What do you do if your volunteering program has outgrown its website builder?
You love volunteering and you want to share your passion with others. You've created a website for your volunteering program using a website builder, but you've noticed some limitations. Maybe your website is slow, unresponsive, or hard to customize. Maybe you want to add more features, like a blog, a donation page, or a registration form. Maybe you want to improve your SEO, security, or analytics. Whatever the reason, you feel like your website builder is holding you back. So, what do you do if your volunteering program has outgrown its website builder?
The first step is to assess your needs and goals for your website. What do you want your website to do for your volunteering program? How do you want to communicate with your audience, donors, and volunteers? What kind of content, functionality, and design do you need? Make a list of your must-haves, nice-to-haves, and deal-breakers. This will help you narrow down your options and find the best solution for your website.
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Identify what your current website lacks. This could include issues with scalability, limited design options, inadequate performance, or missing functionalities like event management, volunteer sign-up forms, or donation . List all the features and improvements needed for the new website. Consider future growth, potential increases in traffic, and additional functionalities.
The next step is to explore your options and compare them with your needs. There are three main options for creating a website: website builders, content management systems (CMS), and custom development. Website builders are easy to use, but they have limited flexibility and control. CMS are more powerful and customizable, but they require some technical skills and maintenance. Custom development is the most flexible and tailored, but it is also the most expensive and time-consuming. Depending on your budget, time, and expertise, you can choose the option that suits you best.
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Explore more robust website platforms such as WordPress (highly customizable with plugins), Wix (user-friendly with extensive design options), Squarespace (great for design and simplicity), or Joomla (flexible and powerful). For large-scale needs, consider custom development using frameworks like React, Angular, or a CMS like Drupal. Compare the platforms based on your identified needs, considering factors such as ease of use, scalability, cost, support, and available integrations.
The third step is to plan your migration from your website builder to your new platform. This involves backing up your data, transferring your domain name, redirecting your URLs, and testing your new website. You may also need to update your content, design, and SEO according to your new platform's standards and features. Depending on the complexity of your website and the platform you choose, you may need to hire a professional web developer or consultant to help you with the migration.
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Develop a detailed plan that outlines each step of the migration process. Include a timeline, responsibilities, and a list of content and data to be transferred. Ensure that all current website data, including text, images, user information, and other critical data, is backed up securely before starting the migration process.
The final step is to launch your new website and promote it to your audience. You can announce your new website on your social media, email newsletter, or blog. You can also ask for feedback from your visitors, donors, and volunteers. You can use analytics tools to monitor your website's performance and identify any issues or opportunities. You can also keep updating and improving your website based on your goals and needs.
You've worked hard to create a website that reflects your volunteering program and its impact. By outgrowing your website builder, you've taken a big step towards reaching more people and making a difference. Congratulations on your new website!
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Involve key stakeholders in the redesign process to ensure the new website meets the needs of volunteers, donors, and other users. Redesign the website with a focus on UX, ensuring easy navigation, clear calls to action, and accessible information. Consider user feedback from the current site to inform improvements. Integrate advanced features such as event management systems, online volunteer sign-up forms, donation portals, volunteer dashboards, and resource libraries.
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Keep the website platform, plugins, and themes updated to ensure security and functionality. Use analytics tools to monitor site performance, user engagement, and other key metrics. Make adjustments based on the data. Regularly update the website with fresh content, such as news, events, blog posts, and volunteer opportunities, to keep it engaging and relevant. Implement robust security measures, such as SSL certificates, regular backups, and security plugins, to protect against cyber threats.
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