Boards and Committees are focusing more than ever on branding for their clubs. Accordingly, clubs are clamoring to enhance their public-facing website and tell their story more effectively.
But even if “branding” isn’t on the radar at your club yet, with industry standards evolving, trends shifting, attention spans shrinking and audiences changing, if your club hasn’t updated its website in the past 3 years, it’s probably time.
Here’s a quick list of key things to consider as your club tackles a website refresh:
Architecture.
If there’s one sign that you need a website refresh, it’s not having a responsive design. Responsive web design allows a site’s layout and size to adapt to the type of device the visitor is browsing on. This means someone viewing on their iPhone won’t need to pinch, zoom or scroll to read any text.
Another sign you need a refresh is that your website still uses Adobe Flash, which was all the rage ten years ago. Websites using Flash are not indexable by search engines, slow down page load speeds, and on top of that, present countless security vulnerabilities.Function.
There are three distinct purposes for a public-facing club website: a.) to build your club's brand awareness, b.) to generate leads, c.) to provide important information (address, careers, etc.).
Brand building websites define the club's signature elements through a cohesive brand story. These sites create an emotional reaction and use simple, clear brand messages that speak to a specific target audience using consistent tone and voice. They also clarify the club's positioning in the market and highlight key points of difference – all of which combine to paint a compelling vision of the club.
The best lead generation websites are also brand building websites that have simply been optimized for today's SEO and digital marketing. This is where science combines with art to leverage keyword research, user interface / user experience design, persuasive and concise copywriting with an appropriate amount of information (usually less than you think), and modern digital marketing and CRM optimization. Get these ingredients right and your conversion rate – the lead generation metric that measures the percentage of visitors who request more information about your club – takes a happy jump upward.Design.
Bounce rate is the percentage of single-page sessions where a visitor came and left without interacting on your site. You can find this important metric on your site’s Google Analytics dashboard. A high bounce rate is typically an indication that the visitor did not find what they we’re looking for, became overwhelmed with the site, or didn’t get a great first impression (i.e. bad design). The average website’s bounce rate is 40%. Aim for under 30% by paying close attention to the homepage, navigation elements and load time (best-in-class websites should load in under three seconds).
Ensure your design is simple, easy to navigate, and gets to the point quickly. Many of the club website vendors utilize ‘fill-in-the-blanks’ templates – while this can make the design process easier, keep in mind you’re effectively buying a cover band’s version of a popular song. The original is always worth more than the copy. Any view of the portfolios of the industry vendors will quickly begin to reveal common (and overused) themes - so make sure you only use a template as a starting point and modify the designs to make them your own. Your club is unique...your website should be too.Brand Communications Strategy. The problem with most websites is that they’re built from the inside out. It’s an easy trap to fall into, almost inevitable, in fact. You’re on the inside of your club, looking out at your prospective member. But they’re on the outside, looking in. It's called the 'Curse of Knowledge' - a cognitive bias you unknowingly assume that others have the background to understand what you already know. The effectiveness of a modern website (and modern SEO) depends on a positive user experience – how well you anticipate and answer your prospective member’s questions - not the questions you feel they ought to be asking, but the ones they actually have in mind.
It's important to have a clear brand strategy in order to craft the right words, sentences, and visual elements that will resonate with prospective members. Think of your public facing website as a relationship deepener, a half-step between your target audience and your front door. A tasting, not a full meal. Save the details for the member login site.Copywriting. Think big. Talk small. This is a skill that makes all the difference. Resist the temptation to include every fact and bit of info. Streamlined and clean is best. Consider hiring a marketing copywriter to help clarify and simplify your brand story and evoke the right emotional elements.
Visual Elements. Invest in photography and video. You will never find the funds for it, but it always pays off when you have the right visuals. Unless your golf course is top tier, ditch the drone shots and hole-by-hole flyovers - for most courses they just blend in to every other course flyover. Instead, focus on showcasing the unique lifestyle your club offers – candid shots of smiling, happy members and staff stand out more than generic fairways and greens (no matter how pretty the sunset).
So, who does it well…?
Our team combed through over 500 club websites, including every Platinum Club of America on the 2016-2018 list. Our criteria was threefold: 1) Does the website quickly spark interest? 2) Is the website visually compelling, creative and easy to digest? 3) Does the website convey a clear brand story?
The results were far from definitive, but at the end of the day our team voted the following 10 sites as our favorites.
Our List of the Top 10 Club Websites for 2018
(in alphabetical order)
Annabel’s / Birley Clubs UK – www.annabels.co.uk
The Golf Club at Black Rock – www.blackrockidaho.com
The Cliffs – www.cliffsliving.com
Ford Plantation – www.fordplantation.com
The Jonathan Club* – www.jc.org
Kukui’ula – www.kukuiula.com
Monterey Peninsula Country Club – www.mpccpb.org
Moonlight Basin – www.moonlightbasin.com
Silo Ridge Field Club – www.siloridge.com
Vancouver Club – www.vancouverclub.ca
Waverley Country Club – www.waverley.cc
*Disclosure: Jonathan Club is a client of Pipeline.
Surely, we missed some great websites. But frankly most of the club websites we reviewed fell far short of our basic criteria.
What most clubs don’t realize is that you don’t have to use your POS vendor for your website. But if you do, make sure they don’t start with design. A good website is designed around your story, not the other way around.
Get the words and pictures right first…develop a brand platform that identifies and clearly articulates your club’s story before you start flipping through website templates and design options. It will save time in the long run, and result in a better overall website. Click this link if you’d like to receive an example of a private club brand story platform.
For clubs contemplating a website refresh, now might be the perfect time to elevate your brand, tell your story, and outperform an otherwise uninspired private club webscape.