The State of the Canadian Web Nation is the largest Canadian survey of its kind: over 500 charities across Canada participated. The survey asked 26 questions about everything from website strategy and revenue tracking to metrics and digital fundraising activities. This much-needed fact finding report was produced by Fraser Green,Holly Wagg and myself. The results were astounding, with Holly calling it The embarrassing state of the web nation.
This article is the first in a series of articles that will take a key question from the survey and looking at it in more depth. I’ll be tackling the question du jour from these angles:
■ Why did we ask the question?
■ Why should you care?
■ How do you improve?
Question #23: “Do you host at least one blog on your website?”
Here’s how the 500+ charities responded:
○ 42.05% - No
○ 41.47% - Yes
○ 12.79% - Not yet, but we’re going to
○ 3.68% - I don’t know
Why did we ask this question?
We know that donors respond to powerful stories. Blogs are great places to tell these stories because they might not all fit within a donation-focused website structure. A blog also doesn’t have to be all stories; a blog allows you to roll up your sleeves and take the dialogue in many different directions. Its much more open and allows you to really connect with people who support your cause.
I wanted to see if other charities were as passionate about this as we were. And clearly, by the numbers, it doesn’t seem like it is on the top of many organizations’ priorities.
Why should you care?
A blog is more work, I know. But there are many cases for adding one to your website. Here are the primary reasons why it is important:
How do you improve?
If you don’t have a blog, the best way to improve would be to start a blog! There are two options when setting up a blog:
In terms of rankings benefits, the best option: adding the blog to your existing website. This may not always be a cost-effective task because of a proprietary system or inflexible website structure. If it’s really that hard to update your site, it is highly recommended that you consider a full redesign on an open source platform.
If you have to go the new website route, I recommend using WordPress. There are many options, and a basic design is easy to set up. To have something that is more original and true to your brand, I would recommend reaching out to a professional web design firm that also offers SEO services.
Some people recommend having an external blog to boost your main site’s rankings (from the extra backlinks). In our experience, it usually is not that significant. You’re much better off having your blog on your main site.
What to write?
David Attard encourages bloggers to read other blogs: “it is important to read other works online to make your own blog a success.” David explains, “it is a great way to build connections with fellow bloggers who will likely read and share your work”.
According to Seaneen Molloy-Vaughan from Mind, A Mental Health Charity “A mistake we can make as charities is to believe we are 'giving a voice' to people. But the voices are already there – you just have to find them.” She also says, “Be brave! Publish blogs that will inspire debate.”
There’s more to learn in the report
If you would like to take a look at the full State of the Web Nation report you can download it here. If you would like to discuss it with us send us a tweet. We would love to hear from you. You can reach us here: Fraser Green, Holly Wagg and yours truly, Todd Jamieson.
