Author: Jason Stokes

Months of sleepless nights developing the next big thing in the rental space are almost coming to an end. Your rental platform is nearly ready for a production environment, but getting users to install and use your app might be the hardest thing you’ll ever do. Amazing software applications have been built, only to end up as catastrophic failures with minimal user engagement. CNN, the most recognizable name in news streaming, had to scrap their $350 million streaming service a month after launching because of dismal subscriptions. In a competitive space like rental apps, you’ll need to pull out all the stops to stand out from the crowd. A cursory glance on Google Store reveals thousands of rental apps, all with decent ratings and users. To get your foot in the door, and guarantee your app gets at least a few thousand downloads within the first month – a key metric in any application’s long-term performance – here’s what you need to do.

Choose the right name

The words you use can make or break your rental application success. Think about it. When users are searching for a rental platform, either through a search engine or on an app store, their use specific words. If the name of your app doesn’t make use of these search words, it’ll be increasingly difficult for users to find your app. This doesn’t mean that you cram each high-value search word into your rental apps name. A name like “World’s Best Rental Platform” won’t win the user base over. You want to strike a balance between the search words and uniqueness to improve the chances of your rental application standing out. You can use SEO tools to discover words popular with users in the rental market and combine those with a unique word that describes your rental application.

Interact with your user base

If you haven’t already, its time to know your audience. The best products are those that address the needs of their targeted consumers. Read through user reviews of various rental applications and ask yourself how your app addresses their needs, how it improves on current offerings, and if it addresses any gaps. Asking yourself these questions helps you come up with a description that makes your rental application stand out from the rest. A rental application that helps New Yorkers find homes and apartments by their preferred neighborhood will attract more users than non-specific apps. Being specific also guarantees your app engages with your targeted user base, making it stand out from the rest.

Focus on your UI/UX

The user interface and user design experience can make or break a platform. As a software developer, you know or have used Vim. But given the choice between Vim and a graphical text editor, which one would you prefer? Sure, Vim has tons of functionalities and is more productive than graphical text editors. But the fact that Vim lacks a populated graphical interface and has a steeper learning curve than graphical text editors makes it a less popular choice, with only 25% of software developers using it. Vim is a great tool, but its user interface and user experience design are not. Your rental application might be on the bleeding edge of technology, but if it doesn’t have an equally impressive graphical interface and user experience design, not a lot of people will want to use it.

Spread the word

You can’t sit back and wait for users to download your rental application. With dozens of new apps being published each month, you need to make users aware of your app every chance you get. That means you’ll need to spend a lot of time on social media channels marketing your app and interacting with potential users. If your budget allows, you might also want to spend some money on social media and search engine advertising. Advertising on digital channels and social engagements will create a buzz around your app that should snowball into active users, provided you’ve completed the steps above.

Never ignore customer feedback

Once you have the first few users, you’re bound to get feedback on your app. Some of the feedback will be critical and even down right disheartening. Don’t get discouraged by the feedback. Instead, use the critical feedback as motivation to improve your rental application. When users realize developers actually care, they are bound to let others know, driving your rental platform to the number one spot. The developers of No Man’s Sky, the video game, are a perfect example of how to turn negative feedback into a strength. Within a year of releasing the game, No Man’s Sky developers received a lot of flak from the online community. Rather than giving up on the game and writing it off as a failure, the developers used the criticism to improve their game. Four years later, No Man’s Sky is a fan favorite and the developers willingness to continue improving on the game has endeared them to their entire user base.

Introduction

Non-profits have a lot of competition for attention. The web is full of sites that look like they’re trying to sell you something and make money off your time and donations. So how do you stand out from the crowd? You need a website that’s focused on serving the needs of your members and donors, not just making a profit.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to build an effective non-profit website without spending a fortune on design services or software solutions. This post will explore some essential elements for building an effective non-profit website.

Choosing a domain name

Choosing a domain name is an essential step in the process of building your non-profit website. It’s also one of the most challenging parts because it can be very tricky to figure out what you want and how much it will cost.

A good rule of thumb is that “easy-to-remember” and “easy-to-spell” domains make for better choices than those that are hard to remember or spell (i.e., .gov). You don’t want either end of this spectrum—you want something memorable but not overly complicated. Hence, people remember what they see on your site without having trouble remembering how exactly it’s spelled or pronounced!

Setting up hosting

Once you’ve settled on a domain name and confirmed its availability, it’s time to get a hosting provider. When deciding on a web host, it’s crucial to consider what your non-profit needs and how much money you want to spend. Here are some things to consider:

• How long do I need my website up? Free hosting may be okay if the site is only up for one night. But if there’s any reason that someone might want access 24/7 (for example, there’s an emergency), then having unlimited access is worth paying for.
• How many people will use this website? The more traffic your site gets, the more resources (bandwidth) it takes up on its server providers’ end—and these costs can add up quickly over time! So if someone wants their dedicated server but doesn’t mind how much they’ll cost per month/yearly total amount paid out each year, then go ahead because those services generally come with lower prices than shared ones do since they aren’t shared between multiple users.

Build Your Website Structure

A website structure is a way you organize your content on a website. Your website’s user interface largely depends on your choice of a Content Management System. If you settle on a CMS such as WordPress, choosing a theme that works for you is a simple case.

The first step in deciding how to build your non-profit’s website is understanding the pages your site should have. A basic non-profit page should have the following:

• Home Page
• About Us
• Services
• Support Us
• Contact Page

Implement a Membership Management Software

The next step in setting up your non-profit website is integrating membership management software.

The benefits of using membership management software include:

• Easy signup process for new members.
• Automatic updates on the status of your memberships (new member, renewal, etc.).
• Tracking all communications from donors.                                     
• Offline payment processing with credit card/debit card support.

A sound membership management system is easy to use for both the donors and your staff.

Create Content for the website

The most important part of your website is content. Without it, you have nothing to show visitors and potential donors. Content makes your non-profit unique and defines who you are as an organization. It drives traffic to the site and ensures that people are reading about the causes that matter most to them. Content may be in the form of blogs or a well-described gallery of photos.

Content is also crucial because it can be used as a foundation for building other aspects of a non-profit’s online presence:

• It helps people understand why they should donate money or time
• It gives them an inside look at how the organization operates (or doesn’t)
• It encourages them to take action by clicking on links related to their interests

Implement SEO practices for website

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process by which a website, or web page in general, is optimized for online search engine queries.

The goal of SEO is to make your content more visible through search engines so that it can be found when someone does an internet search for what you have to offer. Implementing good SEO practices can help you get more visitors and improve your rankings on Google and other major search engines.

Implementing good SEO practices in your blogs will raise your site’s search engine ranking making it more visible to potential donors.

Building a non-profit website is a great way to fundraise and promote your organization. If you’d like a professional touch on your non-profit website, get in touch with us and we’ll set up your site in no time!