Can you think of a website you recently visited that was beautiful and easy to navigate? How did it make you feel? It probably caused you to stick around longer, browse a little more, or consider adding a few extra things to the shopping cart.

Now recall a website you visited that was of poor design or quality. Did you stick around? Did you find what you were looking for? Did you trust the content or products?

Websites are increasingly essential for the success of any nonprofit and for-profit business. A useful website provides important (and engaging) information, reinforces an organization's credibility, and helps the fundraising efforts.

In the same way that a good website can build trust and help get the word out about your mission, a bad website can actually be harmful for your organization!

The great news is you don't have to be tech-savvy or hire a full-time web designer to have a beautiful, high-quality website! You also don't need to shell out thousands of dollars for a custom website design right away (though we do recommend that down the road).

With the help of a website builder, or a content management system (CMS), even the most tech-challenged people can create a functional website without breaking the bank. We've rounded up three website builders that are easy and cost-effective for nonprofits who want to build a basic website to tide them over until they can invest in a custom website for their organization.

The Treatment Advocacy Center engages in important work to eliminate barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness. As long-time Soapbox clients, we couldn't be happier to have them using our platform to get out their message - or more ecstatic about the recent redesign we launched with them to update their look, make them mobile-friendly, and better drive home their mission.

In late February, Google announced a significant change to its search algorithm. While it usually doesn't talk much about how its crawlers review Web pages, this particular change was worthy of notice because it will affect essentially every website, including one run by your nonprofit. Starting April 21, Google's search algorithm will have greater focus on "mobile friendliness" in determining page rank. In particular, when supporters look for you on their mobile devices, your page rank will be greatly affected by whether your site has a full level of optimization. That means less visitors and fewer people getting interested in your cause if your site isn't optimized. Nonprofit content management tools with mobile device optimization in mind can help you manage this significant change to the way your supporters see you.

With the current protests in Turkey and Brazil, focus is again being drawn to the role of social media in mass movements agitating for change.

Mobile-friendly channels such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are being leveraged by organic groups of individuals to speak out and mobilize.

News outlets are highlighting social media's ability to bridge national boundaries to inspire and inform groups thousands of miles away from one another - as well as confuse and muddle their messages and goals.

2013 is the year of responsive web design.

Why, and what the heck is responsive web design???, you ask? Fair questions! First, the why.