Posts Tagged web design

Membership Website Ideas – WordPress Makes it Easy to Update

Jug&Mug Club Membership website home pageWe recently were selected to provide new membership website ideas and design for a local Lansing Michigan All Seasons Club JugAndMug.org. We worked with the president and a few other board members to re-create the site. I wish I had a screen capture of the old membership website – a before and after would have been dramatic and impressive.
We were happy to hear the group contacted us because we were referred to them as a company who would provide quality service and a website design that met all the goals of the organization at a reasonable rate. Upon our initial meeting with the website committee we learned more details about their ideas for the new membership website.
Local Club Membership Website Ideas:

  • Bring website design into the current decade
  • Offer a content management system that was easy for non-programmers to update
  • Responsive website format: detects screen size and format for smart phones, tablets or desktop monitors
  • Slide show of photos that can be updated easily
  • Blog page to be part of the membership website and not a separate url
  • Online inquiry forms, contact forms or registration forms
  • Emails with domain name (name@jugandmug.org) that forward to each board persons personal email if desired.
  • Ease in updating content and adding photos in all areas
  • E-commerce capability for accepting payments, ticket sales, membership dues, etc.
  • Members only section – password protected with different access levels

local-club-memberhsip-website-ideas
We have provided similar membership website ideas and solutions in the past with password protected areas, e-commerce, events pages, and specific administrative access. Membership websites can range between local clubs like jugandmug or large national or state associations, non-profit and political groups as well as business groups membership sites.
When we’re provided membership website ideas and solutions throughout our  17 years of business that incorporated content management systems (CMS) we typically built them from scratch. Now we can often use the robust WordPress options available.
Jug&Mug.org was built with a WordPress theme that supports e-commerce interactions. There were a plethora of plug ins available if we needed for the password protected area or the photo slide shows. The use of WordPress for this particular project was ideal primarily because of the ease in updates. Since membership websites are often updated by different people and the administrator may change with each board member update it is important to keep website updates simple. Jug and Mug is lucky, they have a President and website committee right now who is knowledgeable of computer programming and interested to learn. Other memberships, associations and clubs may have people responsible for managing the website who have no clue what web code is. Use of WordPress CMS helps alleviate worries and errors and helps newbie website managers to feel at ease.
ski club responsive website - on smart phoneThere are some particular rules to follow when choosing a website company and a WordPress theme,

  • do you want the website for business or just for fun
  • do you want to use your own domain name (hosted on it’s own)
  • a responsive theme
  • a theme that allows e-commerce
  • a theme that allows third party plug-ins
  • customizable
  • … and more depending on your website goals

Discussing WordPress, membership website ideas as well as customizing existing WordPress themes really requires another article. For instance I throw WordPress plug ins out there like they are little miracles… they can also be mean little sprites that choke your website speed and may not play nice together… So much to cover so little blog space.
If you are interested in using WordPress as a new website design solution and would like to talk to us about your considerations whether you have your own membership website ideas, an e-commerce site, or a website offering a service that you need help with. please call us today, 517-645-4387.
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Keep Your Business Connected

girls on rollercoaster

It’s been a load of fun!

As we are nearing the year end, Connection Group is excited to announce we will be bringing back our monthly e-newsletter “Connectivity”. As business has increased and our services have expanded over the last few years we have dedicated our time to meeting our customers needs by fulfilling their project requests and increasing our knowledge and skills in the areas of social media and internet marketing. Whew! It has been a fast paced rollercoaster ride with a mix of laughter, joy, fear and tears! We have grown to a full service design firm with a focus on integrative marketing.

So what does this all mean to you? It means we still make you look good, we make your ideas work, we make headlines and most importantly, make your job easier. Our design offering still include graphic design services of your choice, logos, brochures, illustrations, book covers, magazines, visual displays ( trade show graphics and signage) etc. Web design solutions include graphical interface, illustrations, photo optimizing, landing pages, web-galleries, websites that you can update yourself, e-commerce websites, members only websites and more. Web development includes; content management systems, payment portals, shopping carts, password protected areas, statistic tracking and analytics, etc.

The integrative marketing services Connection Group now offers small business marketing, consulting, internet marketing, print marketing, and social media marketing. Digital marketing includes marketing plan, publication calendars, website design and development, internet/digital advertising, research, e-press releases, internet copy writing, etc. Print marketing continues with direct mail pieces, corporate brochures, postcards, business cards, flyers, mailers and more. Lastly and most in demand currently is our social media marketing services. Connection Group manages all social media platforms for you. If you’re on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and others we manage your posts, respond and update all areas, track and review analytics, write, publish and track regular blog entries. Am I leaving out anything? Probably, give us a call if there is something related that you need, we can help or we can refer you to another resource.

Don’t worry we are still offering options for these services. We provide monthly marketing solutions for customers that incorporate all of the above or we can tailor a package that fits a small business marketing budget. All services can be chosen individually or as a package to suit your needs each time.

We look forward to staying connected with you. We are committed to providing valuable small business marketing and design tips to help you grow your business, get more traffic and customers to your business. Subscribe to our e-newsletter, connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and ArchtypeMe we will be sharing current trends in business marketing and design, offering discounts and specials for printing and digital services and uploading fun, artistic cards to share with your family and friends for free!

Stay connected,
Connie