Explore 5 Club Websites to Inspire Your Club Website Journey

One of my favourite websites of all time (don’t act like you don’t have a colour-coded list, too) is a joke website made by the TV show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In a segment, John highlighted a trend where people make up quotes that support their opinions and then add them to an image of a famous person to lend their random nonsense more credence.

To further make this point, he unveiled a website called Definitely Real Quotes, a site that definitely doesn’t just assign random quotes and phrases next to a picture of a historical figure. 

Here are some randomly generated examples of these definitely real quotes. 

 

This brings us to the point of today's article: a great website can capture your audience's attention and stick in their minds. This holds true for club websites, which prove an evergreen tool for promoting clubs and enabling them to grow their membership base. 

With that in mind, today, we will look at some common features of effective websites and five examples of awesome club websites. By the time we're done, you will have a really clear picture of what makes a club website effective and plenty of inspiration for creating your own amazing club website. 

I've officially rabbited on for too long, so let's get into it.

Features That Make A Club Website Great

Several important features make a club website great. These include everything from the superficial to the behind-the-scenes stuff that makes a website operate. So, let’s quickly go over a few key features that make a website great.  

How Eye-Catching Is It?

How attention-grabbing a website is, plays a significant role in how likely the average person is to stay on that website for any period of time. When you first click on a website looking for something in particular, how visually appealing it is will play a large role in how likely you are to keep searching that site for whatever it is you’re after. 

The website must be visually interesting to capture people’s attention, but it should not be too busy or overwhelming. A website that is boring, hard to read, or so bright and full of flashing nonsense that it could be used as a nightclub’s lighting rig will make the average person leave in seconds. It won’t matter how good any other features of that website are if they drive people away or fail to capture their attention. 

So, when looking through the websites below, pay attention to how they balance being eye-catching with not being overwhelming.  

How Quickly You Can Work Out What The Website Is About?

Okay, so once you’ve clicked on the website and it has captured and kept your attention, the next question to ask is, how easy is it to work out what the website is about? 

When it comes to your club website, you want potential members to see quickly and easily what your club is about, what it does, and how they can join if they want to. The average person is not going to crawl through your website looking for details; they will want to see everything they are looking for or at least a straightforward way to navigate to what they are looking for from an initial glance. 

When looking through the websites below, pay attention to how easy it is to find the member login and join buttons, how easy it is to find the about us section, and what information is displayed prominently on the front page. 

How Well Does The Website Function?

The final test of a good website is how well it actually works. Load times can be affected by your internet connection or device. How quickly does it load? Are there any broken links? Do all the elements work properly? Does the website work on phones and tablets? These are essential questions to ask as you look through the websites below. 

Especially the phone part, as the percentage of people who access the internet from their phones is steadily increasing. Within a few years, phone users will likely exceed computer users of the internet. This means that ensuring your club’s website is optimised for phones is extremely important. 

Great Examples Of Club Websites 

Now that we’ve covered those features to watch out for, let's look at some great club websites in action. All of these websites are hosted by us, Member Jungle. Now, I know it seems pretty self-concited to put together a list of “the best club websites'' and only include ones that use our membership management system. 

However, I’ve done this for a few reasons:

1. I genuinely think these are all really good examples of club websites in action.
2. I never miss a chance to promote some of the fantastic clubs we work with.
3. And I won’t lie to you; by showcasing these websites, I’m also trying to provide proof that the Member Jungle membership management system is good and worth looking into for your club. 

 

Anyway, let's get to it. 

As we go through these websites, look at the attached screenshots, follow the links, and look through the websites themselves, keeping the points we discussed before in mind as you do so. 

1. The Royal Victorian Aero Club

 

The reasons I included the Royal Victorian Aero Club are simple. At a glance, I can see what they do and how to join them. Their website has a lot of information and beautiful images, but it has more than enough white space, so you don’t get overwhelmed while reading it. 

2. The Mackay Land Rover Club

While it loses a little of it in this zoomed-out whole-page screenshot, this website is stunning. I love the full-width slideshow of images right at the top with the really minimalist menu at the logo at the top. Also, because they went with quite a minimal design they can display a decent chunk of text at the top without it being overwhelming. I think this website does a great job of capturing your attention and conveying a lot of info about the club. 

3. Australian Hand Therapy Association

  

As I’m sure you can tell by the name, the Australian Hand Therapy Association is a professional medical association, and they certainly have a website to match. Their website feels clean and professional, and due to the full-page menu in the middle of their page, I imagine anyone who visits this site will quickly and easily be able to navigate to where they need to go, whether they are members, patients, or medical practitioners.   

4. The Cavalcade of History and Fashion

The Cavalcade of History and Fashion is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the history of fashion, particularly the Australian history of fashion. This is a goal that is quickly and effectively communicated by their website. All the important information and links to member login, the “About Us” and the “Support Us” pages are prominently displayed and easy to find.

 

5. Old Xaverians Football Club

 

 

Last but certainly not least, we have the Old Xaverians Football Club, which has a bright, bold website in its club colours. This website does a great job of capturing the viewers’ attention, providing a lively and exciting club experience and directing visitors to exactly what they are looking for. 

How You Can Start Improving Your Club Website 

Now that we’ve covered some of the key features that make a club website effective and gone over a few good examples of those features in action, let's talk about how you can start improving your website today.

If you’re looking for some ways to improve your club’s website, definitely check out 3 Simple Ways To Improve Your Club's Website. 

If you want to find out a little more about Member Jungle, and we do, get your peepers on How Does Member Jungle’s Membership Management System Work?

Finally, I will leave you with this definitely real piece of wisdom from Definitely Real Quotes.