6 reasons why your club needs a website

You may have wondered more than once, should I dedicate time and resources to create a website for my club? This is a sensitive issue, and there is no single solution.

A club must prioritize the sporting aspects before the administrative, the image, communication, and management. Well, yes... partly yes. But not so fast.

A self-respecting club must know how to manage all these areas to be successful, and the fact of working and enhancing them will help in large part, the evolution of the sports performance of your teams.

I am a true believer in the importance of the digitalization of sports clubs. I think the first step must be to create an internet presence, no matter how basic it is.

And it's not just my opinion. In fact, a study states that, 75% of people develop a credibility (positive or negative) of an organization, based on the design of its website. And 88% of these, do not consider a second opinion again since they discard that company / club.

In short, a website is essential for your club, and this is something you should know. From here, it would be a matter of prioritizing and seeing how much time, money and effort it takes for the plan to become reality.

Be aware that more and more people are opting for the internet as the first option to consult any questions. If your club does not appear when athletes, sponsors, parents... look for information, it will seem that you do not exist.

Think. When a person is interested in your club, the first thing they will do is look for it on the Internet, and if they do not find you on the network, it will harm your image. In addition, the fact of having all the information of your club accessible in a single click makes the search much easier for those interested.

Having a website has become vital, so if you want to be competitive (and I'm not just talking about the sports plane), it's not an option, it's a necessity.

Below, I explain several reasons why you need to have a website:

1. Improve your image

Having a website helps you improve your image for athletes, parents and other members related to the club. Like it or not, the website is a reflection of the club. A well-set up and designed website gives the impression that the club is serious and projects professionalism.

Just by having a website, visitors do not have to think that the club is up to date with the latest technology and innovation. But of course, the fact of not having one, will make them conclude that the club is not up to date. A website will build trust in your organization and even help elevate your club over another club.

2. Improve your communication

It will allow you a two-way communication with users, and they will also have the latest information delivered faster, better structured, in a clearer way. You can add a contact number on the web, so that members can contact the club.

Another form of contact that many clubs use is to provide an email or add a query tray, so that people browsing the clubs contact page can ask any questions.

And what about social networks. They are an increasingly essential channel to communicate with all the members around the club. But, especially, with younger athletes and fans.

What about adding a live chat? This is something very "pro", but it is very simple and increases the rate of contacts.

3. Increase your availability

As I mentioned, one of the advantages of improving communication channels is that they can contact you at any time of the day, without schedules.

It's like a storefront, with the advantage that it's open all day and you don't need someone to keep an eye on it.

4. Attract members and improve positioning 

Nowadays, everyone should be on the Internet. I don't want to seem repetitive, but "if you're not on the Internet you don't exist." A website is a great option to position yourself and get to market yourself. If an athlete wants to sign up for a football club in Madrid, he is likely to look in the browser: "Football clubs in Madrid", don't you think?

If your club has a website with updated information, it will appear in the first search options, maximizing clicks on the web, and therefore, the possibilities of attracting new members. In case you didn't know, more than 50% of the clicks after a search are made in one of the first 2 results.

5. Save money and time

Thanks to the web, you will be able to digitize many of the processes and tasks you currently have. You can have your own online store, replace the registration forms with digital forms, posters with publications... you will not have to waste so much money, and above all, time!

6. Added value for sponsors

The more complete your website is, and the more information you offer, the better positioning it will have, and therefore, it will receive more visits. A good idea is to publish the results, share news related to the athletes and the club, and show the calendar of the different activities.

A club website does not usually have too many visits. But if you work SEO well, you can quickly position yourself as one of the first alternatives in search engines.

This fact can be a good claim for sponsors. Because, you'll have sponsors, right? If by any chance, you have not considered having them, here I explain the advantages of having sponsors, even if they are obvious.

Well, back to the topic. You can add a tab to show sponsorships and add details of these. In this way, the web can be a new source of income. It is also interesting that you have a page for potential sponsors to contact you.

Bonus Tip. Where can I create a website for my club?

I'll tell you. The creation of websites is a world in its own. There are countless options, depending on the application you are going to give it, the budget, and the needs. I summarize, the 3 most logical options for a club like yours.

A. You have time and technical capabilities | You don't have a budget

In this case, I recommend that you use a free CMS, such as WordPress. It is the most used worldwide. While it is true that not everyone can mount a WordPress easily. You must register the domain, you will need to hire a hosting, designate the DNS, access the FTP, install WordPress, Create the database, install a template, and configure it.

The process is not actually too complicated, but it requires minimal knowledge. There are many tutorials on the internet. You will be able to follow them and learn little by little. In this case, you must take it as a learning process.

B. You don't have much time | You don't have a budget

In this case, to create your club's website you would use a platform to create unprogrammed web pages.

This is my favourite option, since it is a quick and cheap way to "launch", try to create the first prototype of your website in a few hours (a few days, if you want to perfect it), and improve little by little.

Really, you don't need to have much technical knowledge to set up a website of this style. You will use pre-designed templates that you can customize and change to your liking, to create a complete, attractive, and well-positioned page.

There are several platforms that allow you to create a website without programming, but among them, my favorite is Clupik. Since it is not like the rest of the generic website builders. Clupik is a tool 100% focused on sports clubs, where you can create your personalized website with tools that help function the running of a club and incorporates classifications and results automatically thanks to its integrations with several sports companies.

With Clupik, not only will you have a website for your club, but for a little more per month, you can have a native app for your own club. You heard right, your own app! Until now, this was only possible if you invested thousands of pounds to have it tailored, but thanks to Clupik, you can have your app and your website personalized for a ridiculous price.

C. You don't have time | You have a budget

Finally, the most personalized option, creating a custom website. And I'm not talking about you creating it, but about hiring a professional to do it for you.

In this case, you will ignore everything, you will not need to know what a domain is, nor what a menu is, although the cost will be higher.

You must keep in mind that one thing is what you pay the professional for the design / execution of the website, and then, what you will have to pay for the domain and hosting. Although this price is not at all high. For example, in Hostinger, a domain .com costs € 6.99 / year and a hosting € 9.60 / year.

You can get a website as tailored as you want, but this will entail a cost. It depends on the size of the club and the pretensions; it may be the best option. If you need your website to have an online store, a multitude of pages and subpages and integrations with other programs, this is your option. Think of this as an investment. If the expected return is high, it will be worth it.

If you need to make any questions about which is the best option of the 3 for your club, contact us here and we will advise you about it. Good luck in the digital transformation of your club!