7 Nonprofit Website Design Services for a Local Public Library Website

Written by Nim Joshi

Sep 25, 2022
Home 9 Website Design 9 7 Nonprofit Website Design Services for a Local Public Library Website

Choosing the right website design agency is essential when planning library website design.

What activity did US adults engage in almost twice as much as attending a concert or the theater? Going to the library! In 2019, they took an average of 10.5 trips to the library.

Libraries are still relevant and being used. Your library can do more for the community by connecting with them through a local public library website. Your website is an open door inviting the community to visit and learn.

The key to connecting with the local community is a great website that makes people want to visit the library. And that is the main reason to choose the experienced public library website design agency.

Keep reading to find six essential website design services to build a great library website.

Public Library website design agency

1. User Research and Planning

Most people do not enjoy going to their local government website. Most local government websites are not user-friendly and are not designed well. Also, many great websites for nonprofits and government agencies are well-designed, and people find them easy to use.

Excellent user research and planning are crucial to making this happen. You want to choose a web design agency that takes the time to research the best practices for a local library website redesign.

Listing what your local library offers (list of services) on the website is very important. Often, people in the community don’t use services at the local library because they don’t know they exist.

2. Local Public Library Website Design

Your library website should have easy-to-find resources and a design that is easy to search for. Your site must act as a guide helping people navigate it with ease.

Here are just a few design elements to look for in a new website:

    • Clear messaging for your visitors that makes things easy to find
    • A guided pathway to get to what they need
    • Highlights of services they may not realize you offer
    • Visually appealing, with plenty of pictures and graphics
    • Communication with a multi-generational audience

These are just a few of the great websites’ many nonprofit website design tips. Like a well-written book follows a story, your website should guide the users.

Your website should be designed with an end-user perspective with a great user experience that is seamless and enjoyable.

3. Web and Mobile Focus

When designing a website for your organization, your approach must consider how people access the web today. In 2021, 54.4% of internet traffic worldwide was on a mobile device.

You want to make sure that your local public library website is mobile-first and responsive:

Responsive – “A website that adapts to the screen size of the device accessing it.”

This is a problem for many nonprofit websites. They are designed well and look good on a computer screen but not on a tablet or mobile phone. You want a site that people in the community can access, no matter their device.

4. CMS for Public Library Website

A content management system (CMS). CMS helps you manage the website with limited technical knowledge and resources. A good website agency will research and suggest the right CMS platform based on your need.

Here at DesignTouch, we go through the process of choosing the suitable CMS for your website. Here are a few points to remember when selecting the suitable CMS for your website.

    • Easy-to-use CMS
    • Security
    • Features
    • Pricing
    • Customizable
    • Not heavily developer reliance
    • Scalable
    • Support
    • API & Integration
    • License/Opensource
    • SEO

An experienced website design company will help you choose the right CMS platform. They will provide a CMS user manual and train your staff to help them learn how to manage the website content to keep it fresh.

5. Ongoing Help and Service

The common denominator of the best nonprofit website design is the ability to adapt to the virtual world’s constantly changing direction. You want to find a website design service that helps your library website stay updated.

This is important for your site’s overall look and feel but is essential for security. Computer viruses and phishing scams are constantly evolving and trying to infect websites.

Keeping your site up to date will block most virus problems that could infect your site. You want to find a website design service that takes care of this.

6. SEO and Social Media Help

“Build it, and they will come” is an excellent line based on Field of Dreams, but it doesn’t help with websites. You can have a tremendous nonprofit website, but if no one knows it’s there, they won’t visit it.

This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media can help you. SEO includes practices that help your website show up in local searches. You can also make individual posts on social media that connect you with more people.

You want to find a web design service that helps you with digital marketing. The point of having a great site is for people to use it, but if they can’t find it, they won’t.

This means you want a website design team that can form a relationship with you. The design team from a good agency will hear your vision for the library and build a website that makes it happen. Then they can help you make sure to get found on the web.

7. Website Accessibility Compliance

An ADA-compliant website meets all the requirements outlined in Section 508 and WCAG 2.0. This means the HTML or web content and all Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF Documents, and other kinds of documents uploaded to the websites.

If your website isn’t ADA-compliant, you risk a hefty lawsuit. There has been an increase in website accessibility lawsuits in recent years.

At DesignsTouch, we offer ADA web accessibility solutions to make websites compliant & accessible to WCAG 2.1, AODA, ADA, & section 508 compliance standards.

Your Website Reaching Your Community

Your local public library website can become a great resource to serve your community. With the correct planning and design, your library’s service mission can impact people more than ever.

DesignsTouch, a full-service digital agency, specializes in nonprofit public library website design. We host and manage the public library website and provide full support. We believe in building long-term relationships to see your vision implemented.

Connect with them and get a free consultation on how we can help your library’s website get results in the community.

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