Golden Rule #9 & 10 of Website Design & Functionality

9) Website should be quick to download.
In today’s fast paced world, patience is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Website visitors want the website to load fast and want to be able to watch the videos immediately. When a website has too many images or videos within it, it often takes longer to load. This leads to rather displeased visitors.
As ClubRunner as your website host, you don’t have to worry about slow download times as our network will ensure that your website download time is satisfactory. All images that are uploaded through our Image Uploader are automatically compressed for optimized download speeds. So go ahead and upload your videos and pictures, using our Photo Albums module!


10) Have the SSL encrypted pages if dealing with monetary transactions.

In today’s times, website visitors are naturally concerned with the security of websites. Here at ClubRunner, we ensure that any of our add-on modules that assist with monetary transactions and finances are developed to ensure the safety and security of those involved. Our servers encrypt all data so safety is never an issue. All monetary transactions are done through SSL encrypted pages that interface directly in real-time with our payment gateways, and we do not retain any personal or credit card information.

**Read more about the Top 10 Golden Rules including Rules #1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7&8**


Here they are - the Top 10 Rules of Website Design & Functionality! Following these rules will ensure that your website is designed to attract visitors rather than overwhelm them. We hope you've enjoyed reading them and will apply them to your own website.

Golden Rule #7 & 8 of Website Design & Functionality

7) Layout consistency is key

It is important for all your website pages to follow a certain layout in order to maintain a theme and uniformity. If the layout of your website pages are not consistent with one another, your website will look untidy and disorganized, thus not properly reflecting your club’s image online. With Website Designer 2.0, you have the ability to choose from different layouts which will be applied to all your site pages. This will ensure the consistency that is required in any website design.

8) Eliminate Clutter

Another common mistake that many people make is placing as much content as they can, on one page. Often, many people place so much information together that the visitor has an information overload.

Layout consistency is key because it allows the website designer to then organize how the content will be laid out in the website. By choosing a certain layout template, the website designer can then place certain widgets (i.e: Event Calendar, Sponsor Ads, Upcoming Speakers) in different areas of the website in an organized manner. With Web Designer’s drop down menu features, you will never have to worry about overpowering your website visitor with too much information, as you’ll have the opportunity to lead them to the information they need.

**Read more about the Top 10 Golden Rules including Rules #1, 2, 3 & 4, 5&6**

Golden Rule #5 & 6 of Website Design & Functionality

5) Website should work on multiple browsers.

Gone are the days where the only Internet browser that everybody used was Netscape. Today, there are various Internet browsers that people prefer to use. Thus, it becomes imperative that your website be able to load on any browser – whether that be Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome.

ClubRunner websites not only work on every browser out there, but because we support unicode, we are able to provide you with a website that you can maintain in another language! So, you never will have to worry about your visitor’s browser preference or any language barrier.

6) Content should be updated often.

The real factor that drives a website towards becoming successful is the content. If content is not updated often, visitors of the website have no reason to visit the site often. Updating content on a regular basis becomes quite difficult if one does not know HTML and has to rely on a webmaster.

With Website Manager, there is absolutely no need to know any computer programming language. Furthermore, you can eliminate the need for any sole webmaster with the simple interface that is provided to you to design the website as you see fit. You even have the opportunity to let other members of your club update the content on the site based on their access rights. You can easily update your eBulletin on a daily basis and share any news or information on your homepage with a click of a mouse. The best part is that you can do all this at your own pace and at your own time, so you can make sure that your website is content-centric at all times.

Want to know how to implement these golden rules for your ClubRunner site? Contact support@clubrunner.ca or visit ClubRunner's knowledgebase for more information!

**Read more about the Top 10 Golden Rules including Rules #1, 2, 3 & 4**

ClubRunner Featured in RI Webinar Series

Rotary Club of Winnetka-Northfield was one of the many Rotary clubs that had their website featured on "Developing a Club Website" webinar held on Wednesday, October 12, 2010.

ClubRunner Champion, Rich Lalley was a panelist who shared best practices of website design and content management.

If you missed this session there's another one coming up. To register for the next session of this special webinar series, please visit the Rotary International website.

For more information about ClubRunner or to activate a free trial, please contact us.

Golden Rule #3 & 4 of Website Design & Functionality

3) URL should be easy to remember.

One of the most common mistakes in website design is choosing a proper domain name. Your domain name should be easy to remember and easy to spell.

With ClubRunner, you have the choice of picking your very own domain name, including .org, .com, or any of the available extensions.

4) Website should be easy to find/look up/search for.

Although, once upon a time, the ‘if you build it, they will come’ mantra worked for websites – it no longer does. Due to the fact that there are thousands upon thousands of websites on the Internet, it becomes important for you to ensure that your website ranks high in search engine results and is easy to find.

Since ClubRunner dominates all major search engines, having a ClubRunner hosted website will ensure that your website ranks high and is visible in search results. Thus, your club becomes extremely easy to find, without much effort on your end!

Want to know how to implement these golden rules for your ClubRunner site? Contact support@clubrunner.ca to inquire about domain names and search engine optimization today!

**Read more about the Top 10 Golden Rules including Rules #1 & 2.**

Golden Rule #1 & 2 of Website Design & Functionality

1) A good website should be easy to navigate.

A website that is easy to use is crucial because if the visitor finds it difficult to navigate from one page to another, he or she will get frustrated and leave the website. Attracting frustrated visitors to come back to visit the site is extremely difficult.

With Website Designer 2.0, you can create customizable drop down menus, so that the visitor can easily find what they are looking for with a few clicks of the mouse. Furthermore, with its power of customization, you are able to drag and drop content to control the order in which it appears on your website to ensure that the most important news is always on top.

2) Have a clear indication of where the user is.

The website’s visitor should always have a clear indication of which site page they are on and how they got there, thus making navigation easier.

Website Designer 2.0 automatically creates a bread crumb trail so that your visitors can keep track of where they are on your site, and allows them to click on any of the items to go back to that level. In fact, you can even create a site map to allow your website visitors to understand the layout of your website.

Want to know how to implement these golden rules on your ClubRunner site? Watch the video to learn how today!

10 Golden Rules of Website Design & Functionality

Did you know that your website is a direct representation of you? It represents your persona and character online. As a result, creating and maintaining a well designed website becomes imperative. In fact, the design of a website can either make you or break you.

In today’s society, the importance of having an online presence is highly recognized but the importance of having a good website design in still a rather unfamiliar concept. Here at ClubRunner, we value the art of great design but more importantly, we value our customers. That is why - we offer state of the art products and services to ensure that all ClubRunner websites are designed based on the Golden Rules of Website Design & Functionality.

Stay tuned to upcoming blog posts to get the Top 10 Golden Rules of Website Design & Functionality . With our ClubRunner services, including our new Website Designer 2.0, you are able to personalize your website to reflect your club’s unique style while projecting the image you want to the world through a well designed and user friendly website.

ClubRunner.ca has a New Look!

There’s a reason to celebrate here at ClubRunner and we’d like to share our joy with you! As of October 7th, 2010, ClubRunner has a new look and feel. We’ve launched a new website that better reflects our products and services. You told us that you wanted a website that was easy to navigate through and we listened! Over the past few months, we’ve worked hard to ensure that we create a dynamic and user friendly site which is simple and intuitive. Our URL has not changed, so you can visit us using www.clubrunner.ca.

Our new website features an intuitive drop down menu, smart buttons for quick navigation to relevant pages, a breadcrumb trail so you never lose track of where you are and much more! The dynamic trial and order forms allow you to type out all the required information rather than writing it out by hand. You told us that you wanted to be able to find information easily and yes, we listened! We’ve also incorporated an internal search engine so finding data will be a simple and uncomplicated task. Of course, these are just a few of the many updates that we’ve worked on. On our new website, anything you need is now just a click away!

Our focus is and always will be to allow clubs to be able to connect, collaborate and communicate. Browse through our new website and provide your feedback!

Sponsor Ads on your ClubRunner Site Benefits Everyone

Advertising on ClubRunner most definitely has its benefits. With the launch of ClubRunner 2.0, we’ve increased the ways available to advertise on club sites. Ads can be text or graphic ads, and can appear wherever you choose on your home page and on the right hand side of all your subsequent website pages. You have the freedom to choose to show each ad on the homepage as well as the eBulletin – for maximum flexibility. Not to worry, uploading sponsor ads is as easy as uploading photos to your website. Uploading as little as 4 sponsor ads in a year can equate to your website administration fees, which means, you can get your ClubRunner subscription for free!*

To get started, your Site Administrators needs to login to your website, and click on Website Sponsorship Area. This will allow you to create the ads for your website. You can also prepare an information page which shows visitors how to submit an ad and what your pricing is. This will appear on all pages under the Sponsorship area, linked to the Interested in being a Website Sponsor link. With ClubRunner, the opportunities are endless!

*Suggested cost only. Rates are determined by each individual club and not enforced by ClubRunner