As someone who is responsible for your community centre's website, you know the challenges of designing, building, managing and maintaining a website.
Even if the technical stuff is handled by someone else, you still need make sure that;
- it is appealing and useful to the people you expect to use it
- the website's information is correct
- it reduces your admin work by answering queries and automating processes
- it's both simple to use and at the same time offers the functions your visitors expect
There are many online systems around that you can use to create a website. Do you have the time, inclination and budget to investigate what's best? Are you interested in finding out exactly how you'll achieve what you need a website to 'do'?
The 7 Deadly Website Sins
Does your current website pass?
For a website to be effective, it must 'pass the pub test' for the people that visit it. Remember, it's not about you, it's about them - how well does your website suit the cohorts you are expecting and wanting to look at it? Are any of the following true?
- It doesn't guide website visitors on what to see or do
- Its information is out of date
- It doesn't work on smartphones or tablets
- It's not accessibility-friendly
- It's too slow
- It isn't useful
- It's difficult to update
If you said "Yes" to any of these, you have work to do.
A Full Website Make-Over
Winchelsea Community House relaunch
Like most community houses, Winchelsea has had a website for quite some time, and seen several iterations over the years. In 2020, it was time for a full replacement.
While the website software in use was quite capable and still being supported, it was being left in the dust by competitors in terms of ease of use, functionality, range of options, and overall cost of ownership. The advent of Covid with its greater emphasis on all things online highlighted its dated design.
It was time to switch to something new.
By switching over to Websites for Community Centres, the underlying structure and functionality was already done for the new Winch House website. A bit of customising with their own contact details, photos and words, and the site was ready to go.
But it didn't stop there. Websites for Community Centres provides an excellent starting position with all the basics covered;
- services & activities
- what's on calendar
- easy-to-find contact & location info
- enquiry form & suggestion box
However, it is easy to add and fill additional webpages - for example, staff profiles, Committee member profiles, the history of the community house. Winchelsea Community House continues to build on and add to their new website, keeping it fresh, interesting, and useful.
It's All Easy Now
A website from Websites for Community Centres makes it easy for you;
- Straightforward budgetting - an affordable monthly subscription
- No technical maintenance - website software and webservers are all managed and maintained for you
- Fast account activation - get the ball rolling quickly
- Pre-designed layout and base pages - no need to reinvent the wheel, just fill in with your own info
- Multi-user access - allow staff/volunteers to help update the website, but keep control
- Online bookings - hire out rooms or book people/courses (free or paid)
- Online payments - add your Paypal or Stripe details to accept payment for services, courses, events...
Levi Watson
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ESSENTIALS
- Predesigned and ready-to-fill base webpages - Home, Services, Activities, Groups, Resources, Contact & Location
- Unlimited sub-pages for each Service, Activity, Group and/or Resource
- Calendar of events and What's On
- Add your own extra pages
- A fast and responsive website - automatic speed & image optimisation
- Easy-to-use website editor and updater
PREMIUM
- Everything in 'Essentials' plus...
- Take online resource bookings - people, rooms, equipment, courses... synced to your calendar
- Accept online payments using your own Paypal and/or Stripe account*
- Monthly website-visitor statistics report emailed to you
PREMIUM ASSIST
- Everything in 'Premium' plus...
- Outsource your website person
- Up to 12 hours/month for any content updates
- Basic image editing and uploading (cropping, resizing, removing background)
* We recommend setting up both Paypal and Stripe accounts for your community centre. Both allow online payments, both are free to setup, both are secure and significant financial institutions, both have similar commission costs. Stripe will deposit proceeds directly into your bank account, whereas Paypal keeps proceeds in your Paypal account - you may prefer the former for accounting and reporting purposes.