Website Health Check – is yours in shape?

Ever wonder how you could enhance your group's online presence? Can't remember the last time your website received a good spring-clean? Never fear, our brand new Website Health Check is here!

An exciting new tool specially developed for member groups, our Health Check is designed to help you find out if you are making the most of your group's site, or whether it can be improved. The tool also assesses how effective your group’s website may be in helping you to recruit new members.

How does the tool work? 

The tool features 14 different tasks for you to complete. Each one hones in on a different aspect of your website, including usability, content, navigation and branding. There are instructions and questions for each task. As you answer the questions, you will be given feedback on parts of your website that are already working well and those that may need tweaking, together with links to further tips. You can also add notes to the form, jotting down brainwaves as you go. 

Results will be emailed after you complete the assessment, so don't worry about losing a hard copy - you will have a digital record to refer back to!

Please bear in mind that we have created this as a generic tool. Most tasks apply to most websites, but there may be some that don’t quite fit yours. Don't worry, though, as completing the assessment will still get you thinking about aspects that could be improved. 

Who should complete the assessment? 

We recommend several people complete it. Ideally, you should ask at least one person who is not in your group or knows very little about it (e.g. a friend / relative of a group member) in order to get some objective feedback. If you are interested in recruiting younger people, it’s a good idea to get people in that age range to complete it too. Remember that ‘younger’ is a relative term. In a group of predominantly 50-somethings, 30-somethings may fall into this bracket!

Whoever completes the assessment can choose who the results are emailed to. 

Do I have to be logged in? 

No, you don’t. You can send the Website Health Check link directly to someone who is not registered on our website, but this will mean they cannot save a copy (see 'Do I have to complete it in one go?' section below). However, the tool is intended as an exclusive benefit for Making Music members, and we ask that you please do not send it to non-members. 

How long does it take?

A thorough assessment takes a little while to complete (45 minutes to one hour), but we promise it’s worth your attention! We know this is a long time, but a website review is an important and rewarding task that will serve your group well for the future. You can also look through the tool without completing any tasks, so you know what to expect before you start the assessment.

Do I have to complete it in one go? 

No. If you are logged into the website, you can save the form and come back to it later. Just click ‘save draft’ and you'll be able to pick up where you left off. 

If you want to send the tool to someone who is not in your group, they can register on our site to use the 'save' function. If they would prefer not to register, they can still use the tool, but will not be able to use the 'save' function and will need to complete the form in one go. 

We hope the time invested using this tool will help you revamp your website, and have it ready and waiting to welcome in some new members!

We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music do not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.