Tips for making your website a more powerful engine

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, general public.

When it comes to marketing on the Internet, your website is your primary marketing machine. It’s the headwaters people go to when they want to swim upstream and find out what you’re really about. It’s also the place where you convert email subscribers, donors and volunteers. Following are five things you can start doing today to amp up your material and make your website content more remarkable.

Tell meaningful stories

1Have you ever wondered why getting people to volunteer and donate seems so difficult? It’s not necessarily that the economy sucks or that your cause is unsexy. It’s about motivating people by telling a story that moves them. Motion requires emotion.

Creating emotional stories is easier when you keep these tips in mind:

• Bigger than you – Stories that matter are bigger than you and your organization. It’s in the eyes of your people. Check out the story that GLAAD is telling with their timeline for inspiration.
• Include your supporters – A well-written story comprises the chapters that your supporters have written. Take a look at how Livestrong does this.
• Stay positive – The story that you tell should ultimately empower and encourage people. When things seem darkest, you can brighten your own way by lighting another person’s candle.
• Plot points - Make sure your stories have a beginning, middle and end (conflict, challenge, resolution) to keep readers engaged.
• Protagonist - Your stories should have an underdog that people can personally identify with. Use personas to help you fill in the details about these characters.

Use second-person narrative

2Use second-person narrative to speak more directly to your reader. The Internet is a solitary medium where individuals – not groups – read content. Rewrite your copy as if you’re writing a personal email to one of your constituents. Read more about second-person narrative here. Continue reading →