Place Like

Place Like

Ten years ago, having a website to represent your club was a luxury. Five years ago, having a club website was nice, but not essential. Today, your group's website is critical for the growth and success of your club. In fact, we'd wager to say that, nowadays a club that does not have a website, is destined for extinction.

According to "the experts" any website has just 8 seconds to engage a visitor and make them want to click on, read further, or find out more about the organization represented. Yowza! Eight seconds - Poof! Statistics also tell us that if a visitor is confused, overwhelmed, or completely disgusted with their experience on a site they are likely to never return. For clubs struggling with dwindling membership and waning member interest, that first impression had better be pretty dang awesome!

Think of a website as a well-decorated home. (We've just been through a move, so "decorating" is getting a lot of attention around here.) Just like a home, websites that are busy, with too many elements and colors, make visitors confused and make their interaction with the site stressful. Likewise, sites that are sparse, or outdated (animated gifs, for example) fail to build trust or convey the essence of the club.

Just like designing a home, there are elements that are "tried and true" for website presentation. Here's three to consider:

The Foundation - Site Layout

• Consistency is paramount with any site. You want your site to have an identity that represents your club, so the "feel" of all the pages (backgrounds, color schemes, navigational tools, headers, and banners) should be the same. Often, we see sites that have been updated, and yet still use the old design for certain pages of the site. It's like walking through a brand new ultra-modern contemporary home and suddenly finding a room with Victorian decor and furnishings. It's confusing and makes you wonder exactly where you are! Keep it consistent.
• Important information should be visible. As enjoyable as it is to explore the Fun House at a carnival, a website should not take visitors through a series of mazes or hidden entrances to find what they are looking for.
• Adhering to standards. The internet has been around long enough that there are certain things on any website that visitors have come to expect. For example, if a text is underlined, users expect it to be a link.
• Colors, Font and Alignment. It's easy to tell an amateur website attempt because often each sentence has a different color or font, and some sentences are left-justified, while others are centered. This is distracting to visitors and does nothing to hold their interest with the site.

The Front Door - Home Page

• The home page is like the front door for anyone visiting your site, thus, they should be able, at a glance, to see what your site is all about, it's resources and features, and how it is laid out. Ideally all of this should be visible on a single fast-loading screen that requires minimal scrolling.
• Each home page should have a title - the name of the club and logo in a prominent position on the page.
• Likewise, there should be a brief text segment describing the scope and purpose of the club. This summary needs to pique the readers' attention and be an impetus to encourage them to click and find out more.
• Since most club sites serve a dual function of attracting new members and sponsors, as well as informing current members, it's a good idea to have an Announcements area on the home page so that members can be kept abreast of club events and activities.

The Hallways - Site Navigation

• Navigation is one of the most important elements in any website. It doesn't matter how good a site looks or how much information it offers; if there is not a sensible, logical navigation scheme, the visitor will get confused, and ultimately give up.
• The Navigation Bar should contain brief titles of pages within the site. They should be easy to understand in the context of what the site is all about. This is not the place to get cutesy or overly verbose with page titles. Short, sweet and to the point wins the prize.
• There's no place like Home. Each page of the site should include a way to return to the Home page of the site. There's nothing worse than clicking through a site and getting "stuck" on a page. It's like hitting a dead end in a maze. We design our sites with the "Home" button as the start of the Navigation bar.

So whether your club chooses a traditional, stately appearance or a modern, trendy look, these basic design principles are applicable.

Your group's website is your club's home. I once heard it said that home is a place where it feels right to walk around without shoes. That's what we strive for with each site we build. We want your site visitors to easily find all the great things your club has to offer. We want your members to use your site as a place to communicate with each other, show off their accomplishments and keep abreast of all club activities. We want everyone that visits your site to feel comfortable enough to kick off their virtual shoes, hang around and come back often.

Welcome to Connect 2 Clubs http://www.connect2clubs.com. The Place to Be When You Want Complete Control of Your Club Website We get it...you have no budget for your club's website, it is continuously out of date, your web designer takes too long to make changes, and your club members aren't exactly techies. This is exactly why we created Connect 2 Clubs. We invite you to become a part of the club networking community with your own private club web site, leaving you in complete control of the content and information that's shared on the web site.

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OSI Battleship Aquarium Ornament - 2 Part - 28.9 in. x 6.5 in. x 11.2 in. $59.99 Like a great steel ghost on the ocean floor, this battleship has seen better days. This detailed 2-part battleship is the perfect decoration for your large tank, adding an interesting focal point and a place for fish to explore.

Floating Betta Log - 3 in. x 2 1/2 in. diameter $7.99 Natural-like log is the perfect way to reduce boredom for bettas. Adds a place to hide, spawn or build a bubble-nest. Includes a top feeding hole. For use with betta bowls 2 gallons or more.

No Place Like Home (Unabridged) $11.69 No Place Like Home tells the story of a family bound together by tradition and the emotional journey of an estranged daughter risking everything for a second chance at life and love....

Corkscrew Val - X-Large - 13 in. $5.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Sweet Flag Plant - 5 in. $3.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Stonewort - Medium - 8 1/2 in. $3.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Stonewort - X-large - 13 in. $5.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Hairgrass - Medium - 8 1/2 in. $3.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Floral Spike - X-large - 13 in. $5.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Club Moss - Small - 7 in. $2.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Stonewort - Green - Giant - 22 in. $9.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Water Lily - Medium and Green - 8 1/2 in. $3.29 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Water Hyacinth - 5 in. - Purple $3.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Flowering Crypt Plant - Small - 7 in. $2.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Blooming Ludwigia - Super - 18 in. $6.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.

Club Moss - X-large - 13 in. $5.99 Aqua Plants are so incredibly life-like that once they're in the aquarium, you can't tell them from the real thing. Even the roots are realistic, with specially designed cup-shaped bases that anchor them in place. They're safe for fish and best of all, they won't die, rot, or cause any algae problems.