Small Steps, BIG Results: Improving Your Website Without a Major Redesign

Are you looking to improve your website without a major redesign? 

You don’t need to undertake a full-scale website redesign to improve usability, engagement, revenue generation, and member value. Incremental enhancements can deliver "quick wins" that are cost-effective, deliver a high return on your investment, and satisfy user needs as well as organizational goals.

Small steps can make a big impact

Your website is the first point of member engagement. However, improving your users' experience doesn't have to mean a significant financial investment. Instead, start with smaller projects that address your users’ biggest needs and pain points. 

Here are some quick wins that you can implement right away:

Opportunity: Refresh Your Website Design

A few simple updates can give your website a fresh, modern feel and improve user experience. By adjusting styling (fonts, colors, spacing), simplifying the navigation and adding engaging hero images with calls to action, you can quickly create a more inviting and impactful site.

Quick win: Replace stock images with more authentic visuals and streamline layout to enhance the user experience, especially on mobile devices. With these improvements, your website will feel vibrant, cohesive, and easy to navigate.

Opportunity: Test Your Website’s Usability

Your website should serve your users, not just your organization. The first commandment of your website should be "Thou shalt not ignore the user." Over time, many websites suffer from:

• Confusing navigation menus
• Outdated or buried content
• Slow load times
• Broken links or inaccessible forms 

A card sort exercise can solve many of these issues by determining how users naturally group and label content and what they identify as priorities. This can directly inform a more intuitive website structure and improve navigation. A reverse card sort exercise tests how well users can complete key tasks using your proposed structure. This reveals usability issues and helps validate your navigation with real user behavior.

Quick win: Start with simple heatmap or user tracking tools like Hotjar or Google Analytics. You’ll be surprised at what users click on and ignore completely.

Opportunity: Create an Analytics/SEO Reporting Dashboard

Website projects and priorities can often get derailed by "shiny object syndrome," where features and functionality are added that no one uses. To refocus your website, review your analytics to understand what truly matters to users. 

Whether it's bounce rates, session duration, or conversion paths, the data tells a story. Are users finding what they need? Are they leaving too soon? Are they clicking where you want them to? Small, purposeful tweaks can go a long way in improving member experience and satisfaction.

Quick wins:

1. Improve your website speed to keep users from leaving. Compress images, clean up plugins, and leverage caching.
2. Refine your calls-to-action to increase conversions. “Join Now” should feel more like an invitation, less like a command.
3. Make it mobile-friendly because your members are probably accessing your website while multi-tasking.
4. Create a Google Analytics Reporting Dashboard using Looker Studio. (We do this for clients!)
   

Opportunity: Review, Refine & Retire Content

It's important to speak your members’ language, but make sure you don't overuse jargon or acronyms or language that might confuse your users. If your website homepage sounds like a committee meeting, it might be time to reword and rethink your content.

Effective website content should be meaningful, accessible, and actionable. To drive engagement, ensure that webpages are up-to-date and include clear calls-to-action. If not, identify and add them. Use the process below to build a focused content plan and determine what content should stay and what should go.

Quick win: Conduct a content audit with an eye toward clarity. Ask a non-member to read your website homepage and explain what your organization does. If they look at you as if you're speaking a different language, it’s rewrite time.

Opportunity: Consolidate Your Digital Presence

Consolidating your digital presence improves user experience, strengthens brand authority, and reduces your costs by eliminating redundant content, streamlining user journeys, and demonstrating your organization's unique value. 

Quick win: Start by auditing your digital ecosystem for outdated micro-sites, landing pages, or external resources. Consolidating these into your primary website not only streamlines the user experience, but also strengthens your SEO and makes content easier to manage.

Why This Matters for Associations

Your website serves as the central hub for member engagement, communication, and resources. A well-designed website provides relevant, timely content and networking opportunities, driving member satisfaction and engagement.

Overall win: Consistent, strategic updates keep your website relevant and member-focused. “Progress over perfection” is a mindset that drives lasting, meaningful results.

Watch the "Small Steps, BIG Results: Improving Your Website Without a Major Redesign" webinar recording here for more ideas: