Websites are among the most essential bits of your online communication with the outside world.
But we tend to forget that and often neglect the importance of checking website best practices. So, I thought I would give you a refresher today so you can build a great website, too.
I am currently reworking the website for a client, and whenever I do this, I am looking for the best techniques in the natural world.
In my research, I came across the new Fauna & Flora website, which is just spectacular.
From web design to copywriting and user experience, there are 12 best practices I could find. You can use them to improve your website as a nature NGO or sustainable business. I’m going into detail for each of these recommendations and explain to you why, in my opinion, they are paramount.
Are you ready to take your online presence to the next level?
12 website best practices you can learn from Fauna & Flora
1. Keep to a strict amount of colors for your website
They hit the sweet spot between blunt and too many colors. Most of the website is white, dark blue, red & green. They created a color palette for their brand and stuck with it. I recommend to stick to 4 colors max, where 2 colors get 80% of the space.
Why is it important?
It makes it less hectic for the users to consume your site.
2. Develop clear CTA (Call To Action) Buttons
They are doing a great job guiding the reader to what they should finally do 👉 donate.
But the other CTAs are also great. Instead of constantly saying, “Read more,” they use “What we do”, “Explore wild places”, “donate today,” etc.
Why is it important?
Guides the visitor to the end idea you have for them (buying, donating, signing up, etc.)
3. Write excellent copywriting
They have great copywriting (text) on their website, allowing them to keep the text short, yet everyone can understand what they do. On the entire website, you rarely find text blocks longer than 4 lines.
Why is it important?
People read less nowadays + our reading attention is shorter on screens (we drop after around 12 words). Users fly over your website. So make it easy to do that.
4. Design a minimal menu
The menu on the top is top. They narrowed it down to 5 clear sections, and only if the visitor clicks on the areas to learn more, they have to choose.
Why is it important?
Reduces the decision-making for users so they feel less overwhelmed while consuming your site.
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5. Share impact metrics with your community
They provide the real, measurable impact they have through their actions right on their homepage. You have to do the same. Yes, you can’t measure everything, but start sharing metrics you can and explain to visitors why the other ones still take time to produce.
Why is it important?
Creates trust. Nowadays, there are plenty of bad apples & greenwashing. Showing this sets you apart.
6. Nurture the reader
Fauna & Flora are doing an excellent job of nurturing the reader. They only show the big blocks of the website first and then provide more granular content if the user clicks on specific areas. A great example is the species list they provide.
Why is it important?
Reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed because you only see a fraction of the content first, but the longer you are on the website, the more unfolds.
7. Have a rich content strategy on your website, too
Content strategy isn’t just for social media. They have rich website content, like landing pages (species introductions) and blog articles.
Why is it important?
Provides more value for the reader, which then leads to action. A great content strategy, including SEO (Search Engine Optimization) content, makes it easier to grow your community.
8. Use empty space
When we create websites, we often focus on the content we want to fill the pages with, while the empty spaces are as important.
Why is it important?
Empty spaces between text, pictures, etc., reduce the overwhelming feeling. A cramped website creates panic in the reader.
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9. Be transparent
They share transparently how the money the reader is donating will be used. Making it very clear how they can sustain their NGO and reassure the donor.
Why is it important?
Today, it is more common to screw over customers or donors. So, a nature venture that is brutally transparent will set you apart. Transparency leads to an increase in trust, which will boost your donations or conversions.
10. Share multiple ways to give
Instead of just donating, they provide various ways for readers to get involved with their activities. Thereby increasing the chances to get some sort of support.
Why is it important?
Not everyone might be ready to buy your product or donate to your cause. So, to keep them engaged, create other offers that could benefit them.
11. Design a clear product page on your website
Crazy as it sounds. The product page (here, the donation page) is often where I see nature ventures putting the least amount of time in. Yet, the page has the highest impact if someone will support your nature NGO or sustainable business. So make it count.
Why is it important?
If a person makes it to this page, they consider donating/buying your product. So, blow them away with design, clarity, easy-to-support process & etc.
12. Establish an animation balance
Yes, moving components in websites is cool. But don’t overdo it. This is not Star Wars but a serious nature venture. I think they managed to strike the balance perfectly.
Why is it important?
Going too wild on the animations can create a feeling of unease. If that happens, the visitors often just bounce from your website.
Improving a website never stops. So even though they currently have a phenomenal website, I still found 6 actions they can take to improve it even further.
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5 actions I would take to improve a website like the Fauna & Flora website
1. Use David to improve the website
David Attenborough is a worldwide treasure. He is one of the greatest of all time, and he happens to be vice president of Fauna & Flora. So, I would make him much more prominent on the website.
Why is it important?
Seeing a reputable face like his increases trust in your nature venture, and trust leads to higher donations/conversions. That’s the reason why brands pay superstars.
2. Create more possibilities for users to engage
The communication is very one-sided, and there is not really a way for the visitor to engage with Fauna 6 Flora. I would add features like Videoask to make the experience more conversational.
Why is it important?
Attention span is dramatically low today, so this keeps people more engaged. Furthermore, it provides the opportunity for the user to ask their questions. Both bring clarity that leads to higher donations.
3. Improve the checkout
The donation page looks great on the first look, but the devil is in the details. If I want to donate in €, I can only make a single donation. Afterward, I get pushed to a massively long checkout form. Do you know why Amazon is so successful? They made it as easy as possible for people to pay/consume. We have to do the same with impact.
Why is it important?
Humans don’t like obstacles. So, the more annoying your checkout process is, the more people you lose in this process.
🪼 Learn how to improve your donation page!
4. Add testimonials
Testimonials are massively underused in our industry, yet they are crucial to gaining people’s trust without any idea who you are. On top of that, it is relatively simple to set up.
Why is it important?
Your existing supporters should always be your biggest fans, so asking them what their experience with you is and publishing this online will help to convince those who don’t know you yet.
5. Add a B2B page
Businesses are looking more and more at how to create a positive nature impact. So, the low-hanging fruit to increase their donations would be making a separate landing page that only focuses on how businesses can give and what they would get in return.
Why is it important?
When you speak to a new potential client group, you need to adapt your communication. Governments speak a different language than companies, and companies are different than customers.
Your turn to improve your website with these 12 website best practices and other tips
4 steps to implement the 12 best practices from Fauna & Flora website
1. Check your current website
Have a look at your existing website. How happy are you currently with it? On a scale of 1-5? How much does it reflect your nature business / NGO on a scale from 1-5?
2. Go through the checklist
Go through the 12 best practices and 5 actions and see if there are some long-hanging fruits of just implementing some of the tips.
3. Tackle one website best practice at a time
Redesigning an entire website can take some time and resources. So why don’t you start with 1 action first? 1% better is still better than ignoring it.
4. Book a free slot
In case you are overwhelmed & don’t know what to do first, benefit from a free 30-minute session with me so we can tackle your website together.
Your tools cheat sheet to help you improve your website
- Testimonial: to capture & publish testimonials.
- Crazy Egg: to A/B test your website.
- Coolors: to get a great color combo.
- Krystal: to host on a green server.
- Navattic: to build interactive product demos.
- Videoask: to create excellent user experience.
- Fauna & Flora: to get inspired.
Websites often don’t get the attention they deserve internally and are often overlooked. Yet, they are the crucial place where most leaders land when they want to buy or donate.
So it is worth keeping the website up to date. Design, UX (user experience), content, etc. Try to have everything on point.
The mentioned 12 website best practices and 5 fundamental tips to improve a website are great ways to lift your online presence to new levels.
I know you can do it!
Have a wild week!
Best,
Oliver
🌿 P.S. If this newsletter brings you value, please consider sharing it with 1 other ecopreneur. It allows me to keep working on it.
🦧 Whenever you are ready, there are 2 ways Wild Business Mates can help you grow and double your impact:
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