Promoting your club...

[geezer-lock]

I am posting here because so many new webmasters are looking for help. This is not about technology. It matters little in this context what hardware, software or services you use. This is about content. In the 21st century, if you want people to know who you are, where you are and what you do, you MUST have a web site.

I am speaking to USPSA clubs in particular but the message applies to all the other shooting disciplines as well. And for all of the volunteer web masters out there that have jumped into the strange and complex world of web publishing, I applaud your effort.

I recently visited every club web site listed on USPSA.org. What I found (or didn’t find in many cases) is that many clubs have failed to provide even the most basic information on their sites. I hope this discourse will help some of you avoid that mistake.

To get the most out of the World Wide Web you need to think globally. At the very least a USPSA club should think…North American. And the person they need to think about most “ain’t from around here”.

Let’s start with your home page.

If I followed a link out to your club page from USPSA.org would I have any idea where you are? (Sounds like Prof. Irwin Corey).

Make your address a part of the header. At the very least, include your state name, even if you think the city name is so recognizable that people will just know. Don’t keep your visitors guessing.

If I found your web page would I be able to read it? (Before you ask, yes.)

Text must be legible, so please avoid strange fonts and miniscule type. Stay away from busy backgrounds and whatever you do avoid “artsy” combinations of colors that are difficult to read. Less is more. Don’t have a confusing array of thumbnail photos, streaming announcements, vendor ads and such competing for attention.

If I found your home page, is other information clearly and unambiguously at hand?

Make navigation to other pages bold and clear. You can never have to many “bullets” that link to other content. Don’t hide stuff!

If I found your club web site would it tell me anything about who you are and what you do?

Use separate pages that open in another window to introduce people to the sport, give them a short history of the club and its founders, point them to additional information on other sites (BE comes to mind). If you borrow content please include an attribution. It will also help if you ask folks if you can use their pictures, graphics or documents.

If I found your club web site, could I find your range?

Have directions. Have detailed directions. Have detailed directions with lots of way points such as street names that cross the route. Be sure to make a note if the road number or street name changes along the way. Include the mileage and the direction (North, East, West, South). Avoid indefinite anchor points such as “from the mouth of the canyon”. Make those ties to clearly marked intersections.

Have a map. Have a good map. Have a good, legible map. Have a good, legible map with directions! Have a map with the mileage from many points included. Be sure that your map has a NORTH indicator. If you draw a map be certain that it is accurate and oriented correctly. Whatever you do be sure that the map text can be read from the usual portrait orientation. My monitor pivots but others are not so lucky.

Include the longitude and latitude coordinates for your range location. In this world those should be easy to come by. Modern mapping software and GPS navigation systems can combine to make it a breeze to find your clubhouse or range property. Although having the crosshairs on your range is fun to fly to in Google Earth, a set of points pinned to the gate out on the highway is much more useful in a modern car navigation system. Many systems cannot compute a route to points pinned to an off-road location.

Be careful when formatting coordinates so that they conform to long standing (300 or so years) convention. Always state latitude first, then longitude. Coordinates should look like this:

33° 27'22.46"N, 101° 37'21.54"W

Or the much simpler:

33 27 22.46 N, 101 37 21.54 W

Or simpler yet, in decimal degrees:

33.4562, -101.623

Any of these formats can be copied directly into most geosearch or geocoding programs or converted to a POI (Point of Interest) for use in an auto navigation system.

Make stuff on your pages portable. Your visitors will want to copy names, numbers, addresses, directions and coordinates so that they can quickly paste them into other applications. Do NOT bury the club address or coordinates in a graphic!

If you do all of the above you will make me happy. And since I am a curmudgeonly, picky old cuss, it follows that you will make others happy as well.

David C

Edited October 10, 2007 by geezer-lock

[PHolsted]

Very good points.

If you have time please take a look at ours and let me know what you think.

Thanks

Benton Gun Club

[Chris Keen]

Very concise and to the point. That's what makes good things better. Maybe even great!

Thanks

[TreblePlink]

I was handed the club website about ten weeks ago, and updated quite a bit:

http://orpci.org

Feedback on improving the "Introduction to IPSC" section is appreciated.

[Joe4d]

Have a schedule,,, or calender..... have an UPDATED and ACURATE calendar, with showtimes and expected end time, what games and what days do you shoot ? Have brief directions for newcomers,,, as in leave gear in car, until safety brief,,,, or safe area is berm on right,,,, etc..

Edited October 11, 2007 by Joe4d

[bierman]

Accurate and updated are two words to live by. It is frustrating to go to a website only to see it hasn't been undated in 2-3 years. I automatically discount/disregard any sites like that. A good map, schedule of events and match scores and I am a happy camper.

[Merlin Orr]

We shooters in Corpus Christi - Coastal Bend Shooters - are lucky in that we have a great webmaster and it is constant and current. Some of the other (semi) local clubs are not so fortunate with their sites. My worst gripe(s) are clubs that don't post scores and those that have crappy directions to their clubs... A little clip of a map SUCKS for an out of town shooter in unfamiliar territory. Check out the Collin County TX IDPA club for a nice (among others) website...

[geezer-lock]

Very good points.

If you have time please take a look at ours and let me know what you think.

Thanks

Benton Gun Club

OK, here we go:

If I followed a link out to your club page from USPSA.org would I have any idea where you are?

No doubt at all in your case.

If I found your web page would I be able to read it?

I do think there are some things that could be improved in this area. One litmus test you can use to determine the readability of a page is to print it in color. I will PM you on some other points.

If I found your home page, is other information clearly and unambiguously at hand?

Good here also. Lots of big navigation buttons that are impossible to miss.

If I found your club web site would it tell me anything about who you are and what you do?

You really shine in this area. The “Learn About Us” page is informative but looks unfinished. The facilities page is outstanding in several respects but including the range drawings is unique in my experience. That is a really nice range. The inclusion of your well constructed news letter archive is a big plus.

The range calendar is an incredible (though busy) piece of work. It has “Excel guru” written all over it!

If I found your club web site, could I find your range?

Got to love those well formatted longitude, latitude coordinates. The real WOW factor though is the HUGE PDF file with a great map AND directions. It is just about perfect. Add the compass direction to your turn instructions (LEFT/EAST) and it will be perfect!

As an out-of-towner I find your page to be an excellent resource. Next time I am in that area I will definitely stop by.

David C

[p99shooter]

Let me know what you think:

Sacramento Defensive Pistol Shooters

[geezer-lock]

Let me know what you think:

Sacramento Defensive Pistol Shooters

If I followed a link out to your club page from USPSA.org would I have any idea where you are?

I thought I knew where you were, then I jumped to the “Notices” page and thought I was in Utah…or Nevada? If I got confused imagine what would happen to an international visitor. Add that CA somewhere.

If I found your web page would I be able to read it?

YES! My fave here, black text on a white background. Perfect!

Sharp logo, too.

If I found your home page, is other information clearly and unambiguously at hand?

Pretty good marks here. I like clean HOME pages without text but with lots-o-buttons. Make one of your navigation buttons “Map to the range” or “Directions”. That will stay with subsequent pages as you move through the site.

If I found your club web site would it tell me anything about who you are and what you do?

Your newsletter and newsletter archive is carrying the whole load. Take a look at the “Introduction” page that Chris has at http://orpci.org/

That can easily be adapted to IDPA.

I like your match calendar and I really like the built in “Results”. And the results are nicely formatted and easy to read.

If I found your club web site, could I find your range?

Actually I did find it pretty easily once I got the Sloughhouse, CA location. When giving written instructions it helps to have compass directions when you tell someone to turn (as in: From Jackson Highway (16), turn South onto Ione road and...).

You done good by pinning your mileage estimates to a known intersection.

And don’t forget those all important GPS coordinates:

Your gate entrance is at:

38.4313° -121.063°

The intersection of Meiss Rd. and Ione Rd. is at:

38.4273 -121.054°

Nice work, stay with it, folks like you keep the sport alive!

David C

Edited October 11, 2007 by geezer-lock

[outerlimits]

we try to have lots of multimedia-members seem to like it and outsiders get a chance to see what we do.

http://web.mac.com/speedoption/iWeb/CAPSL

[PHolsted]

As an out-of-towner I find your page to be an excellent resource. Next time I am in that area I will definitely stop by.

David C

David,

Thanks for the advice. I got the pm and it has great stuff ,it is always great to get feed back whether it is good or bad. I will try to incorporate some of your ideals this weekend.

I would love to take you to the range when your in the area.

Patrick

[shred]

Here's the directions I did for our club a while back: http://www.alsppc.org/index.php?module=pag..._position=27:27

and one other piece of advice-- if your home page still has a picture of Julie Goloski in her Army uniform, it might be time for a new picture.

[geezer-lock]

Shred,

That is a novel solution to a really common problem. Even with good coordinates, at 70mph it is easy to find yourself asking, “Where the $#*% is the road”?

{Edit to add} Haveing a good "you've gone to far" marker is also an excellent idea.

David C

Edited October 12, 2007 by geezer-lock

[davidball]

Geezer-lock,

I'd appreciate your assessment of ours as well:

http://www.wvpps.com/

I already know we need GPS coordinates.

Thanks in advance.

[geezer-lock]

Geezer-lock,

I'd appreciate your assessment of ours as well:

http://www.wvpps.com/

I already know we need GPS coordinates.

Thanks in advance.

If I followed a link out to your club page from USPSA.org would I have any idea where you are?

Ultimately, yes. Consider including the text “Riley, IN” with title text.

If I found your web page would I be able to read it?

Excellent! Clean without a lot of distracting “stuff”.

If I found your home page, is other information clearly and unambiguously at hand?

Good use of simple linking that is easy to access.

If I found your club web site would it tell me anything about who you are and what you do?

You are doing a nice job providing for your current members with, match photos, results (Joey has that down pat, by the way), point series, etc. Not a lot there for the curious and the uninitiated.

If I found your club web site, could I find your range?

The maps are good, properly oriented and easy to read.

Since I am a landmark navigator there is much to like about your written directions. You use compass direction which I like. A little tune-up here and there could make things easier for the road weary, to wit:

Is Exit 11 on I70 numbered from Indianapolis or St. Louis? How far is “just east of Terra Haute”. Be as detailed as possible with distances and anchor points.

Consider a separate page for the poor souls traveling in from the south. A BIG map with the details of the Main street-SR46 intersection would probably help.

I have pinned the Riley Conservation club here:

39.3903, -87.3207

Good work. Good Luck!

PM coming your way.