Promoting Your Community Archives

Have you ever rearranged your living room to create a new feel in your home? Or purchased a new outfit to reflect your current image? You do these things to avoid feeling outdated, bored, or even disconnected.

Just like wardrobes and living spaces, HOA websites need to be refreshed from time to time. A refresh is different than a quick update; it involves tackling the things you usually ignore. That could mean deleting pages, improving copy or enhancing the user experience by implementing a new layout.

This may also be a good opportunity to switch platforms altogether or add new functionalities that owners have been asking for.

Table of contents

How often should HOAs refresh their websites?
5 signs it’s time for a website refresh
How much will this cost?
How to know the refresh has worked

How often should HOAs refresh their websites?

It’s a fine balance and it really depends on what your current site looks like. You want to keep the essence of your community within the website so that owners are still comfortable using it. However, if your website looks old, feels cluttered, or is operating more slowly than it used to, you’re probably due for a refresh.

Most websites can last 2-5 years before they need a refresh. A small HOA could probably go a little longer, but you shouldn’t delay the inevitable more than 7 years.

5 signs it’s time for a website refresh

1. User engagement has dropped

If owners are not engaging with content the way they used to, it may be the design or layout. People don’t want to stay on websites that are not aesthetically pleasing. Similarly, if they can’t find what they are looking for, they’re going to stop visiting the site and start directing more requests to staff and management.

2. Your site is not mobile friendly

Research suggests that over 60% of global website traffic comes from a mobile device. The majority of people prefer to use phones over laptops if they aren’t doing work. That means a lot of your HOA members are trying to find announcements or make a payment from their phone.

If your site has remained the same for 5 or more years, the mobile experience is not nearly as smooth as it should be. Pages probably take too long to load, and images that are fine on a computer appear blurry or too large on a mobile screen.

3. Your homepage looks like it belongs to the 90s

If your site looks outdated or doesn’t align with current design trends, it will negatively impact how often people respond to it. This can be particularly harmful when trying to attract qualified buyers.

Website design is always changing, which means your site could actually look a lot older than it really is.

4. The website isn’t secure

Without getting too technical, your website might be lacking relatively standard security features if it is old. SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is an encryption-based Internet security protocol. SSL is the predecessor to the modern TLS encryption.

By encrypting any data that travels between a user and a web server, SSL ensures that anyone who intercepts the data can only see a nonsensical collection of characters. This is done to prevent a person’s credit card number or personal information from being stolen while traveling to the end destination.

SSL also stops certain kinds of cyber attacks by authenticating web servers to ensure they aren’t fake.

A website that implements SSL/TLS has “HTTPS” in its URL instead of just “HTTP.” Hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) is the secure version of HTTP, which is the primary protocol used to send data between a web browser and a website.

Every website should use HTTPS. Websites that don’t use the secure protocol are flagged by web browsers as not secure. Furthermore, without HTTPS, it is possible for Internet service providers or other intermediaries to add their own content (usually ads) to webpages without the approval of the website owner.

Website hosting providers will offer TLS/SSL certificates for a fee, but the modest price is worth the protection.

5. The website doesn’t have a password-protected portal

In addition to using HTTPS, HOAs are strongly encouraged to have a password-protected area on their websites. By creating a private space just for owners, associations help keep sensitive information like contracts, budgets and even owner directories away from the general public.

Some states now require HOAs to maintain a website with a password-protected section, but all communities should adopt the practice.

How much will this cost?

Prices can vary quite a bit depending on how much work is required and how many rounds of revisions are completed. On average, a community could expect to pay between $2,000 to $5,000, but the costs could be less if you have a preexisting agreement with a designer or company.

Alternatively, the HOA could look at getting an entirely new website. HOA Sites offers packages as low as $599 a year. Not only do HOAs get customized websites, but there are dozens of useful features that come with the site. From amplifying communications to streamlining operations, HOA Sites helps communities save time and money while increasing owner satisfaction.

How to know the refresh has worked

Investing in your website will pay off in the long run. Not only will owners voluntarily use any self-serve features (which in turn lightens the workload for your staff), but you will attract more interested buyers too.

Increased owner engagement

If you notice higher meeting turnouts, more online payments or fewer phone calls, the refreshed website has done its job.

The site is easier to find on Google

A well-designed and optimized website can improve its search engine rankings and visibility. As a result, your HOA website is more visible to the public.

Owners are talking about it

Whether it’s your neighbor or a board member, you hear people talking about how much nicer the website looks. They no longer feel like they have to use a computer to get on the site because the mobile experience is so much better.

You find yourself on the site more often

Maybe you didn’t realize how much the old site was detracting from the user experience, including your own. But now that it’s been updated and is better organized, you are more keen to share information and update records.

Conclusion

If it has been more than 5 years since your HOA’s website received a refresh, it’s time to make some much-needed changes.

Websites can look dated within a few years because design trends are constantly changing. As a result, engagement can drop (along with its usefulness). A refresh, or change in website development company, can do wonders for your website and your community.

You’ve invested in and created an amazing HOA website for your community members to attract visitors. The question is now, what can you do to encourage HOA members and visitors to use your website and engage with it.

That seems like a big challenge, and you may be asking where would you even start?

The great news is that there are some easy steps you can take to promote your HOA Website to your community members and the general public.

Let’s start by understanding why having an HOA website is not enough and why promoting it is good.

Why you need to promote your HOA website

Your HOA website may have some excellent information and features on it, but there are reasons you’ll still need to promote it in order to get members and visitors to use it.

First, you need to promote your website because sometimes members prefer to:

Call the Board or property managers with their questions
Receive a paper document mailed to them
Avoid technology
Ignore getting the information they need for themselves
Have others do tasks that they can do themselves.

So, it’s important to get members onboard and familiar with your HOA website at the very start.

Additionally, once you’ve made your investment in an HOA website, you’ll want to make sure members and visitors are using it regularly or it’s a wasted investment. If members just keep doing the same thing as they’ve always done, the benefits of having an HOA website will not be realized.

Finally, the more you promote your HOA website, and members and visitors use it, it will be an effective tool to manage operations going forward for your HOA.

To start promoting your HOA website, let’s examine how HOA members and visitors consume and engage information.

Push vs. Pull Communication

You can think of it this way, there are two major ways people get information. Something attracts them to the information and/or the information is sent to them.

In other words, there are pull communication strategies you can use where members and visitors seek, request and proactively access information on your HOA website. There are also push communication strategies you can use, where members and visitors are sent communications, and they receive it.

Now, in essence, an HOA website on its own falls into the category of a pull communication tool. Your members and visitors must come to it, actively access it and search it to get the information they want. However, there are also ways to use your website as a push tool to reach out to members and visitors so that they visit your website.

Let’s explore pull and push strategies to promote your HOA website.

How you can attract/pull members and visitors to your HOA website

There are many ways to draw members and visitors to your website, especially if they already have some level of interest in visiting it.

Here are some of the best practices you can implement.

Make the best first impression
When members/visitors are curious they will naturally come to your HOA website, so make sure the first time they come that they are met with a welcoming, attractive home page that is easy to navigate.

Using a professional HOA website developer, like HOA Sites, is recommended to achieve the professional and welcoming image you need to create with your website at first glance.
Post what’s most important first
It may be tempting to put as much information on your web pages as possible. However, posting anything and everything on your web pages will overwhelm the reader and turn them off of coming to your website.

Instead, use the strategy of thinking about what is the most important information you want to put on each web page, and post it first at the top of the page. It could be content or links to other documents. This content is followed by what might be in less demand by members and visitors.

For example, member community news and announcements should always be the first thing visible on the member-only landing page so members don’t have to go looking for it.
Keep information current
There’s nothing worse that visiting an HOA website that has dated information, like events that have already taken place or news from last year. Members and visitors need a reason visit your HOA website and keep coming back.

Make sure your online community calendar is populated with upcoming events, share any news that affects your HOA community as soon as possible on your home page. Visitors to your site will be interested in properties for sale or rent, especially if they are looking to buy, so share that information too so they keep coming back to your site.
Highlight community amenities
You may assume that HOA members know all there is to know about your community amenities, but the reality is that the majority of HOA members don’t use their community swimming pool, tennis courts, party rooms or club house. This could be for any number of reasons.

Promote the features of those amenities on your HOA website and let members know they can easily book space at those amenities themselves by using your website’s self-booking amenity feature. This will encourage members to use what they are already paying for and make it easy for them to book their amenities at their convenience.
Put effort into your “About Us” page
Take the time to create an interesting “About Us” page, with interesting facts and photos. Over 50 % of people who visit a website, click on the “About Us” page first. This indicates that they really want to understand the “who” is behind this website and feel a sense of connection with your community.
Use other platforms to promote your HOA website
If your HOA has a Facebook page or a Twitter page, make sure to post your HOA website link there as well. If you are posting something to your HOA Facebook page, let members know they should visit your website for more information.

These pull strategies are useful to draw members and visitors to your website and keep them coming back. These methods also work well in combination with push strategies that drive members and visitors to your HOA website. Let’s see what push strategies you can apply.

How you can push/drive members and visitors to your HOA website
It’s quite possible you have great HOA website, but still not get the views you’d like. At this point, you can combine your pull strategies with push ones to persuade members and visitors to engage with your website.

Here are some push strategies you can start right away.

Send surveys
Online surveys are a feature you can include on your HOA website. You can send a survey to members inquiring about anything that’s of interest to the community. Consider subjects like renovation questions, rules they’d like to see, types of events they’d participate in etc. When you include a link to see results, it will take them to your website.
Friendly contests and small prizes
A simple fun contest every quarter will bring people to your website. Maybe have a naming contest for an amenity or a photo contest capturing your HOA grounds and surrounding area. Contests like these engage homeowners and give them a reason to visit your HOA website.
Mass emails and text messages
When your HOA has an announcement or update of any kind that affects your community, send a short introduction mass text message or email to members, and include a link to your website for more information. Mass emails and text messages alert members to new content on your HOA website quickly and they’ll click the link to see all the details on your website.

4. HOA meeting reminders
When members meet in person for meetings, go over all the great information available to them on your website. Take that opportunity to remind them they can access:

HOA Guiding Documents
Invoicing information
Self-booking amenity options
Online voting
Event registration

5. Guest Blogs

Blogs are long-form articles . You can include blogs on your website with topics that are of interest to both members and the community.
For example, if your HOA community is surrounded by nature, you could have someone write an article about the fish native to the water there or medicinal plants that grow in the immediate area. If people are googling topics like these, they will come upon your blog article. When they click on the article it will take them to your website, where your blog is posted. It’s a great way to bring people to your website organically, and in a less obvious way.

6. Community newsletter
A community newsletter is your opportunity to reach your members and promote your website at the same time. Through your website you can distribute your newsletter that is similarly branded to your website. You can also insert a CTA (call to action) in your newsletter to visit your website to download information you want members to have.

These outreach efforts or push strategies help drive members and visitors to your website.

Now, let’s take a look at how using these methods will benefit your HOA community.

Top benefits of promoting your HOA website

When you make the effort to promote your HOA website effectively, your HOA community will experience valuable gains.

Engaged community
The more members visit your HOA website, the more they will be involved and interested in what is happening in your community. They will see your HOA website as the place to visit to learn about new developments.

Improved communication
Through your HOA website you can increase communication promptly and accurately, making updates in real time. Your website allows for multiple documents and communications to be accessed in one place.

Increased sales and rentals
When you promote your HOA website through other channels like Facebook or even on other business’s websites, people who normally would not visit your website directly will see your web address and click on it. It’s great exposure for your website.

Save money and time
When you promote your website to members, you won’t have to send them individual paper notices and documents. They will know that their HOA website has all the documents they are looking for, and they can access them online.

Staying in step with technology
When members don’t use your HOA website, they are falling behind with how technology is changing and how shared living communities operate. So, promoting your HOA website will encourage members to embrace it and use it.

Free up time for the Board and property manager
Directing members to your HOA website means you’ll have to deal with fewer repetitive questions. Your Frequently Asked Questions web page will provide the answers they need. Plus, you’ll be relieved from tasks that take up a lot of your time, like booking amenities for members. They’ll know they can go to your HOA website and book it themselves.

It may take some effort to promote your HOA website, but it’s well worth the benefits.

Maximizing visitors to your HOA website

An HOA website is a valuable asset. You may think because your HOA has one, members and visitors will automatically find it and use it. That’s not always the case.

People need prompting and reminding that your HOA website is accessible 24/7 and the information they are interested in can be found there. Therefore, when it comes to promoting your HOA website you have to take action to help members and visitors engage with it, not just once but repeatedly.

You can do this by combining both pull and push strategies to attract them to your HOA website. It requires some outreach on your part, but the good news is that you will see benefits if you are consistent. You will see a shift whereby your HOA website becomes the central hub for members and visitors to get the information they need.

Category: Promoting Your Community