Betty Preble
NYS Communications Director

Many branches already have their own websites and realize the value, in time and financial savings, they provide. Here are some tips for making the most of your branch website. (If your branch is interested in starting a website, contacting the NYS Communications Director.)

Keep Info Up-To-Date
Be sure your officer contacts, calendar of coming events, names of your coalition partners and the local action projects you co-sponsor with them are up to date. Add this task to either your Communications Chair's or your Corresponding Secretary's job description so everyone knows whose job it is.

Information To Include
Your branch website is where members come to find out what is going on in the branch and where prospective members come to find out about you. Provide them the information they need to know by including:

• Branch Name - let them know they are (or will be) members of your branch, NYS AAUW, the Association and the International Federation of University Women (IFUW).
• Short Branch History - when the branch was formed and some highlights of its achievements
• Branch Leaders & Contact Info - how to contact branch leaders or inquire about membership
• Calendar of Events - what's coming up, when and where and who to contact with questions
• Coalition Partners - who you are working with
• Branch Study/Interest Groups - show them the depth of the branch and how to get involved
• Newsletter Information - include current and past issues, but be careful of privacy issues (no personal information without permission)
• What's New - a listing of what has recently changed on the site

Layout
When you are designing your web page think about how your visitors will view it. What do they expect to see and how will they navigate the site?

Its best to keep the overall layout simple without a lot of distractions. Don't use every cool trick you just learned. It's the mark of a novice.

Do use clipart and photos judiciously to make the site visually appealing and to draw the visitor's eye to key information. There are many free or low cost sites providing royalty free images.

If you are using multiple pages, keep the overall layout consistent. The navigation buttons or links should be in the same place on each page. Group content together by topic with the most current information at the top.

Linking to Other Sites
A great way to make your site more useful to visitors is to provide links to other, relevant sites - such as AAUW NYS or the Association website. You can also provide links to your coalition partners and ask them to provide a link to your site.