SEO is Important, But Remember Your Visitors - Make it interactive
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The redesign of the main Make-a-Wish Foundation site was all about interactivity, to judge from the press release. The organization was also able to streamline some things. I'm going to take the items mentioned in the release one at a time and explain why there were important.
The first item Make-a-Wish mentions is interactive answers to questions about the foundation. You can click on a Frequently Asked Questions section under the "About Us" link on the web site. But you can also click on the "Contact Us" link, which brings up a page with radio buttons that lead to answers to some frequently asked questions as well. Here's a cropped image that focuses on the radio buttons:
There is a "next" button under the radio buttons - so if you indicate your interest is "Adult Wishes," for example, it takes you to a page that explains that Make-a-Wish doesn't fulfill adult wishes, but links you to a number of organizations that do. At the bottom of the page with the answer, you can let the organization know whether or not it has answered your question with just a click. This feature keeps the site interactive, quickly answers questions, and lets volunteers focus on the important matters rather than having to answer the same questions over and over again.
The Make-a-Wish site has also started using Real Simple Syndication (RSS) to deliver news straight to the email boxes of interested visitors. There are so many articles about the advantages of RSS, email newsletters and related technologies that I probably don't need to go over them here. Suffice it to say that they reduce your dependence on search engine traffic and help you make the most of the visitors who do express an interest in your offering, by helping you build a long term relationship with them.
The Make-a-Wish Foundation also redesigned the web site's navigation to make it easier to find your local chapter. In the upper right hand corner on the home page there's this handy graphic:
It doesn't get much easier than that. When you click on the map link you get a map of the US, where you can click on a state. Clicking on a state takes you to a page that lists all the chapters in that state. You can also search for a local chapter by typing in a city or zip code from that same page. If you choose to click on a state, you'll find contact information and buttons that let you donate to specific chapters.
You'll notice something else in the upper right hand corner: a very visible Donate button. That makes excellent use of the web site's real estate as far as taking advantage of where the eye is drawn to encourage specific behavior.
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