Public Interest Registry, the not-for-profit operator of the .org, .ngo and .ong domains, released the results of its bi-annual domain name report called The Dashboard. The findings reported reflect growth in the nonprofit sector. 130,865 new .org domains have been registered over the past 12 months, an increase of 1.3 percent. The domain renewal rate is at 73.7 percent.
Other findings outlined in The Dashboard include:
While .ngo and .ong experienced popularity across numerous and diverse fields, children and youth, education, and health and nutrition are the three causes that are most commonly supported by the domains.
The .org registrations in international markets demonstrate steady growth, particularly in Asia where China has 3.2 percent and Japan has 3 percent of the total .org registrations worldwide.
After a year hiatus, India jumped back into the top 10 list of .org registrations by country, ahead of Spain, with 1.8 percent of worldwide .org registrations. Registrants are renewing their .org registrations at an average rate of 73.7 per year.
The increase in registered .org, .ngo and .ong domain names serves as a good reminder that for many supporters, your website is the first and primary impression they will have of your organization. Here are a few tips on how to optimize your website.
Special Report: Nonprofit Domains Increase, 5 Ways to Make Sure Your Website Stands Out
1. Make sure it is mobile-ready. Have you tested your website on a mobile device? More and more people each year use their mobile devices as their “primary screens.” If your website is designed for a desktop computer and not a small screen, be sure to get a mobile design created.
2. Make sure your site loads quickly. If your site takes a long time to load, everything is made more difficult including online donations and registrations. Don’t forget that people are more likely to click away and lose interest when a site loads slowly. Check average load times with external monitoring services like host-tracker.com and spyfu.com.
3. Make sure you are adding valuable content on a regular basis. You should be adding value to your community via content on your website at least once a week—more often is even better. In addition, keep in mind that if you want your site to be toward the top of search rankings for any given term, you need to create high quality content on your website that includes those terms.
4. Make sure your call to action is clear. If you’ve clearly communicated the problem you are trying to fix, have you made it clear what potential donors can do to help? Is your “donate now” button easy to locate?
5. Make sure your homepage is scannable. Would a first-time visitor be overwhelmed with all the content on your homepage? Put the most important content front and center and utilize headers, content blocks and solid design to guide where a visitor’s eyes are meant to go on your homepage.
What is your biggest challenge regarding your organization’s web presence?
For more ideas on how to optimize and maximize your digital presence, download The Beginner’s Guide to Digital Fundraising.