In today's digital age, having a website for your association is a must. It serves as a hub for all your activities and events, helps you communicate with your constituents, and enables you to reach a wider audience.
But a website is more than just a collection of pages and images. It needs to be an effective tool that drives revenue for your association, and the key to achieving that is through effective website content. In fact, 25% of associations say that creating targeted communication helped boost member engagement.
Below, we share some top tips on how associations can create effective website content to drive membership and revenue.
Identify Your Primary Audience
The first step in creating effective website content is to know your audience. You need to understand their needs, wants, and preferences. What are their pain points? What are they looking for? What motivates them to engage with your association? Once you know your audience, you can tailor your content to meet their needs and interests.
For instance, if you're a professional association, your members may be looking for career advancement opportunities. In that case, you can create content that provides them with relevant information, such as job listings, career advice, and networking opportunities.
Share Valuable Information
Your website content needs to provide value to your members and prospects. It should be informative, educational, and relevant. The more value you provide, the more likely your audience will engage with your association and become members.
As you develop your strategy, keep the user’s journey top of mind to help ensure you’re creating content that matches your audience’s needs—and helps you gain new, valuable leads. For instance, you can create blog posts or white papers that provide in-depth information on a particular topic for users in the awareness stage. Alternatively, you could offer case studies for those in the consideration stage or free trials for those in the decision stage.
Additionally, don’t forget to optimize the headlines for these high-value content pieces and use a tool like this one to grade your headline’s effectiveness.
Utilize Landing Pages and Calls to Action
This brings us to our next point: landing pages and calls-to-action (CTAs), which are often used concurrently. A landing page is a specific page on your website that collects a visitor's contact information in exchange for a resource, like an e-book or guide, while a call to action encourages your audience to take a specific action, such as signing up for a membership, registering for an event, or downloading a resource.
Your CTAs should be clear, concise, and visible. They should also be placed strategically throughout your website content. For example, you can include a CTA at the end of your blog posts or on your homepage. They are also often located at the bottom of a form on a landing page and tout persuasive language such as “download your copy now,” “get your free resource,” and more.
Optimize For Search Engines
Search engine optimization (SEO) is another critical component of effective website content. It helps your website rank higher in search engine results pages, making it easier for your audience to find you.
To optimize your website content for search engines, you need to use relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and title tags. You also need to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and has a fast loading time. Some tools that can help you identify your website’s top-ranking keywords include Google Analytics and Google Search Console, and you can assess your site’s overall performance using tools like this free website grader.
Create Content That Drives Your Association’s Success
Your website is only as effective as the content you create. You need valuable, strategic content to drive your success—and that’s where we come in. Learn more about our comprehensive content services here, and feel free to reach out with any questions.
