Reach of Macon County Website Audit

Purpose

The purpose of conducting a website audit is to comprehensively evaluate the functionality and user experience of a website to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. By gaining insights Reach of Macon County can make informed decisions to enhance their online presence, improve user engagement, and ultimately achieve their digital marketing objectives.

General Brand/Style Guide Menu Homepage Pages Call To Action

General

Crafting a compelling website is crucial for capturing visitors' attention and guiding them through your website. Below are some general observations and opportunities for your site:

Logo/Brand:
There does not appear to be a logo or brand that is consistent from page to page.
Style Guide:
In general, the styles from page to page are similar, but there is a lot of variation in font-size from page to page, see more details on the Brand/Style Guide tab.
Menu:
The menu, in particular the sub-menus, are long both in words per menu item as well as number of items in each sub item, see more detail on Menu tab.
Homepage:
The homepage is mostly image based, what I refer to as a "paper towel roll." Meaning, everything is simply stacked one on top of the next, see more details in the Homepage tab.
Pages:
Similar to the homepage, many of the pages are set in the paper towel roll format. Relaying out pages to have a clear goal/message will be paramount, see more details in the Pages tab.
Call to Action:
There should be consistent asks to take the next step on every page, see more details on the Call to Action Tab.
Footer:
The footer is a valuable space to have static information that should always be present available. In general, your footer could use a re-layout, but has a lot of what I would expect to find in a well crafted footer.

Brand/Style Guide

By creating and adhering to a comprehensive branding guide, you can ensure consistency and cohesion in all aspects of your brand's identity, reinforcing brand recognition and trust among your audience. Below you will find some considerations in creating a style guide. By no means does everything below need to be in a style guide, but this will service as a roadmap to creating a style guide that makes sense for Reach of Macon County. Here is a sample of Design BIG Dreams' style guide (we keep ours readily available online):

DBD Style Guide

Brand Overview:
- Mission Statement: Define the purpose and values of your brand.
- Vision Statement: Describe the long-term goals and aspirations of your brand.
- Brand Story: Share the history and journey behind your brand, connecting with your audience on a deeper level.
Logo Usage:
- Clear guidelines on how to use the logo, including size, placement, and minimum clear space.
- Variations of the logo for different use cases (e.g., full color, black and white, stacked, horizontal).
- Prohibited uses of the logo, such as distortion, alteration, or placement on busy backgrounds.
Color Palette:
- Primary colors: Specify the main colors that represent your brand, along with their HEX, RGB, and CMYK values.
- Secondary colors: Provide additional colors that complement the primary palette, along with their usage guidelines.
Typography:
- Primary font: Choose a primary font (or fonts) for headlines and body text, specifying the font family, weights, and sizes.
- Secondary font: Select complementary fonts for use in specific contexts, such as subheadings or callouts.
Visual Elements:
- Photography style: Define the preferred style and tone of photography to be used in brand materials, including guidelines on subjects, composition, and editing.
- Illustration style: If applicable, outline the guidelines for illustrations, including style, color, and usage.
Voice and Tone:
- Describe the personality of your brand's voice (e.g., friendly, professional, authoritative) and provide examples of appropriate tone for different types of communication.
- Include dos and don'ts to ensure consistency in brand messaging across all channels.
Messaging Guidelines:
- Core messaging: Outline key messages and brand positioning statements that communicate your brand's unique value proposition.
- Tone of voice: Provide guidance on the language and tone to be used in various contexts, reflecting the brand's personality and values.
Brand Assets:
- Provide downloadable assets, such as logos, icons, patterns, and templates, for use in brand communications.
- Include specifications for print and digital assets, such as file formats, resolution, and sizing.
Usage Examples:
- Showcase examples of how the brand identity elements are applied across different mediums, such as websites, social media, print materials, and merchandise.
Brand Guidelines Maintenance:
- Specify who is responsible for maintaining and updating the brand guidelines over time.
- Include a process for requesting and approving deviations from the guidelines when necessary.

A well-structured website menu is essential for guiding visitors to the information they seek quickly and intuitively, enhancing user experience and reducing frustration. By organizing content logically and categorizing navigation options effectively, a clear menu structure improves overall site usability, encourages exploration, and ultimately increases visitor engagement and retention.

I put together a possible reordering of the menu, the main focus of this was to remove the More... menu option while maintaining a much tighter and intuitive layout. Here is an outline of how the menu maybe restructured:

Emergency Shelter - Combine with -Shelter Needs
Programs - Consider combining all of the following onto one landing page that then redirects users to each of these programs.
- Court Advocacy/Legal/Victims's Rights
- Violence Prevention Education
- Highlands/Nantahala and county wide resources
- NC crime Victims Copmensation Services
- Youth Advocacy
- Address Confidentiality Program
Resources
- Is Your Partner Abusing You?
- Forms of Abuse
  - Domestic Violence
  - Male Victim Advocacy
  - Sexual Violence
  - Child Abuse
  - Stalking
  - Human Trafficking
- Victim Resources
  - Deaf/Hard of Hearing
  - Individuals with Disabilities Resources
  - Domestic Violence Protective Order DVPO
  - Civil No-Contact Order 50C
- Information/Safety
  - Tips for family and friends
  - Healthy Vs. Unhealthy Relationships
  - Safety Plan
  - Self Defense Class Registration
  - Technology Safety
  - FREE Resources w/ Impact Health
  - Animal Kennel and Resources for Animals
Events - Made it its own menu, but could easily move back into the Support tab.
- These sub items are perfect.
Support Us - New Main menu item to house:
- Donate
- Volunteer & Newsletter Sign-Up\Volunteer Opportunity E-Blast -- Note, all sub pages should be combined.
- Brick Campaign
- Online Store
- Bargain Store
- Giving Tuesday - Probably could remove this so it only appears when relevant.
- Kennel Needs

Items Removed:

Home - if a logo is introduced, that serves as your home button.
Victim Advocacy Center Capital Campaign - This should be a call-to-action; either a pop-up or a dedicated place on the homepage.
En Espanol - This should be a button that is always available (much like the Safe Exit/Support/etc. buttons).
Contact Us! - Usually available in the footer.
Job Openings - Moved to Footer
Holiday Page - Really should only be available during relevant times of the year, and would recommend a pop-up to promote.
More... -- I would avoid this, how would a user know what is "more"

Homepage

The homepage of the website should reflect the purpose of your website. I provided a general list of considerations at the bottom of this section. However, I wanted to focus on specifics pertain to your website:

General Layout: The layout is the stacking one on top of each other style. Re-laying out the homepage to group related topics would be a huge benefit to guiding a user through the page.
What is the purpose of your website?
- Right now the homepage is difficult to discern.
- The first element is an image that is so large that the message embedded within it can't be fully read
- Then is a donate call to action, is that the first thing you want your users to do?
Image based: Images are great for showing rather than telling; however:
- The images on the site are very large, and make the page length very long.
- Content is embedded within the images so they cannot be interactive at all.
Call-to-actions (CTA): When approaching call-to-actions, I believe there are two types and should be handled differently:
- Evergreen CTA: These are always relevant call to actions. Consider a section, "How can we assist you" or "Are you a Victim?" and that then leads the user to a page tailored to their need.
- Season: These are only relevant during certain times of the year, ie. Giving Tuesday. I usually recommend a Pop-up or Slide in. You want to call special attention to these as they are not normal occurrences.

Here are some general content guidelines to consider:

Clear Value Proposition: Communicate what your website offers in a concise and compelling manner. Clearly state what sets your website apart and why visitors should explore further.
Headline and Subheadline: Use a clear and attention-grabbing headline to convey your main message. Support it with a brief subheadline that provides more context or elaborates on the headline.
Visual Elements: Incorporate high-quality images, videos, or graphics that resonate with your audience and represent your brand effectively. Visuals can significantly enhance the appeal of your homepage and help convey your message quickly.
Navigation Menu: Make sure your navigation menu is easy to find and intuitive to use. Organize your menu items logically and limit the number of options to prevent overwhelming visitors.
Call-to-Action (CTA): Include a prominent CTA that encourages visitors to take the next step, whether it's signing up for a newsletter, exploring your products/services, or contacting you. Use persuasive language to compel action.
Social Proof: Showcase testimonials, reviews, or client logos to build trust and credibility with visitors. Social proof can reassure potential customers and encourage them to engage with your website.
Key Features or Benefits: Highlight the key features, benefits, or solutions your website provides. Focus on addressing your audience's pain points and demonstrating how your website can add value to their lives.
Brief Introduction: Provide a brief overview of your website or business, including what you do, who you serve, and what makes you unique. Keep it concise and engaging to capture visitors' interest.
Latest Content or Updates: If applicable, feature your latest blog posts, news articles, or product releases to keep visitors informed and encourage them to explore further.
Contact Information: Make it easy for visitors to get in touch with you by including contact information such as email address, phone number, or a contact form. This helps build trust and facilitates communication.
Mobile Responsiveness: Ensure your homepage is optimized for mobile devices, as an increasing number of users access websites from smartphones and tablets. Test your homepage on various devices to ensure a seamless user experience.

Pages

Nearly every page I went through suffered from a similar concerns as the homepage. In general, the pages are long, and could be re-grouped/re-envisioned to better guide a user through the page. Here are some key recommendations:

Clear and consistent page title on EVERY page, examples:
- https://www.reachofmaconcounty.org/court-advocacylegalvictims-rights.html
- https://www.reachofmaconcounty.org/victim-advocacy-center-capital-campaign.html
The different header images on every page is a really nice touch, but there are consistency issues:
- Standard: https://www.reachofmaconcounty.org/shelter-needs.html
- No Image: https://www.reachofmaconcounty.org/bargain-store.html
- Larger Image (and title inconsistencies): https://www.reachofmaconcounty.org/highlandsnantahala-and-county-wide-resources.html
- Text in the image: https://www.reachofmaconcounty.org/volunteer--newsletter-sign-up.html
Identify the purpose of every page. Most of the time attention is really geared to the homepage and guiding a user, but every page should get similar intention. Identify the purpose of the page, and then design the page to meet that purpose. Example:
- Informational page:
  - A lot of information, that is organized in ways to easily navigate all within the same page
  - Usually a soft or no call to action...soft call to action example..."Are you unsure if you are a victim..."
- Action page:
  - The content is usually short and to the point, and geared to get the user to click on the next step.
  - Strong call to action request: "Please give us your email to receive your free PDF guide..."
- Conversion Pages:
  - The only content should be to give context to the page.
  - The form is embedded directly into the page, an
  - Think donation or event registration pages...Get extraneous content out of the way and focus on the form conversion. Your donation page does this pretty well.

Call To Action

Call to Action (CTA)

There are many types of call to actions, and they all can be deployed differently depending on the goal of the CTA. Here are some ideas to think about:

Permanent CTA:
- Homepage:
  - Welcome visitors, and present them with a question w/ simple answers, example: How can we help you? I want to support | I need help. Then guide the user to the content.
  - Sections: as a user moves through the homepage, they are seekers, so each piece as they move down the page present them with a different path to take on their website. This lets you prioritize your efforts and guide a user as they go. Example Layout:
    - Image/Info - on Human Trafficking, then..."Want to know more about Human Trafficking..."
    - Image/info on Domestic Violence...then a CTA..."Do you suspect you are the victim of DV?"
    - Image/Info to Support..."Would you like to help support Reach of MC?" ...
- Pages
  - Footer CTA: This would be utilized at the bottom of every page to give a user a consistent "soft-ask." Did you find this information helpful? Click here for additional resources...
  - Slide-in: This is much like a pop-up, but is utilized to slide content to the user, which draws their attention, when they reach certain points on a page. So, as a user progresses through the info they maybe asked if they want to "dig deeper."
Temporary: These are used anywhere you need a temporary draw of attention. Examples:
- Pop-up/Slide-in/Similar
- Notice bar
- These are used For:
  - Giving Tuesday or other Special fundraising efforts
  - Event Registration is now open.
  - Any closures or notices that may effect services
  - Special fundraising efforts (Like the Capital Campaign).
  - Really anything that you need to draw attention to but doesn't need to find a permanent home on the website.