First impressions are everything and the same goes for your website.  A clean, easy to navigate, attractive site will bring visitors back again and again.   How you present your content is an essential building block when persuading others to take up your cause on the Web.  You may have a very attractive site, but if content isn’t concise, easy-to-read and relevant, your visitors might only take a look at it one time and never return. Here are a few ideas to attract visitors, and keep them returning to your website on a regular basis:

Tell your story
Sharing your historical background and displaying your mission statement are a great way to let visitors learn about your company and the goals you are trying to achieve.

Social Media
Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter are great ways to share videos, start a discussion about an interesting fact or spread the word about an event.   Include your Social Media Links throughout your website; the Header and Footer are great places to display these.  Remember, always link back to your website from your Social Media Pages. 

Testimonials and Accomplishments
Share the great experiences yours customers have had with new potential business.  People are interested in hearing these stories and relationships you have with current customers - Peace of Mind.  Post your accomplishments, any awards or groups your company belongs to should be displayed.  Request logos and documents from the different companies and post these to your website.

Update Content
Update your content on a regular basis, change images around and post new videos.  Visitors will be eager to return to your site to see what is new and exciting.  Also, be sure to make the information you post media friendly: display press releases and content-specific items with related contact information. Submit press releases to related news sites on the Web.

Search Engine Friendly Content
Make sure your content is Search Engine Friendly, using words that pertain to your industry.  Do not forget about videos, images and documents.  Rename these items with your industry keywords.  These can also have Search Engine Friendly Content. 

News and Blog Posts
Including blog and news area generates big advantages for non-profit sites.  Simply put, if you offer news about your organization, people who are interested will come back on a regular basis or subscribe to your RSS feed.

This keeps your site visible and makes it more likely members of your audience will become involved in the future.   The other advantage, blog postings and news articles often quote each other; increasing exposure and bringing more traffic to your site. Finally, consistently updated content increases your search engine visibility. This makes it easier for people looking for information related to your organization to find your site.

Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Using keywords that are specific to your organization when writing content for your non-profit website, you have a better opportunity of being discovered by search engines like Google and Bing! When you are easy to find in search engine directories, you are more likely to attract visitors to your site.  Always keep in mind your human audience. Resist the urge to overuse keywords; driving people away. A good rule-of-thumb; if your content sounds repetitive, you’ve probably used a key-word a too many times.

Updated and Well Organized Content
It is critically important to deliver relevant content to the widely varied audiences that non-profits attract.  Give people reasons to return frequently.  If your website’s information is not current and fresh, it will not engage users and they will respond by not coming back. Creating a vibrant, easily updatable website should your main goal – from the structure to the design to your site’s overall functionality.  Building your site in a content management system (CMS) allows the flexibility for your site to be updated on a regular basis.

Make Your Site Media-Friendly
Receiving positive media attention can be an added bonus for a non-profit organization.  It could bring in more donations or simply raise the profile of your organization.   Attention from journalists and bloggers can have a huge impact on your non-profit website.  Make it easy for the press to find information about your organization, without having to directly contact your business.

Other items to include:

• Profiles of your Board of Directors, Founders and other key personnel
• Include email and phone numbers
• Provide downloadable media kits
• Offer downloadable images
• Press-ready quotes from members, directors and outsiders
• Allow permissions for media and other interested organizations the use of these items in news coverage’s