At your camp, you’ve seen children and young adults connect with nature, enjoy adventurous activities, learn important life skills, and build lifelong friendships. You know that it’s a magical place that can make a real difference in your campers’ lives. 

That’s why you need to have a high-quality website where you can spread the word about your camp and encourage more registrations—so you can keep your doors open and change more lives for the better.    

This is sometimes easier said than done, though. Whether you’re new to web design or an experienced designer, you can experience several pitfalls to designing the perfect website. 

In this guide, we’ll explore common web design pitfalls and how to overcome them. While you may be able to tackle these issues on your own with research and time, you might want to consider working with a nonprofit web design company to take your efforts (and your site!) to the next level. Let’s begin! 

1. Slow Load Speed  

Why It’s a Problem

The best websites out there are fast. After all, we’ve all been there—you Google something and then click on a website link only to wait and wait and…wait some more for the content to load while you stare at a blank screen. When it doesn’t happen fast enough, you exit and choose another website link to click on instead.

A slow load speed drives visitors away from your website and, even worse, leaves them with a negative view of your camp. In other words, this seemingly small element of the website user experience can have a big impact on your ability to drive traffic to your site. 

How to Solve It 

83% of online users expect websites to load in three seconds or less. So how can you ensure your website is up to par?  

Here are some tips: 

• Compress images and videos. Large files loaded into your website can slow it down, and images and videos are common culprits. Optimize these to keep them small without sacrificing quality.

• Reduce the use of redirects. When a page has to redirect to another page, it takes more time for the final page to load. Avoid redirects when you can, and when you must use them, keep redirect chains short. 

• Use browser caching. Browsers store information about websites a visitor has already been to so that if the visitor returns to that page, they don’t have to wait for it to completely reload.

2. Complex Navigation Structures 

Why It’s a Problem 

Once a visitor successfully lands on your camp website, they need to be directed to where to go next, and that’s where your navigation structure comes into play. 

If visitors face a seemingly endless menu that features every page on your site or unintuitive paths to your core action pages, they won’t get to where they want to go. That could cost you registrations, donations, sponsorships, and more.  

How to Solve It 

Your website should provide a clear road map (or menu) for visitors to follow that makes it easy for them to reach their desired destination quickly. As a bonus, a great navigation structure will highlight everything else your website has to offer, encouraging visitors to explore further. 

To optimize your own website’s navigation, follow these tips: 

• Create a sticky navigation bar. A sticky navigation bar is a menu or bar at the top of your website that remains in position no matter what page your visitors click on and no matter how far down they scroll on that page. This allows visitors to easily jump around to different pages as needed. 

• Simplify any navigation menu. Your navigation menu should only feature your website’s most important pages. For instance, your menu might include tabs for your home, registration, donation, camp schedule, and staff bios pages. If you have other important resources you want to highlight, link to them under these main tabs. 

• Add a search bar. Sometimes, a visitor will know exactly what they’re looking for and won’t want to waste any time navigating through the menu. That’s where a search bar can be useful. It allows your visitors to search by keywords and quickly pull up relevant web pages. 

3. Inconsistent Branding and Messaging 

Why It’s a Problem 

Your organization’s brand is what makes it unique. It includes visual elements like your logo, color scheme, and typography, and also encompasses intangible elements like your mission and values. 

If the branding and messaging on your website are inconsistent with the branding you use within other aspects of your operations, you risk confusing your target audience. Worse yet, you could make your camp look unprofessional and disorganized. 

How to Solve It 

Your brand is your superpower and, when used effectively, reinforces what makes your camp special and why website visitors should engage with your organization. 

To make the branding and messaging on your website more consistent, apply these tips: 

• Develop clear brand guidelines. Setting forth clear brand guidelines (and recording them somewhere, like in a dedicated brand style guide) will keep your entire team on the same page. Then, anytime someone needs to create new content for your website, they can reference the guidelines to ensure the branding and messaging are accurate.  

• Ensure your website visuals are uniform across all pages. Conduct regular checks to ensure that all the visuals on your web pages match and are up to date. For example, you should be using the latest version of your logo or the most recent photo of your staff members. 

• Align messaging across platforms. Keep your story consistent across the board and your organization will come across more uniform and organized. For instance, let’s say you’re currently pushing a family-friendly fundraising campaign. If you use phrases like “Bring the whole family!” or “Fun for everyone, big and small!” on your website, use the same phrasing on the poster for the campaign.

4. No Calls to Action

Why It’s a Problem 

Calls to action (CTAs) are short phrases, often placed on buttons, that encourage people to do something, whether that means enrolling in your summer camp, giving to your online fundraiser, or reading a blog post. 

Without CTAs, web visitors may not know what you want from them, and as a result, they may not take that important next step to engage with your organization. 

How to Solve It 

Strategically place CTAs throughout your website to encourage more conversions on your most important action pages.

Here are a few tips to help you create great CTAs that get you results: 

• Pay close attention to your CTA language. The phrases you include on your CTAs should be short, memorable, and inspiring. For instance, something like “Enroll in summer camp today to save your spot!” instills urgency and clearly spells out what you want your website visitors to do. 

• Place your CTAs strategically around your website. Don’t overdo it with your CTAs. Be intentional about where they go and what pages they direct visitors to. They should also stand out in size and color so they catch your visitors’ attention.

• Strengthen your action pages. Give yourself the greatest chance of having visitors take a desired action by sprucing up your action pages. Ensure the pages are concise, branded to your organization, and work well so visitors actually use them to complete the action you’re calling for. 

Whether you’ve just started your own camp or you’ve been in the game for decades, there’s no denying that a great camp website can be an excellent tool for marketing your camp and spreading your organization’s message to the world. 

Use this guide to avoid common web design pitfalls and make your camp website the strongest it can be!