How often have you heard: “I can’t locate that information on the website?” or, “can you help me locate what I am looking for?” Or you overhear your membership coordinator or administrator say, “we have communicated this information so many times” or, “why are members not accessing or utilizing the benefits offered?”
It can be frustrating when you spend valuable time updating your website so that members have what you consider easy access to all the association benefits and resources, which you worked diligently on obtaining, and members just don’t see it, utilize it or access it.
Yes, I know that research has shown that on average, individuals must be “touched” seven times before “taking action”. However, I would recommend viewing the world through the eyes of your members on a regular basis.
Normally, we can navigate the website with minimal thought or effort – well, we manage the association – we should know where all the tools & resources are. However, we need to remember that our members are not utilizing the website as often as we would like or hope they are.
Members are running successful businesses and have little time to peruse the website, familiarize themselves with every benefit, or link to all programs.
Staff should make it a practice to navigate the website from a member’s perspective. Click on the links, review the text, explore the vendor or partner pages. This is a good opportunity to identify issues, create landing pages, revise text, etc.
If you have an issue navigating or accessing the information, your members are going to have the same issue. Take the time to correct the problem or resolve the issue. Create a positive experience for your members and they will continue to visit the site, without the frustration or the questions.
