Ep 321 | The Most Common Mistake I See on Websites

Is your website failing to convert visitors into donors, volunteers, or supporters? In this solo episode, I share the single most critical mistake I see nonprofits making on their websites – and it's costing them valuable connections with potential supporters. After reviewing countless nonprofit websites, I've noticed the same pattern emerging: organizations are missing clear, compelling calls to action that guide visitors toward meaningful engagement.

The Power of Clear Direction

Drawing from fundraising best practices, I explore:

• Why your website should function like an in-person donor meeting
• How to apply the “next step” mentality to your digital presence
• The connection between offline fundraising success and online conversions

Common Website Conversion Killers

Discover the two biggest mistakes that are hurting your website's effectiveness:

• Failing to ask visitors for specific actions
• Making it difficult for people to find essential information about your mission and services
• How unclear messaging sends potential supporters away empty-handed

Practical Solutions for Immediate Impact

Learn actionable strategies to improve your website today:

• Crafting compelling button text that reflects your organization's personality
• Strategic placement of multiple calls to action throughout your pages
• Creating blog posts that convert readers into engaged supporters

Testing and Refining Your Approach

I share insights on:

• How to evaluate your current website through fresh eyes
• Getting feedback from your existing supporters and volunteers
• Balancing professional presentation with authentic connection

Want to skip ahead? Here are some key takeaways:

• 06:22 Applying Fundraising Principles to Web Design Learn how successful donor cultivation translates to effective website strategy.
• 12:15 Creating Effective Calls to Action Discover how to write compelling buttons and links that encourage visitor engagement.
• 19:30 Blog Post Conversion Strategies Explore how to turn your content into a pathway for deeper supporter involvement.

Whether you're seeing low engagement rates or simply want to maximize your website's potential, this episode offers straightforward solutions you can implement today. Don't let another visitor leave your site without taking action – tune in to learn how small changes can create significant results for your nonprofit's online presence.

Full Transcript

[Sami Bedell-Mulhern] In this episode, I'm going to give you the one simple thing that you can do to your website right now to increase conversions. I mean, I have had so many conversations recently with people in all different industries, in a lot of nonprofits as well, about people aren't taking action on their website, they're not doing what we need them to do, our website isn't working for us, and then when we sit down and review them, they all pretty much are making the same mistake. So I'm going to give you that tip in this quick episode so that you can go back to your website, take a look at it, see if you are making that same mistake or how you can kind of update it and clean it up so that you can increase the activity that people are taking on your website. Now, this won't increase people coming to your website, but it will capture them while they are there so that you can connect with them, talk to them and see more sales, more donations or registrations, all of the things. So that's what we're going to talk about in this episode and I'm so excited for it. Before we get into it, this episode is brought to you by Do Good University. This is a membership for nonprofit fundraising professionals who want to up level, get help and support where they need it and get more money coming through the doors, have more repeat donors, get more grant funding, understand how to market their organization better, and you can learn more about it thefirstclick.net/dgu the letter U. I hope you listen to that podcast episode and check out your way to get two weeks free so you can check it out and come. I said check it out like 15 times so you can join us on our live weekly calls. Patrick Kirby, who's the founder of Do Good University and myself go live every single week in the group to answer your questions and support you in wherever it is that you're stuck so you can keep things moving. So I hope you'll join us and again go visit thefirstclick.net/dgu to learn more. Let's get into the episode.

You're listening to the Digital Marketing Therapy Podcast. I'm your host, Sami Bedell Mulhern. Each month we dive deep into a digital marketing or fundraising strategy that you can implement in your organization. Each week you'll hear from guest experts, nonprofits and myself on best practices, tips and resources to help you raise more money online and reach your organizational goals.

So we know in fundraising when we're working with a donor or talking to them, it's always about asking for next steps. When you sit down with them to have coffee or have a meeting, you don't just leave and say, okay, great. Thanks for chatting. It's. Hey, can I call you in three days to follow up and see where you're at? Should we get our next meeting scheduled on the books? Right. You have a very direct next step in the process. Or you should, anyway, in the emails that you send. It's not just, it was great to chat with you. Have a great day. It's, it was great to chat with you. Here's the materials that I said I would follow up with you on, and I'll give you a ring in two days and check in to see if you have any questions. Right. You're very specific with your next steps or it was great to talk to you. Here are. Here's the link for where you can purchase the tickets for our upcoming fundraising event that we talked about today. Let me know if you have any issues on the phone, whatever it is you're asking for that next thing. And eventually you'll ask them for their gift. Right? A specific thing. Hey, would you mind contributing $10,000 to this campaign?

As fundraisers, we're very trained in how to do a lot of those things. But when it comes to your website, we tend to kind of forget about all of that. And we need to remember that in our marketing, especially digital marketing, in our website, we need to ask for that next thing that we want them to do. And so we want to think about our website in that same journey as we would with our donors. So I'm just coming to your website because I found you on search. I needed to find information. So then what do I do in order to stay engaged? I've come to your donation page. I have all these different ways to give that. I see. How do I make it easy to actually make my gift if we've been nurturing them for a while? So the one thing and the biggest mistake that people make, well, there's kind of two, but they go hand in hand. One is not asking them to do the next thing, and two is not being very clear about what. What information we want them to have on specific pages in order to take that step. So this looks like a call to action, and we've talked about calls to action a lot, but I've been really surprised lately at how many websites that I'm looking at, where it's not clear, where do I take that action? Where do I give you my information so that I can get on your Email list. Where do I sign up to book a call with you? Where do I donate? How do I donate? Where do I register for this event that's coming up that you've been promoting and promoting and promoting, and now I can't find it. And then even just very simply, what do you do, who do you serve and how are you aligned? Are you the right organization to align with? Kind of what I'm looking to do. Right. We've talked a lot about you might be a pet rescue. Okay, but I'm looking to rescue a hamster. I want to get a hamster for my kids, not a dog or a cat. Well, let's make it really clear who we serve and what animals we have so people aren't hunting and pecking around to try to find the information that they need, getting frustrated and going somewhere else. So what does this look like in practice? This looks like clear buttons that have clear information. So it's not.

I love to play with kind of the language on those buttons so that it makes sense. But, you know, if you have kind of a silly, cheeky personality, it could be give me your cash or I want to give you my cash or something like that. But you can have fun with it with the buttons. It could also be simple and give today or donate. It could be sign up for our fall workshop, whatever it might be. Buttons grab people's attention when they're scrolling on your page so that they can click on it and take that next step. Hyperlinks. Remember, we don't want our links to be click here. We want them to be sign up for our fall fundraiser or buy tickets for a fall fundraiser. That whole sentence is hyperlinked. And then also making sure that we're using them in multiple places on the page. A lot of times people will say, well, I have my donate button or I have my thing at the very bottom. If it's at the very bottom and we're assuming that they're reading through everything, you've lost them. And it's okay to have the same call to action in multiple places on your page when you use them in different ways. So the text that you hyperlink might be different. The button text might be a little bit different. Maybe you have once people scroll down a certain way on your page, you have someone that slides in on the bottom, and they might all be directed to the same thing, but they're written in a little bit of a different way. So you're grabbing people's attention. If you have a blog, every blog, this is Where I see the biggest kind of mistake. It's not a mistake, but it's just an area for opportunity in a blog. Every blog post should have a call to action and it should depend on that blog post. So is it donate? If you're talking about a sponsor, Is it sign up to volunteer? Is it get on my email list so we can notify you of updates on xyz. So it doesn't all have to be the same. All of your blog post calls to action don't all have to be the same. But we want to be really thoughtful and make sure that they're there. So if people read a great piece of content or listen to a podcast and they're really excited, they have a step or an action that they can take. Now I want you to go look at your website. Just spend a few minutes looking around and see if it's clear. The steps that people can take when they land or are you just providing them with information? If we're just providing them with information, then we're sending them back out into the world. Who knows if they'll come back or if we can even collect that information to be able to connect with them in the future. So we really want to be clear, concise, multiple different kinds of visuals and give people an opportunity to take that next step. Now, I know this might feel and sound oversimplified.

Okay, that can't just be the thing that's going to turn, like change everything and all of a sudden people are going to be engaging. Correct. We want to start and make sure we have them there. And then we start testing if they're landing on that page and they're not taking an action. Maybe the content isn't what they wanted or what they needed or wasn't valuable enough. Maybe we don't have the right call to action. We need to start kind of testing with our audience and asking people, asking people that are volunteers for your organization or current donors. Hey, is it easy for you to find this stuff? Do you feel like this content is helpful? Do you feel like our homepage clearly defines who we are and what we do? Because the biggest thing also that we see is people talking from their own perspective and organization's tone versus how our public or our best donors or our best volunteers or all the people that keep coming back for our programs and services. How do they talk and engage with your organization? How do they feel when they land on your website? Does it feel like I'm having coffee with you? We want it to look nice and professional. We we also want it to connect and sound the same as if you and I are sitting down and having a conversation. So that is my super quick short down and dirty episode about one of the biggest mistakes that I see people make and that I'm seeing people make across the board. Be clear about what you do, be clear about who you serve, and be clear about the action that you need people to take. Okay? And if you have any questions about this or you want us to take a look at your website, you can send us an email hello@thefirstclick.net we'll also have a bunch of resources and things available for you on the show. Notes for this page, which is also thefirstclick.net/321 so go check us out there. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this or if you're watching us on YouTube. Hello. We have new episodes coming out every Tuesday and I would love for you to join us. But thank you so much for listening to this quick, quick, quick solo episode here. I am so grateful that you take time out of your day to listen. So now that you've got a little extra time because this is a shorter episode, get onto your website, start checking it out, give it a, give it a look, see, and I'm sure you can make some quick adjustments that will hopefully get you some quick results. For now, thank you so much for listening. I'll see you in the next one.