3 Simple Ways To Improve Your Club's Website

The world of web design is fickle and ever-changing. One-minute, bright, eye-catching websites are all the rage; the next, dark, brooding ones that look like they listen to Pearl Jam; and the next, websites so minimalistic they might not even be there. 

It's enough to make you want to stick your head in the sand and stick with one website design forever. Unfortunately, though, that isn't a great idea either. Your website needs to be up-to-date and at least relatively trendy; otherwise, it's not going to be very good at attracting new members to your club or association. 

Your website will be the first impression the vast majority of potential members get of your club. If it isn't a good one, you might be really crippling your club's ability to grow and increase your membership. 

Today, we will cover three simple ways to improve your club's website and ensure it is helping you recruit new members. 

1. Make Your Club’s Website Visually Appealing

Web design trends constantly change, but updating your website for every little trend is unnecessary. It can be exhausting and may negatively impact your club's branding in the long run. However, it's a good idea to modernise your website every few years to avoid falling too far behind. Refreshing your website every few years is a great way to keep it up-to-date and at its peak. 

Otherwise known as the Wednesday Addams approach, she drops back in every few years, slightly updated to remind us that she's the dark lord of goths and then leaves again. 

 

As an example of how much the trends in web design have changed, below are two screenshots of the graphic design company Hello Muller’s website. On the left is their website from a little over ten years ago, and on the right is their site today.

 

 

These sites don’t look different because of technological advancements; they look different because styles evolve. Also note that despite the massive changes in their website, their logo and primary colour have remained the same. This is an excellent example of strong, consistent branding over a decade. 

For more information on club branding, please read How To Properly Brand Your Club.

There is a current trend towards very bold, large web pages that display only a small amount of information per screen, all with minimalist menus. 

Here is an example of digital trendsetters Apple doing precisely that.

 

 

This is what their website looks like when you zoom out and scroll down; for context, when you’re just reading it normally, this is how it looks. 

 

 

All I can see on my page at once is their barely there menu, the main thing they are trying to show me, and a glimpse of what's next, so I'm compelled to scroll down. 

Again, we don't need to chase trends or follow them to a T; plenty of websites still look stylish and trendy without going for the big, bold look. The Economist's website has a more traditional design, with ample white space that allows the reader's eyes to rest. The page is full yet orderly and not overwhelming. It is well-balanced, with easy-to-read text and a limited use of colours.  

 

 

There are so many different trends and styles of web design that we could spend all day looking at them. All you need to do is follow some basic design rules and ensure that your website is updated every few years. 

Some basic web design rules that you should apply to updating your website are as follows: 

• Ensure that the website flows visually. People will try to read your website from the top left corner to the bottom right, so make sure they can do that. 
   
• Make sure there is plenty of blank space between graphics and lumps of text. This gives the eyes somewhere to rest and ensures your site isn't too overwhelming. 
   
• Use no more than three colours in the design of your website. 
   
• Use no more than one or two simple, easy-to-read fonts. 
   
• Use graphics and images to capture attention. 
   
• Be sparing with GIFs and videos, and avoid anything that flashes. Your website should be visually appealing and not need an epilepsy warning. 
   
• Ensure your website reflects you as a club. Your club has its own unique style and personality; make sure your website matches and reflects that. 

 

For more information on building a great website for your club, please read Five Steps to Build an Effective Homepage.

2. Make Sure Your Club’s Website Is Optimised For Smartphones & Tablets 

Did you know that over 60% of website traffic comes from mobile devices? This means that most of your members will likely view your site on their phones. Of course, the numbers will vary depending on the average age of your members; let's be honest: if all your members are 80, they are unlikely to be browsing the web on their smartphones. 

However, regardless of your club's age demographics, the number of users accessing your website via their phones is significant and will only increase in the coming years. So, ensuring that your website runs well and looks good on phones and tablets is crucial. 

This increase in mobile users has been slowly growing for years and is unlikely to stop anytime soon. Mobile phones are smaller, cheaper, more convenient, and, of course, more mobile than computers.  

The following graph from Exploding Topics shows the growth in internet traffic from mobile devices over the past nine years. 

 

In 2015, only 30.16% of all internet usage was from mobile phones; as of 2024, it is 61.21%. This is the sort of slow, steady growth that will be unlikely to change anytime soon. So, let’s look at what it means to have your site optimised for smartphones and how you can achieve this.  

What Does It Mean To Have A Mobile Friendly Website For Your Club?

Having a mobile-friendly website means your club’s website will adapt to the device that views it. Very simply, your club’s website will automatically zoom in and rearrange its set pieces to look good and be easy to read and navigate on any device that views it. 

Below is an example of why this is so important. On the left is what the Member Jungle website would look like on a phone if it had not been optimised for smartphones, and on the right is what it actually looks like on a phone. 

 

It’s pretty clear that one of those is a lot better than the other. Basically, you need your website to make an excellent first impression for your club. To do that, it needs to be legible on a phone, which is how most people view your website. 

The good news is that the vast majority of website designer services are going to include adaptive websites that work on mobile devices as part of their services. Whether you use a website builder like Wix or Squarespace or a membership management system that includes a website like Wild Apricot or Member Jungle, you are going to have a website that works on phones, too. 

Here is the website of one of the clubs we work with – the Toyota Car Club of Australia. Their website is designed to adapt to computers and smartphones, ensuring it makes a good impression no matter what device people use.
 

 

If your website was made or refreshed within the last few years, it will probably already be optimised for mobile devices. However, it is definitely worth double-checking. If your website is older than a few years, it may or may not work fine on mobile devices, so double-check. If it doesn't, it's high time to get it optimised for phones. 

Getting A Mobile App For Your Club 

With the increasing number of users accessing websites from their mobile devices, it has become crucial for clubs to make their websites more mobile-friendly. One popular approach to achieving this is using mobile apps for clubs. 

Mobile apps offer many advantages over websites optimised for phones. Firstly, they provide a more personalised and immersive experience for users. They promote higher engagement and loyalty among members, are easily accessible from phone home screens and provide convenient access to club resources and events.

They come with features like push notifications, limited offline access to content, and integration with device functions like camera and GPS. Besides, apps can use the device's native capabilities, leading to smoother performance and better user interface design. 

While mobile apps will never replace websites outright, they are a crucial tool in your club's evolution and worth exploring, as they will be very useful in the years to come. 

3. Post Regular & Quality Content To Improve Your Club’s Website

The final thing you need to do to improve your club's website is just to give it love. Update content, post regularly, and generally maintain your website. Enhancing the quality of web content is essential for any club to keep its website up-to-date and engaging for its members and prospective members alike. There are a wide range of ways to do this, but for now, let's just focus on the big, easy ones because you're busy and have plenty of other things to do. 

No one expects you to put as much effort into updating your website as the average male bird does into attracting a mate. 

Is that a weird metaphor? Yes. Did I shoehorn it in there just so I could share this picture of a male Superb Bird of Paradise trying to attract a mate? Also yes. 

For reference, the female is the one that looks like a bird, and the male is the one that looks like a haunted frisbee. 

Regularly updating your site's content demonstrates the club is active and engaged with its audience. When a prospective member opens your website, it should look like a hive of activity, not covered in metaphorical cobwebs. 

You can achieve this by regularly updating event listings, news sections, and membership information to reflect the latest developments and activities within the club. It's always good to have something new on your website's main page that shows your club is up and running. It could be a fresh news or blog post with the date clearly mentioned or a banner that highlights your next event. The important thing is to let people know that your club is active and thriving.

Ensuring your website's content is relevant and valuable to your members is crucial. This can be done by providing resources, articles, or guides related to your club's interests or industry. Show potential members that your club is a repository of wisdom they should want to be a part of. By addressing visitors' needs and interests, the website will become a reliable source of information and a valuable resource for its members. Don't be afraid to put information behind a members-only paywall to entice new members to sign up. 

Finally, adding multimedia elements like stunning images, videos, and infographics can make your website visually appealing and keep visitors hooked and scrolling. This type of content is excellent at getting information across and making sure people keep looking around your website. 

Focusing on these aspects of content quality can help your club create a website that is informative, engaging, and valuable to its members and visitors and plays a big role in recruiting new members and growing your club. 

Where To From Here?

As you’ve probably gathered from all this, your club’s website is a crucial part of your club’s ability to function and attract new members. Some of the ways to improve your club can only be done by you, while others can be outsourced to relieve some of your workload. 

If you are interested in finding out more about how a membership management system can help your club improve its website, then read Customise Your Member Jungle Website To Suit Your Club’s Voice & Tone.

If you want more general information about what membership management software even is before you even think about updating your website, then check out What Is Membership Management Software For Nonprofits? - All Your Questions Answered.

If you are already a Member Jungle customer and are thinking about giving your website a little refresh, Open A Support Ticket to talk to a team member and get all the details you need.