Unlock Membership Growth in 2025: Expert Tips to Optimise Your Website CMS
New year, new members? Attracting new members is business critical, particularly for membership schemes aligned with the start of the financial year.
If this period isn’t successful, it can impact your membership strategy for the entire year. Now is the time to finalise your new year acquisition plans and optimise your technology to give you the best chance of success.
Over the next few months, we’ll be sharing insights and ideas on how you can leverage everything from your CRM to events, email and awards management systems - to help you achieve your ongoing membership growth goals. In this blog, I’ll discuss why your website CMS is key to your success and how to leverage it effectively to convert visitors into members.
Why your website CMS is your membership MVP
Your website is the hub of your recruitment efforts, but is it working as hard as it could be? If your CMS isn’t campaign-ready, you’re leaving potential members on the table.
Consider this: when the Institute of Internal Communication revamped its website, it saw an 83% surge in visitors and a 25% boost in membership sign-ups.
The right CMS can transform your website into a seamless experience that nurtures visitors along their journey to membership. Let me show you how you can do the same below.
Top tips to turn your website into a membership magnet
1. Optimising join pages: tailoring experience for prospective members
- Is your landing page design letting you down? If your website visitors have come to you from an eye-catching social media campaign does your join page have the same appeal? Match their expectations with a visually-led design.
- Tailor your landing pages. Don’t just send everyone to your main join page. Create pages with content, offers, and messaging relevant to your target audience.
- Turn up the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) factor. Use CMS widgets to pull in stand-out content or free taster resources to your landing page. Include a strong call to action (CTA), compelling testimonials and targeted offers.
Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors join page
2. Making your member value proposition shine online
- It’s not just about join pages. High-performing membership proposition pages are also essential as they drive visitors to different parts of your website.
- Who are you talking to? Make sure that these pages are tailored to your intended audience. For example, if you want students to take up full membership are you showcasing content and benefits that reflect their needs and interests?
- Make it easy to join. Are your benefits and join pages easy to find? How many steps does your online join process involve? Are there too many steps in the application process? Do you really need all the information
Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce membership page
3. Using website nudges and incentives
- Use soft nudges to move people towards membership. Add targeted pop-up announcements on key pages to showcase benefits and remind people of deadlines.
- Incentivise website sign-ups. Offer free content, downloads or webinars only accessible through a website account and start visitors on the path to full membership. ATTA allowed its member companies to host free webinars on their platform - attendees had to register for a website account. 470 new accounts were created - people ATTA hadn’t reached before.
- In ReadyMembership, website users can select topics of interest when they create a website account. You can then send these users tailored emails, content and event information and nurture their interest. When logged into the website they can see content based on their topic preferences.
African Travel & Tourism Association webinar page
4. Optimising, personalising and testing
- The road to membership can be long and involve several interactions before signing up. It’s important that your membership campaign is planned out and all landing pages are tested at least two months ahead of your fixed sign-up period.
- Of course, website optimisation isn’t a one-off - quarterly reviews of your website can help identify areas for improvement. When I worked with the Federation of Master Builders we identified opportunities to enhance their Find a Builder directory.
A fresh look, improved user journeys, navigation and new features delivered a 50% increase in directory traffic and 30% more enquiries from builders interested in membership. Find out more here
FMB Find a Builder landing page
Conclusion: take the next step towards membership growth
Optimising your website CMS is a game-changer for membership organisations looking to grow in 2025.
Remember, small, strategic changes can deliver big results. Whether it’s streamlining your processes, showcasing your value proposition, or testing new approaches, now is the time to act.
Ready to take the first step? Start with one of these tips and see the difference it can make. Your future members are just a couple of clicks away!
