Club Highlight - Rotary Club of Castro Valley, California

We continue to be impressed at the creativity of our clients and their engagement with the community. The Rotary Club of Castro Valley for example keeps their website fresh while adding their own unique flavor to the site with their own custom banner and design elements that they've interspersed throughout the site.

The custom banner is a particularly striking feature. It celebrates 50 years of the club's heritage, with the original meeting site on the right and the current one on the left. Between these are images marking their influence in the community, such as their role in organizing the Castro Valley Blues Festival. Using real images from their past and present makes it easy for site visitors to relate to the club and visualize their work and impact they make.

On their website, notice how on the left column of their page, they've made good use of a custom widget to present their meeting details and club information while also providing a link to their Twitter account. This both clearly display club meeting information and promote their social media presence.

In their navigation menu, the Castro Valley Rotary Club keeps information for newcomers front and center, making it easy to find out how to join, with the use of video display, drop down menus and site pages. They even provide a glossary that helps new members understand the unique jargon of the club.

Another good design element is the way the club presents general information about their mission and Rotary above the fold. As you scroll down, the information and resources become more specific to the club showcasing how active they are through the club minutes. This is an excellent way to keep and hold the interest of members and non-members visiting the site. The 'fold' in design speak is the the first half section of the website that is visible when you land on a website. Below the fold refers to the area you see as you scroll down.


In another creative display of widget use, they've customized their Downloads widget and Birthdays and Anniversaries widget with a colored background to make it stand out from the page - a great way to add some simple flair to any website! Did you know that you can alter the color and appearance of most widgets simply by editing the widget properties?

Finally, going back to pictures, the club does a great job using real photos of members, rather than stock photography or clip art. The use of such photos, makes their articles and club more relatable and simply ties their content together.

Know of a ClubRunner website you'd really like us to see, or have some tips on what makes a website great? Share it with us by commenting below.

To visit Castro Valley Rotary's website, visit: www.castrovalleyrotary.org