Website Building Guide

Building websites for organizations – How do you build a digital system that serves thousands of users?

In today's digital world, a website has long been more than just a business card. For organizations, the site is a central work system that connects employees, organization members, customers, suppliers and volunteers. It is an information center, enables operations to be carried out online, provides self-service to users and serves as a strategic platform for the growth of the organization.

This is why building websites for organizations is completely different from setting up a normal image website. While a small business website focuses mainly on marketing and generating leads, a corporate website is required to deal with large amounts of information, user permissions, information security, integrations to internal organizational systems and complex work processes.

At DigitalST, we have over the years developed websites and information systems for organizations, public institutions, associations, student associations and employee organizations. This experience has proven time and time again that there is no single solution that fits every organization. Each project begins with the learning of the organization itself and only then with the choice of technology, architecture and design.

What is a corporate website?

A corporate website is a digital system designed to support the day-to-day activities of the organization. Unlike image sites, it is not only designed to display information but also to allow users to perform actions, receive services, consume information and connect to other systems.

Examples of services that can be integrated into a corporate website

• Personal area for employees or members of the organization.
• Document management.
• registration systems.
• event management.
• news system.
• Smart Forms.
• Alerts.
• User management and permissions.
• connection to CRM systems.
• Integration to ERP systems.
• API for external systems.
• Manage multiple languages.

When all services are concentrated in one place, the organization benefits from saving time, reducing manual work and significantly improving the user experience.

Every organization is a world in itself

One of the most common mistakes in the field of website construction is thinking that all organizations need the same solution. In practice, every organization has completely different work processes, target audience and goals.

The best way to understand this is through a number of projects we have developed at DigitalST.

the bus drivers' organization – Service portal for thousands of drivers

The bus drivers organization represents thousands of drivers throughout the country. In this project, the main challenge was not to build a beautiful website, but to create a system that would allow the members of the organization to receive services quickly and efficiently.

Drivers work in changing shifts and are often on the road for many hours. Therefore, a system was needed that would allow simple access to information from any device and at any time.

The system included

• personal area.
• document system.
• news and updates.
• online forms.
• galleries.
• Content Management System.

What did we learn from the project?

When a website replaces dozens of phone calls, emails and manual processes, it becomes a real work tool. Instead of the organization's employees repeatedly answering the same questions, the organization's members can perform actions themselves at any hour.

Association for the Blind Haifa – Accessibility is not a plugin

When building a website for an organizationWorking for people with visual impairments, accessibility cannot be an addition that is added at the end of the project. It must be an integral part of the characterization, design and development.

In the project for the Haifa Association for the Blind, emphasis was placed on creating a system that each user could use independently.

Principles implemented in the project

• Compliance with the AA accessibility standard.
• Clear hierarchical structure.
• Simple navigation.
• Adaptation for screen readers.
• high contrast.
• Accessible forms.
• Easy to operate content management system.

Why is accessibility important to other organizations as well?

Proper content structure, neat headings, clear navigation and quality code don't just help people with disabilities. They improve the user experience of all visitors and even contribute to the organic promotion of the site in the search engines.

Maccabi Haifa fans organization – A site that strengthens a community

A live and dynamic community needs a system that allows you to quickly update content, publish events, manage registrations and maintain continuous contact with members.

In this project, a system was developed that allows the organization to manage the current activity in a simple and efficient way.

Main Abilities

• news management.
• event posting.
• photo galleries.
• registration system.
• Category management.
• Advanced content system.

When a community can quickly find information and sign up for activities independently, user engagement increases and the burden on organization management decreases.

The Student Association of Ben-Gurion University – Information system instead of website

One of the most complex projects was the development of information systems for the student union of Ben-Gurion University.

Instead of being content with a website that presents information, it was decided to develop a digital system that would allow students to perform a variety of actions independently.

The systems included

• directory system.
• summary system.
• test system.
• Advanced search engine.
• ride board.
• management interfaces.

Solutions of this type save many resources, improve the service for students and allow the organization to manage thousands of users from one system.

 

What do all projects have in common?

Although each of the organizations operates in a completely different field, they all share a number of common principles. A successful corporate website is one that is built around the users and processes of the organization and not around a ready-made template.

The principles that every corporate website should include

• In-depth characterization before development begins.
• Flexible content management system.
• high performance.
• Advanced information security.
• Fully compatible with mobile.
• Compliance with accessibility standards.
• Organic promotion is already in the development phase.
• Ability to expand in the future.
• Connection to additional systems via API.
• Intuitive user experience.

 

The importance of characterization before starting development

One of the most important steps in any project is the characterization. At this stage, the structure of the organization, the types of users, the work processes and the business goals are mapped. Only then can the appropriate technology be chosen and the architecture of the system be planned.

Organizations that skip the characterization phase often discover that the system does not meet their needs, which leads to expensive changes and damage to schedules. On the other hand, thorough characterization makes it possible to develop a flexible system that can serve the organization even when it grows, adds new services or connects to additional systems.

as part of the characterization, among others

• the structure of the organization.
• the different user groups.
• access permissions.
• User Journeys.
• existing systems.
• Information Security Requirements.
• expected performance.
• SEO goals.
• Options for future expansion.

 

Summary

Building websites for organizations is a strategic process that combines technology, user experience, information security and a deep understanding of the organization's activities. The experience gained at DigitalST in projects for the bus drivers' organization, the Haifa Association for the Blind, the Maccabi Haifa fans' organization and the student association of Ben-Gurion University illustrates that each organization needs a unique solution adapted to its needs.

When the website is planned correctly, it is not only a source of information but a digital system that helps to optimize processes, improve the service, increase the involvement of the users and give the organization a stable infrastructure that can accompany it for years.