually interesting, explaining what Toastmasters actually does (some people thing we sit around, proposing toasts...)and most importantly, ending with a link to your website. Community events calendars are also great places to leave links.

Now, to your website itself...

When people visit your site, they'll likely first want to know what you can do for them, and if they like that, whether you fit their schadule. You want to answer these things fast, fast, fast, as lots of people do a quick scan for 5-15 seconds, and if they're not immediately fascinated, they're gone.

Your opening paragraphs properly answer the when, but could do more to explain exactly what you can do for them. The rest of this paragraph is purely my opinion; take it with as large a grain of salt as you'd like. I think that words like "empowered" and "effective" are far too abstract for someone judging you in 5-15 seconds. Instead of making them guess, tell them what you can do for them: better speaker, remove stage-fright, communication, confidence, leadership, comeraderie, etc. Don't forget to tell them it's actually fun.

You can wind-down with effective & empowered, `cuz you've now given a context that explains what they mean. I would move the pointer to the TI site further down the page; it kinda changes the subject, where it is, and might distract a person deciding if they want to visit or not. (Many people are just as scared to visit a group of strangers as they are facing an audience. Help them make the right decision.)

As far as being afraid to visit strangers goes, we've found with Google analytics that MANY visitors went directly from our home page to Meet Our Members. This gives them the first hint of what it'll be like if they do visit, and looking at MOM suggests they're thinking about it. You want to get this page filled in; it'll take cooperation from the whole club. If they don't want their picture & bio posted online, suggest they substitute a picture of a favorite pet, stuffed animal, cartoon character, or some representative object. Instead of a bio, they might add a short testimonial on what Toastmasters and your club has done for them. People READ these; make them count. Offer to help your members produce them; this is much higher on your priority list than it is on theirs.

On the Meeting Information/Directions page, you might duplicate the info on how to get the Zoom link.

Your Public Dowloads area is empty. That's okay, but there's a check box to remove it from the menu. I wouldn't give a visitor a link to an empty page.

Adding even more Meet Our Members info on the homepage is a fine idea; make sure to point them to the other such page as well (after you get the members to put in their info...) The nice thing about what you've done here is you can put more detailed testimonials on your home page, reassure a timid prospective visitor, and sell your club even better.

Thank you very much Wesb, that is extremely useful feedback. I don't care that it took you so long to respond, I genuinely appreciate that you did! There is a lot for me to work on and I'll start to implement some of your suggestions piece by piece over the next few weeks.

To get more hits I won't repeat what's already been said but I will say that you can choose 10 to 15 key words and repeat them often each of your web pages. Search engines look at content so having key words like "public speaking" and "leadership" mentioned several times will elevate your site in searches.

I like that you've kept your website simple. It will be easy to keep it up to date. It appears that you are not using Page Variables for your next meeting info on the home page. I found out about variables here: support.toastmastersclubs.org/2011-10-23...e-web-page-variables

In my club's, our goal with having a website is to get more guests into the meeting. If that is your goal then consider removing everything from your HOME page that does not speak directly to your prospective guests about your club. Answer their question, "What's in it for me?" Keep the home page simple with a clear and direct message. Include a specific invitation to be a guest. Don't assume they know.

Having your meeting info up front is great.

I would not introduce Toastmasters International on the home page - this is where you introduce your club and what makes you unique among all other Toastmasters clubs. Perhaps have an About Toastmasters page and move this info there.

You could clean up the home page by removing the Facebook link and instead hyperlinking words like: VISIT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE.

Unless your club officers are rock star's in the general community that the average person will recognize, I'm not certain that having the officer's bio on the home page fits the goal of getting people to attend a meeting. Maybe move the bios to the Meet our Member's Page.

To give the Home Page a bit more excitement, divide it up into sections. For one section use the entire screen as a single column, for the next section use two columns. You could use one column for a photo and the other for text beside it. This is very pleasing to the eye if you alternate sections like this and helps to organize your sections better.

The fees page would benefit from a photo. Photos are good. Answer the question for me, "what am I getting?" Think about your features and benefits for the prospective member. From your home page I gather that you are open to international members. That being the case then perhaps include a currency converter. I'm sure that "$" is different in Australia than in the USA.

That's my 2 cents worth. Thanks for allowing me to comment.