Design Features that Every Outstanding HOA Website Needs
When you decide to establish a homeowners association website for your community, you’re taking a big step that’s nonetheless familiar to many HOAs. For three reasons, more and more communities are setting up online venues. First, as state laws begin to mandate online properties for homeowners associations, properties in areas affected by this legislation must take these steps to remain in compliance. Second, many homeowners association boards and administrators are accustomed to establishing online properties for businesses, social clubs, and more. Finally, with the right HOA website software provider, your community can make many of the jobs of association administration substantially easier than ever before.
But in addition to compliance, familiarity, and convenience, communities that establish homeowners association websites want to represent themselves attractively and stylishly, and give site visitors a true glimpse of life in their neighborhoods. Of course, the primary beneficiaries of these sites are the HOA itself and its residents, but the marketing and promotional value of the sites provides additional value. That’s why it’s fundamentally important to choose an HOA website software provider that can deliver an attractive, highly functional online property for your community.
Why not go it alone?
If you’re reading this and saying, “Why not simply set up a website yourself?” then you obviously have not been involved in setting up and maintaining all the intricate detail involved in this task. Sure, you can choose a content management system—for example, WordPress is a popular CMS—select a visual theme, make typographic choices, establish color specifications, write content, manage the site, and keep all of the software aspects of your property up to date. But that’s a lot of work, and in some cases, it can involve technical knowledge that you may not possess—or want to learn.
For example, content management systems typically enable you to customize the look of an online property using a combination of built-in features and third-party plug-ins. The selection process involves many criteria, including ease of use, availability of updates, and compliance with the current version of the CMS. Although many plug-in developers offer free versions, they reserve their most advanced features for paid premium versions that require either an annual fee for continued access to updates and bug fixes, or a reasonably expensive upfront investment to obtain a perpetual license. A badly behaved plug-in, or one that falls behind dramatically on version compliance, can leave your website vulnerable to attack or simply cause the entire site to stop loading.
Expect well-curated, professionally designed templates
If you assume that the only way to achieve the look, as well as the functionality, that you want for your homeowners association website is to do it yourself from start to finish, then either you haven’t taken a recent look at HOA website software providers and their offerings—or you haven’t found the ideal provider yet. Do a little research, and you’ll find many options. It’s easy to get lost among feature lists. But along with the functionality of your site, you truly need to consider the look of the property, and whether it gives you the customization options that enable you to create the appearance you want. Instead of opting to do it yourself, look for a homeowners association website provider that offers professionally designed templates with abundant customization options.
Unfortunately, not all HOA website software providers have designed their way into the 21st century. Some of them continue to provide sites with design features that look a decade or more out of date, and don’t offer the options you need to overcome those built-in limitations. If you choose the right provider, however, you gain access to professionally design templates with many features and functions.
Design problems often point to deeper concerns behind the scenes
Typically, when aesthetic features fall behind, so do other aspects of the software that powers these websites. That’s because many of these software systems require an extensive overhaul to incorporate newer features, including design options as well as functionality. An HOA website software provider that allows its code base to fall behind can face an expensive, time-consuming upgrade path to recode it for support of current-day design, functionality, and security features.
Frankly, some providers rest on their laurels. They assume that because their product represented current web standards when they first launched it, that means it somehow magically remains up-to-date regardless of new developments and risks. Rather than invest the time and capital in the necessary updates, however, some providers prefer to continue selling what they already have.
We take a better approach
At HOAStart, we’re committed to providing you and your homeowners association with the finest website software options available. Our ongoing development adds and maintains software features, including design options. Whether we’re scoping out new options to incorporate or upgrading existing ones, we always start from the point of view of the communities we serve, using our in-depth knowledge of what HOAs need to provide the features, security, and functionality that make our product a winner.
And that starts with the look, feel, and aesthetic customization of our website software. When you look at our design templates, you quickly see that even in their default configurations, they’re thoughtfully designed, and present an attractive, professional appearance. When you dig a little deeper and see the extent to which you can customize our sites—and how easily you can do so, all without any previous website design or programming experience—you quickly see the value in the software we offer.
If the functionality and appearance of our website features and designs doesn’t convince you immediately that we’re the right provider for your community, take advantage of our 30-day free trial to test our software and all its options for yourself. No need to provide credit card details; just sign up, build your website property, and see why we should be your first choice. When you compare appearance, feature set, flexibility, customization options, and our free trial, you will quickly see how we put you ahead of the site capabilities you’d be able to build with other providers.
