It doesn’t matter if you have the most gut-wrenching stories about the mission of your not-for-profit organization; people still need to navigate your website and follow clear CTAs (calls to action) to interact with your business. There are millions of people worldwide, but that list of potential partners gets much smaller when you ask for new clients or possible donations.
As part of our team at Web 105’s continued commitment to ensuring you get the most value out of your website, we want to extend some advice over the common errors we see many in our industry making. The NDIS funding for getting a quality new website might look good, but if it isn’t optimized for these mistakes, you may not get the conversion rate you want. Let’s move through these and provide easy-to-follow solutions so you can maximize the reach and interactive elements of your NDIS not-for-profit website.
What is a Conversion Rate?
A conversion rate essentially measures the percentage of visitors who take a desired action on your site. This might be signing up for newsletters, donating, or simply accessing accessible information. Conversion rates are a gauge of your website’s effectiveness.
Surprisingly, the average conversion rate of all industries is only 2.9%. Direct traffic sources, in fact, convert the most with an average rate of 3.3%. These are not lines in the sand. Every website will be different, but it gives you a good idea of where to start. Maybe you get a 1% conversion rate, but people spend 5 or 10 minutes on your site and almost always contact your team. It is all relative.
In most cases, you can get your conversion rate by taking the total number of visitors who engage in an action and dividing that by the total number of visitors to your website.
So if 300 people donate funds and you get 3,000 monthly visitors, you’re looking at a conversion rate of 10% – which would be amazing!
Top NFP Website Issues to Fix
All right, now that we’ve covered the whole conversion rate issue, let’s move on to the actions you need to take to ratchet that number up:
01 | Targeting Too Many People
Many websites try to appeal to everyone and, in doing so, dilute their message. For example, if you work specifically with disabilities around blindness but target the entire world when you only serve Sydney, you target too many clients.
SOLUTION:
Instead of using text or marketing that teaches everyone, try to create target audience personas, and refine your message. You want to use data-driven insights from feedback through surveys or interactions to learn how to shrink your message to the specific tone, impact, and mission of your not-for-profit.
02 | Unclear Pitch
If visitors can’t quickly grasp your NDIS-supported non-profit’s mission, you risk losing them. It’s crucial to simplify things. Have you ever heard of the “elevator pitch?” It is the idea of delivering your business’s who, what, where, how, and why in 30 seconds or less to prospective partners and donors you meet during a short elevator ride. The same idea applies to messaging on your website.
SOLUTION:
Engage with major donors, partners, and volunteers to better understand and convey your ethos and mission. Ask them how they view your non-profit and what they think you are doing together. This will create language that you can use. No matter what – keep it simple!
03 | Bad Conversion Rate
Low conversion is a sign that something’s amiss. This is probably because your “conversion paths” are not optimized. Think of these as the lined walkways in movie theatres that point you to the restrooms or snack bars. You want to make your website so clear that visitors understand what they need to do to engage with your NDIS-supported organization.
SOLUTION:
Testing every element can make a difference, whether it’s your landing pages or the backend messaging. In fact, A/B testing landing page designs have been shown to increase conversions by 12%.
What do you test? The better question is, what are you hoping to achieve? If you want clients to contact you – test how they reach your company. If you want more donations – test how easy it is to land on your website and complete a donation transaction.
04 | Adding Complex Choices
Overwhelming visitors with multiple CTAs can confuse them. There are so many choices on every website that if people don’t know what the best option is, they simply won’t select any of them. If you stand in front of a candy machine with 200 choices, you’re going to be a while before putting in your coins.
SOLUTION:
It’s best to have distinct purposes for each page. Rather than asking to join an email list, donate, or volunteer simultaneously, segment these actions for clarity. Yes, you can have your homepage with different goals but try to keep things simple otherwise. This is especially true if you run ad campaigns or direct social media traffic toward an event or email sign-up.
05 | Overcomplicated Actions
In our age of rapid information consumption, simplicity is critical. Anytime a single action on your website feels overcomplicated, you will get a lower conversion rate. If there are too many steps or too much information to fill out, you are giving your visitors a poor user experience.
SOLUTION:
Reduce the steps for client onboarding, limit message box details to essential information like a first name, and ensure content is concise and clear. Try to cut down on any “bloat” on your website.
Not sure where to start? Ask a “typical client” to review your site and give you feedback. You’ll learn quickly if your intake form is too long. If they don’t want to spend the time, why would anyone else?
06 | You Don’t Have Trust Capital
Building trust is paramount for NDIS participants, support workers, and those invested in mental health and specific support areas. This takes time. How much you’d like to have the ultimate brand recognition and visitor interaction as possible, you are going to need to put in the work.
SOLUTION:
There are several ways to improve your trust capital, and almost all of them don’t require spending any more money than you‘ve already done. Suggestions include:
- Incorporate User Generated Content (UGC) on your site.
- Be transparent about fund utilization.
- Showcase your dedicated staff and volunteers with bios.
- Highlight positive stories or testimonials.
- Give evidence of how you are helping.
- Talk about your incredible clients.
- Make sure you have easy-to-use communication and contact pathways on your site.
07 | Some Clients Cannot View Your Website
In a world driven by the Australian government’s commitment to inclusivity, it’s essential to ensure your website is accessible to everyone, irrespective of their disability. That can be a tough call when working with many diverse clients.
SOLUTION:
Start by conducting an accessibility check to ensure all can easily navigate your site. This includes people with hearing, sight, or learning disabilities. There is a great tool you can use based on the US ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards that can give you some ideas. This will point out where you can improve your website for those clients. As a bonus, this also boosts your Google rank!
Conclusion
Empowering non-profit organizations with an effective website isn’t just about aesthetics or content. It’s about trust, accessibility, and ensuring the needs of NDIS participants and their support coordination teams are met.
While these issues can seem daunting, there’s hope. If you’re facing any of these challenges, Web 105 is here to help with expertise tailored to your unique needs. Reach out today and elevate your digital presence. We know how to streamline your website design, so all your elements are easy to reach, quick to navigate, and resonate with your target audience. Let’s create your new online presence.