Bringing Dojos/Dojangs into the 21st Century...

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

Hey guys, i've brought my school into the 21st century and we've invested in a website. it is built, beautiful, up and running. iam very proud of it. but here's where my problem lies, i still feel like im forgetting things, important things that other associations have on their websites. so just to clear my mind, and rid my self of this obsessive compulsive feeling, what do you think every school MUST have on their website. crucial things, necessary things, and even things you yourself would put on if you were the designer.

thanks in advanced for the input!

[Zanshin]

Good looking sites are great but the content is key.

When we built our club web site, we looked at it as an old fashioned poster or "flyer".

As such we worked on the principle of the 4 W's IE; What, When Where, Why?.

What = Martial art and in particular what makes you different to the club down the road.

When = Training Times.

Where = Geographic Location.

Why = Reasons and benefits to train at you club.

Along with a quality look, all of the above will capture most of your needs, but we went a bit further and created a "Hook" that made our website stand out a bit from others.

We did it by putting some unique resources on the site that can't be found anywhere else on the net.

Depending on how "dynamic" you want your site to be will require continued input from you. IE if you need to update it and change it on a regular basis be sure your ready for that as it can become a chore and there is nothing worse than a site that is years out of date. Your Google rangings will drop if you dont update your site.

You will also have to "propagate" your site and make the correct high value links (of which this site is one). You can use sites like linkpopularity.com for this.

So... Best of luck.

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

Thanks, that was interesting. I was thinking about a "Hook" like you were talking about, but can't quite figure out what my hook should be. I know i want it to be cool but credible and i don't want it to take up years upon years of my life. I was thinking maybe something to do with forms, but thats still an avenue im unsure of.

[bushido_man96]

I think that Zanshin pretty well covered what you need. Many places will post class schedules, and these are handy for when people would be interested in coming down and seeing a class and talking to instructors.

I think some pics of classes might be a good idea, too. It gives lookers an idea of what to expect of your facilities a little bit. Even some instructor backgrounds might be nice, too.

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

Yea, i think i was thinking along the right lines when i made the website. we have:

instructor bio/pictures

all 4 locations listed

a virtual picture tour of our studios

we have a picture page

history page

affiliations page

links page

students page

ranking system page

FAQ page

terminology page

a news page, for updates/events, etc

a rules page

and a rank requirements page.

missing anything anyone?

something others have that i dont?

[GOM]

You have to ask yourself who are you targetting? Newbies? Those who have trained before? Both?

instructor bio/pictures - Great, but unless the instructors are models, I think it looks unprofessional.

all 4 locations listed - Great! How about a google map as well?

a virtual picture tour of our studios -Another great one!

we have a picture page - Yep, I like it! Make sure you choose the pictures carefully though.

history page - Good one.

affiliations page - Good if they are quality affiliations.

links page - Who are you linking? Other MA clubs? Not a good idea if they are in your area, ut if they aren't, why not!

students page - Members section?

ranking system page - Not needed IMO.

FAQ page - Not needed as you should answer the FAQ in other sections.

terminology page - Again, not needed. Chuck it in the members section.

a news page, for updates/events, etc - Yep great.

a rules page - Not needed. Members section.

and a rank requirements page. - Same as above.

We are also in the stage of giving our club's website a facelift. Just remember to keep it simple, neat, and informative.

[Budderfly]

A really good book on web design is "Don't make me think" by Steve Krug. It's a really useful tool that explains how internet users read webpages and how to target your audience without giving them too much clutter to sort through.

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

You have to ask yourself who are you targetting? Newbies? Those who have trained before? Both?

instructor bio/pictures - Great, but unless the instructors are models, I think it looks unprofessional.

all 4 locations listed - Great! How about a google map as well?

a virtual picture tour of our studios -Another great one!

we have a picture page - Yep, I like it! Make sure you choose the pictures carefully though.

history page - Good one.

affiliations page - Good if they are quality affiliations.

links page - Who are you linking? Other MA clubs? Not a good idea if they are in your area, ut if they aren't, why not!

students page - Members section?

ranking system page - Not needed IMO.

FAQ page - Not needed as you should answer the FAQ in other sections.

terminology page - Again, not needed. Chuck it in the members section.

a news page, for updates/events, etc - Yep great.

a rules page - Not needed. Members section.

and a rank requirements page. - Same as above.

We are also in the stage of giving our club's website a facelift. Just remember to keep it simple, neat, and informative.

instructor bio/pictures - The bios are there for prospective students to know who they're working with, their background, and that we are all credible with no special "honorary ranks" or "seminar ranks". it's also for current students to make them feel more comfortable and let them know alittle bit more of about ourselves. the pictures are there to match a face to the information but most importantly to show who of all the blackbelts new students/parents should be talking to when they show up for their trials.

all 4 locations listed - the addresses are there so anyone can feel free to mapquest/GPS/tomtom/whatever

a virtual picture tour of our studios- just like it says

we have a picture page - all pictures from all events go in, unless they are a bad/redundant picture. we have nothing to hide

history page - just like it says

affiliations page - we choose our affiliations carefully, we would not be affiliated with someone if we didnt directly work with them and if they werent credible

links page - we are linking to our affiliate clubs, because we want them to known about who we affiliate ourselves with. we don't have fear of losing clients, if a student wants to risk jumping clubs and dumping ours, they're not our kind of student. we also click to select martial arts retailers who we want our students buying equipment from

students page - this is a students resources page where they can print out study guides, tests, and other forms they may need throughout their studies.

ranking system page - necessary? no. but we want people to know who they're talking to when they come in. i've seen our masters belt used as a juior black belt at other places! its not dire but it gives people a feel for how traditional we are, etc

FAQ page - FAQ pages are crucial, because quite frankly some people need things spelled out for them, and some questions are quite legitmate. FAQ pages are very important and i personally think that every MA website should have them.

terminology page - im considering making a members section and putting it in there, but im just not too fond of the idea...we'll see

a news page, for updates/events, etc - crucial, and makes students more accountable.

a rules page -potential members section material but crucial so people know what they are getting into, if youre not going to abide by our rules, i dont want you as a student.

and a rank requirements page. - this is a must but may be member section material, again that idea is still pending in my mind, but its a must for students who refuse to buy a manual, it's just another way to make students more accountable. accountability is key.

simple- check, i dont think we have any excess crap as i've seen in other sites

neat- check, i have a beautiful professional web template

informative-check, any other information and i'd have to have to write it out and slap them in the face with it.

The web's completely done now. The member's section thought is still pending. We are definately going to have an Instructors section but it won't be available via a button on our site, it will just be given as a link on a piece of paper and they have to go out there and get it. we don't want students seeing what we have on our instructors page(as i wouldnt put it past some of them to show up at our meetings). Im confident that minus the instructor's page and minus the members page pending that we are set in what we have, right in what we have, and finished, after a long drawn out proccess. people, trust me when i say websites are like pulling teeth...they even have a whole new rank for it...WebMaster...i wonder what my belt's gonna look like...

[DWx]

instructor bio/pictures - The bios are there for prospective students to know who they're working with, their background, and that we are all credible with no special "honorary ranks" or "seminar ranks". it's also for current students to make them feel more comfortable and let them know alittle bit more of about ourselves. the pictures are there to match a face to the information but most importantly to show who of all the blackbelts new students/parents should be talking to when they show up for their trials.

I'd agree with this for a reason to put instructor pages on. They can look unprofessional as GOM said but if done properly they can look great. I always thought my instructor's looked good (shameless plug for my own school ) and prospective students will want to know that they are being taught by someone who is qualified and serious about their training.

links page - we are linking to our affiliate clubs, because we want them to known about who we affiliate ourselves with. we don't have fear of losing clients, if a student wants to risk jumping clubs and dumping ours, they're not our kind of student. we also click to select martial arts retailers who we want our students buying equipment from

Speaking from a students point of view I like to know the news from hq (the ITF in my case) and my instructor links to some sites which have great resources.

FAQ page - FAQ pages are crucial, because quite frankly some people need things spelled out for them, and some questions are quite legitmate. FAQ pages are very important and i personally think that every MA website should have them.

I agree with this. For prosepctive students its easier to find all the answers in one easy place rather than sifting through the entire website. Also might be the place the visitor goes to first before search the depth of the site.

Good luck with the site though. (Maybe we could see it? )

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

Thank you for your kind words DWx...and all this talk of constructing the website, and i didnt even give you guys a link to it! shame on me, my apologies . it is listed below because im having problems up here.

and before anyone takes a peak...i have taken the members page into more than consideration and i think im doing it...i just stared at the page for like ten minutes straight and i think cleaning up the nav bar would be a good idea, it would get rid of like six buttons! so for sake of cleanliness, we're doing it.

and as for the instructors, we are going to retake the pictures in about a month, all with the same background with the flag behind them, but when you scroll over them they will change to the same background, same person, but it's going to be an action picture. we're either going to do that or something else. but the pictures will be retaken, and done over.

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