As the head of or a worker at a charity, you know how important it is to have a solid online presence. A website is a great way to share your charity’s story, attract donors, and keep supporters updated on your work. But with so many moving parts (and so much at stake), building a website can be daunting.
In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to do to build a beautiful, functional website for your charity—step by step.
1) Decide on Your Goal
Before you build your website, it’s essential to take a step back and decide what you want your website to accomplish. Do you want to use it as a platform to share your charity’s story? To attract new donors? To keep existing supporters updated on your work?
Once you know your goal, you can start making design, content, and functionality decisions. Remember, it’s essential to know your main objective/s ahead of time to make informed strategic decisions about how you want your website to look, feel, and function.
2) Choose a Web Hosting Provider
Next, it’s time to choose a web hosting provider. Getting a web hosting service is basically like renting space on the internet for your website. Some factors to consider when choosing a web hosting provider include:
- Price
- Compatibility with your website design software (e.g., WordPress, Joomla)
- Server speed and reliability
There are many different web hosting services out there (some of which are free), so take some time to research your options and decide which one is right for you. Once you’ve selected a web hosting service, you can set up your domain name with them!
3) Choose Your Domain Name
Your domain name is the URL people will use to access your website (for example, www.example.com). When choosing a domain name, keep it short, simple, and easy to remember. If possible, try to incorporate one or more keywords related to your charity or cause—this will help people find your site more quickly when they search for it online. Once you’ve settled on a domain name, you can register it through a web hosting service like GoDaddy or WordPress.com.
Before you decide on the domain name for your cause, you’ll have to consider your charity’s existing name, the type of domain name you want (e.g., .net or .com), and any other restrictions or limitations (some web hosting services only allow certain types of domains).
4) Choose a Theme
Most web hosting services will allow you to select from pre-designed themes (or “templates”) when creating your site. These themes usually include essential design elements and color schemes—all you have to do is add your content (text, images, videos, etc.). If you want more control over the look and feel of your site and if you’re working with a limited budget, some free customizable themes are available online that can be personalized to fit your needs. Once you’ve selected a theme (or template), it’s time to start adding content!
5) Add Content
The content you’ll need to add depends on what goals you defined in Step 1. But some common types of content include text (in the form of blog posts or articles), images, videos, infographics, and audio files. As you add content, optimize it for search engines using keyword-rich titles and descriptions. This will help people find your site when they search for terms related to your charity or cause online. You should also ensure that all of your site’s content is high-quality and accurate. After all, potential donors will be looking at this information when deciding whether or not they want to support your organization!
6) Hire a Developer
Hiring a website developer is a good idea if you’re not comfortable working with web design software or don’t have the time to create and manage your website. These professionals can help you build your site from scratch, add new features and functionality, or perform routine maintenance tasks such as updating plugins and fixing bugs.
You can even consider hiring an expert in Headless development, which allows you to introduce new features and UX/UI changes without compromising stability or customer experience during the process. An SEO expert can also help optimize your site for search engines, ensuring that more people can find your charity online when they’re searching for related terms.
Creating a website for your charity can be daunting, but if you take it one step at a time and follow these six steps, you’ll be well on your way to having an online presence that helps promote your cause and drives donations. And don’t forget to enlist the help of professionals when needed—developers, web designers, and SEO experts can all help make the process easier and ensure that your website is functioning at its best.
