Sites for All Eyes

by Erin Brereton (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
October 2007
 

The options for new club Web sites are endless; they can contain small calendars, polling stations, daily weather and other sections on a page.

Previously, robust images often didn’t work well with a site’s functionality. But now, thanks to recent technology, sites like the newly redesigned www.thesportsclubfourseasons.com feature more complex images and have a greater chance of being picked up by search engines.

“You want to have your Web site found if you’re selling memberships or if you’re a very private club,” says the CEO of a club Web site provider. “Members may not put the club URL into their ‘favorites’ because they don’t know what that means, but they know how to ‘Google’ and will be upset if they can’t find the club by its name.”

Clubs can also harvest marketing information and personalize the site for members.“You can group all the people who like whiskey and invite them to a whiskey tasting,” adds the CEO of the site provider. “You can even send a mass e-mail or phone message to a group, such as people who are 60 days or more past-due on their bills.”

A club Web site may not replace the need for all other communication methods; some members will likely still be Internet-averse, and others will just prefer to read their newsletter over coffee instead of at a computer.

However, Web sites continue to offer clubs additional ways to reach—and connect with—members.

“Eventually [Web sites] will substitute for a lot of the systems in place now,” believes Ida Sierra of The Club at Renaissance in Fort Myers, Fla. “[A site] is the source of the most current information, and a tool that allows members and associates to communicate. It gives us a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative that does not compromise member services. And it promotes member relations, support and sales.” —EB