Optimizing The Member Experience on Your Association Website

By: Sarah Ferguson

Imagine Trisha, a recent college graduate, joins your technical engineering association. She’s excited about the perks of membership, such as access to exclusive networking events, a mentorship program, and a job board. 

 

However, once Trisha signs up for her membership, she notices that your association’s website is tricky to use. It’s challenging to find the resources your organization promised to provide, and there is a lot of outdated information to wade through to discover details about upcoming events and opportunities. 

 

If you were in Trisha’s shoes, you would likely be unhappy with your decision to join the association and would probably not plan to renew your membership in the future—if you didn’t ask for your money back first! 

 

This hypothetical scenario illustrates an important truth for all associations operating in the modern age: Your website is a critical tool that must meet your current and potential members’ expectations in order to keep your community healthy and experience long-term organizational success. 

 

Association industry experts anticipate a bright future for associations in the new year—prepare for success now by improving the member experience on your organization’s website! Explore our top tips below.

1. Prioritize user-friendly navigation.

Begin by taking a critical look at your website’s navigation. It should be easy for website visitors to find the information they’re looking for, engage with your content, and take action. Here are some best practices to apply to ensure a seamless experience: 

 

  • Refine your navigation menu. Your top-level navigation menu should be simple, focusing on just a few main categories or pages. For most associations, these will be things like About Us, Member Resources, Donate, Events, Blog, and Contact Us. If you wish to feature other pages, you can nest them under these main categories using dropdown menus. Also, consider making your navigation menu sticky so it will stay visible at the top of the screen as visitors scroll down pages.

Add a search function. Sometimes, visitors will know exactly what information, resource, or tool they’re looking for when they land on your site. Prepare for these situations by incorporating a visible and easy-to-access search bar in your website header. You can further enhance the search experience by offering filter options or an autocomplete function. 

Place calls to action in prominent places across the site. Calls to action are simple, eye-catching phrases that encourage website visitors to do something. Usually, you’ll want to use calls to action on your website to guide visitors to your most important action pages, like your membership registration page or donation page. Write eye-catching phrases like “Become a member now” or “Donate to join the fight today” and ensure your calls to action stand out visually, like on a prominent, colorful button. Use a tool like Google Analytics to monitor traffic to your action pages and improve your CTA strategy.

Organization on-page information logically. On the individual web page level, you should also ensure that information is organized logically. Use headings to organize your content, ensuring that different sections and subsections are marked with headers in sequentially descending order. (As a bonus, this is great for search engine optimization, as it helps search engines like Google understand your content more easily!) 

Key Takeaway: Ensure it’s simple and easy for website visitors to find their way around your website and guide them toward your most important pages. 

2. Set up a members portal.

To stand out as a first-choice association in your field or industry, you need to offer first-rate membership benefits—access to industry resources, discounts, community, and more. While the specifics of your membership program will depend on your organization and what you know about your members’ needs, you can set the tone for a great membership experience by offering a members portal on your website. 

 

Membership portals provide members with a central hub of resources, information, and opportunities, as well as tools for managing membership. 

 

Follow these steps to implement a members portal on your site: 


  • Choose a reliable membership management platform. A membership management platform integrates with your website and allows you to offer a members portal. When shopping for a membership platform, look for features like messaging, community forums, event registration and ticketing, the ability to create and share exclusive content, and volunteer management. 


  • Customize your platform. After you’ve implemented your chosen tool, customize it to match your organization’s brand. This will help members perceive your platform as reliable, trustworthy, and connected to your specific association. Once your members portal is up and running, members should be able to further customize their experience by configuring their dashboard to their liking or modifying notification preferences. 


  • Design a user-friendly interface. Your members portal should feature a well-organized dashboard and (like your website) be easy to navigate. Also, ensure the portal is mobile-optimized so members can easily access it from smartphones or tablets. 


  • Implement security measures. Keep your portal secure to maintain trust with your members. Add a CAPTCHA or email verification step to the membership registration process to prevent bot registrations. When members are prompted to make a password, require complex passwords that have a mixture of letters, numbers, and special characters. You can also offer two-factor authentication to further secure login and password information. 


  • Set up community and communication features. One of the best parts of joining an association is becoming part of a community. Ensure that members can message each other, participate in forums, and access member directories to expand their networks. 

 

  • Offer customer support. Members should have the support they need if they encounter issues using your members portal. Provide a help desk, knowledge base, or live chat to help troubleshoot technical issues and answer membership-related questions. Also provide your team’s contact information should issues or questions require more than these resources can provide.   

 

Key Takeaway: A members portal can be the central online hub of your members’ experience with your organization. Brand the portal to your organization and cater the features to your members’ core needs. 

3. Provide useful resources and important information.

Knowledge is power, and one of the biggest benefits of being an association member is having access to useful resources and important information that can help you take your career to the next level, take action for a cause you love, and more. 

Note that you’ll want to keep some resources public and others exclusive to members only. You may also find it useful to share some resources or parts of resources with all website visitors to “tease” what your organization has to offer and encourage more people to sign up for a membership. 

Here are some resources or types of information you may want to consider including on your website: 

  • Searchable member directory. Directories allow members to get to know other people in your association and connect with them. Ensure you revisit your directory regularly to ensure that all entries stay current. 
  • Educational materials. You likely have eBooks, whitepapers, case studies, research reports, and industry insights that association members will find useful. Store these in a resource library and ensure they’re in easy-to-access formats, like downloadable PDFs. 
  • Webinars and other recorded content. Webinars, conference sessions, and workshops are also effective ways for your association members to learn. Consider providing access to past event recordings.
  • Events calendar. Offer an up-to-date events calendar that shows events, socials, conferences, webinars, and volunteer opportunities. Provide an easy-to-use registration tool so interested individuals can quickly sign up and secure their spot. 
  • Details on certification and training programs offered. If your association offers professional development opportunities, provide information on time, location, cost, and eligibility. 
  • Job board. Job boards or career centers where you feature open positions in your industry or field can be extremely helpful to job seekers in your community. Allow trustworthy organizations to share job openings, but ensure your team vets them before posting them to your community. 
  • Membership information. Provide comprehensive information on your membership program and the different tiers and benefits you offer. This will empower members (and non-members) to make educated decisions about joining your organization and at what level.
  • Petition and letter templates. If your association does any advocacy work, you’ll want to set members up to help you take action. Provide pre-written letters, access to petitions, and social media post templates. 
  • Fundraising tools. According to Cornershop Creative’s digital fundraising guide, peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraisers and crowdfunding campaigns can effectively raise money for your organization. Equip members with customizable fundraising pages for P2P efforts or links to crowdfunding sites. 
  • Annual reports and impact information. Keep your website visitors in the loop about how things are going for your organization. Provide access to your most recent annual reports, financial statements, and impact information to promote transparency and honesty with everyone who interacts with your association. 
  • Blog posts. Share organizational updates, special announcements, and educational information on your blog. Regularly posting on your blog can help signal to all website visitors that your site is active and up to date.  

Key Takeaway: Whatever resources and information you choose to share on your website, make sure to take the time to decide what will be available to everyone and what will only be available to members. 

 

Your association’s website is a powerful tool for promoting your organization, connecting members, and encouraging action. Follow the tips above to ensure an excellent member experience on your site. As you do, you’ll retain more members and pave the way for a long and successful future as an association!

Chris Vaughan, Ph.D.

Chris Vaughan is the Chief Strategy Officer at Sequence Consulting, with over 24 years of experience helping associations grow. Specializing in membership and revenue strategies, Chris partners with organizations to deliver transformational growth and enduring change.

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