Is your member directory providing maximum value for your members?
For membership websites, directories are essential. They provide potential clients with an important online resource that showcases your members services - first impressions matter.
Directory profiles need to work hard for your members, providing them with an effective platform that promotes their brand, products and services in a positive light.
Having recently been recognized as one of the best Membership websites at the 2013 Webby Awards, the Internet equivalent of the Oscar’s, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) website offers its members a directory that stands out from the crowd for all the right reasons.
Here’s 3 of our favourite directory features:
1.Personalised Profiles
Member profiles are made up of flexible content modules that allow members to customise their individual profiles – giving each page its own unique look. Gone are the days of bland text-based profiles, IPA members can now personalise their pages with staff profiles, corporate branding, awards listings, client case studies and much more.
Not only are the IPA member profiles more aesthetically pleasing than most membership sites but we’ve also found that visitors spend longer browsing each profile – win win. Take a look at the profile snippets below or browse the full IPA directory for more examples.
2. Interactive Content
Each profile has a pretty neat interactive banner that showcases any image of choice. Displayed in the background of the main page, visitors can expand these images at the click of a button to view the image full screen.
Members have control over the images they upload, providing them with a smart promotional tool to exhibit some of their most recent work. Plus, uploading new banner images regularly means profiles remain fresh and current.
Below, JWT have used their profile banner to promote their on-going work for Nestle:
By clicking on the background image, the banner expands to provide a more detailed full screen view – smart hey!
3. In-Page Navigation
What really makes the IPA directory stand out, is the ability to use in-page navigation tabs in profiles. This works in a similar way to standard website navigation, allowing members to showcase different company locations or company brands within the same profile.
This gives each profile an extra level of depth for visitors to explore and, because each tab is given a unique listing in the member directory, it ensures that all a member’s services are given adequate exposure - it’s like having your own microsite.
Below, Saatchi & Saatchi’s utilise these in-page tabs to showcase all three of their brands – we think its a pretty neat feature!
We’re membership specialists…
We designed the IPA directory around the members, and it shows. The ability to personalise the look and feel of each entry firmly puts the focus on the members.
The payoff? An online membership directory that engages visitors, creating an enjoyable user experience that has successfully increased the time people spend browsing member profiles.
Visit our membership website design portfolio for more information about our member-based services. Or explore our member-based CMS page to find out more about the similar kind of CMS used by the IPA website.