Create and optimize your club website
As we continue to guide you through a successful recruitment campaign for any sport season, we have some great content, tips and knowledge to share.
The first post dealt with getting you all hands on deck with the foundation of your recruitment campaign, but now we move into the refinements which push you forward ever more. So, lets get started with the second post.
A great website is your club’s shop window. It will be the first place for prospective members to look for information and get an insight into the everyday activities of the club. There are numerous reasons to create and optimize your club website. Your club website should highlight opportunities and benefits of signing up, as well as being the go-to place to find all essential details needed to be a member.
Having a well built website makes life easier for existing club or team members, their families, coaches and volunteers. Using your online presence as a means of communication between individuals and teams, as well as a place to publicly celebrate team or club successes, promotes engagement and builds stronger bonds within the club.
If your club or sports team does not have a web presence as of yet, creating it can seem like a difficult task. Luckily, with tools like Sportlyzer website templates and widgets, creating an impactful site can be simple and straightforward.
2.1 Establish an online presence
2.1.1 Use a Sportlyzer template
With Sportlyzer, you can easily connect coaches, athletes and club managers, allowing you to store and share information and data such as training schedules, videos and feedback. Once you set up an account, you can also use a Sportlyzer.com template to create your club website.
Because detail can be imported from your Sportlyzer account directly into the website template, an effective site can be built in just a few clicks. Templates allow you to upload your club logo and header image, link to training groups and schedules, coach details and much more.
2.1.2 Or add Sportlyzer widgets
If you have an existing club website, use Sportlyzer’s widgets to add real value. Think of these as shortcut buttons, so readers can quickly access selected information from your team’s or club’s Sportlyzer account.
A calendar widget, for example, will allow club members to access training schedules and workout plans, which coaches have uploaded into Sportlyzer. The New Member Application widget gives prospective new members immediate access to membership application information.
Choose from the following to optimize your existing site: Sportlyzer login widget, Calendar widget in full or compact version, Training Groups widget, Coaches widget and New Member Application widget.
2.1.3 Ask for assistance
Optimizing or creating your website can be a great way for a volunteer or club member with some visual and IT skills to contribute to the club. Perhaps a small group of athletes, volunteers or coaches could come together to create your perfect site. Involving your community in creating or upgrading your site will help you ensure that the results hit the mark.
2.2 Build a site that answers the right questions
Having decided how you will build or optimize your website, it is time to make sure that the information you present is structured to answer the right questions for the users.
2.2.1 Your FAQ
Think about the sort of questions prospective new joiners and existing club members might ask, and consider how your site structure can address this. For example, you might create a ‘New Member’s FAQ’ page, on which you address the practical queries prospective new joiners have. Don’t forget that this is an opportunity to focus on the benefits of joining the club!
2.2.2 Make it easy to sign up!
Make it easy for readers to take the next step. Make contact details for coaches and administrators easy to find. Include team lists and age groups so readers can see where they might fit into the club.
In the case of prospective newcomers, ensure that details about how to sign up are prominent and easy to use. The Sportlyzer template or widget can make this simple. All you need to do now is make sure that membership applications reach the right person (via e-mail linked to the widget) for processing in good time.
2.2.3 ‘How did you find us?’
It is important to ask digital visitors, ‘How did you find us?’. This information helps you to know which recruitment activities are most successful for your club. The Sportlyzer template and membership registration widget include this standard question to help you keep track.
2.2.4 Include your calendar
Making calendar details of training and competition dates easily accessible will make your club website valuable for prospective and existing club members. This information can be synced directly with the details held in your Sportlyzer account, allowing individual team members to filter, and find the details that are relevant to them. Better still, if your schedule needs to change during the season, the details automatically synchronize with your site via Sportlyzer, so there’s no need to duplicate work!
2.3 Share your club story
2.3.1 Showcase your people
Aside from providing information, your website should be able to ‘upsell’ your team or club to prospective new joiners. Showcase coach profiles that include their qualifications and contact details. If you use a Sportlyzer template to create your site, coach profiles are linked automatically to your site. If not, then a free Sportlyzer widget can be used to link coach profile information directly to your existing web page.
2.3.2 Make it visual
To really capture the passion of your club or team, you need more than words. Upload images of competitions or training sessions, and links to highlight videos. You can also include links to any press coverage received or to your club’s promotional video. It’s worth noting that more people access videos via Facebook than directly on YouTube, so make sure that whatever you upload to your site you also share via social media for the maximum exposure.
2.3.3 Don’t forget the logos
Make your club or team logo (and the logos of your sponsors) prominent on your club website. This allows for easy recognition and gives a unified appearance with other marketing material like flyers, posters and merchandise.
2.4 Get your site out there
2.4.1 Test your site
Before you launch your new and optimized site, have some of your club community test it. Ask some of your athletes, coaches and volunteers to browse the website and its content to share their opinion. These early testers will become advocates for the site once launched, and can help others engage with it.
2.4.2 Drive traffic
Once you are happy with the site, promote it on your posters, flyers and merchandise. Include the web address in your email signatures and all paperwork. Advertise the new site to your current members and politely ask them to share it via social media with their friends and family.
Summary
A great site does not need to be complex. Capture the passion of the club or team in a way that draws the reader in, and include the facts and links a prospective newcomer needs to make the next step. Your site will be a great asset in your recruitment campaign!
What’s next?
For the next post, we turn our attention to advertising your club in your local area. You would not want to miss out on this one!
Downloads
Get the full e-book from here: Promoting a youth sports club
Related posts in the series
1. Preparing for the recruitment campaign
2. Create and optimize club website (current article)
3. Effective advertising campaign
6. Final outreach + registration
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