Have you significantly updated your nonprofit’s website in the past two years? If not, it may already be outdated—research shows that the average website lifespan for top marketing brands is just two years and one month.

Whether you’ve fallen behind on regular website maintenance or outgrown your original build, upgrading your nonprofit site is critical to increase online fundraising and improve donor engagement.

This guide walks through the essential steps of completing a nonprofit website optimization to ensure your website’s tech and online fundraising tools are functioning properly. By the end, you’ll have a solid foundation for carrying out a productive website overhaul and setting your site up for ongoing success. Let’s dive in!

Your nonprofit’s website is your digital hub for connecting with supporters, gathering donations, and sharing your organization’s mission with the world. As such, your site’s design should effectively engage supporters and help differentiate your nonprofit from similar organizations.

So, how can you optimize your website with the most robust features and best possible user experience? It all starts with your nonprofit website builder.

You may have initially built your nonprofit’s website using a free, simple, user-friendly website builder. However, as your organization has grown over the years, you may find yourself searching for a new platform that can handle your evolving needs.

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.

We commented earlier on the massive explosion of mobile internet use and how it is contributing to 2013 being the year of responsive web design - responsive web design being a powerful and flexible way to make your site mobile-friendly.

How do you know if your site traffic justifies the investment in making your website mobile-friendly? If you've got Google Analytics tracking traffic, you've got ready-made reporting waiting for you.