Website Improvements

In 2025, the Blue Springs Department of Bands created a new website to encompass all the activities of the program. The previous site focused solely on the activities of the marching band. It was created using an address that had no search viability, and only parents needing to access the site to submit payments knew where to go. The previous site hadn’t been updated for over three years with old images of past shows. The booster program has evolved to also manage the activities of concert bands, jazz bands, color guard, and percussion ensembles.

We worked to create a better overall experience of the site through multiple areas of improvement. First, new parents who have a limited understanding of what it will be like to be involved in the program, have access to FAQ information, “New Parents – What to Expect,” and “Who to Contact.” For those who are not familiar with the program’s excellence in Blue Springs, the website became more search-friendly with details on the honors and accolades, along with the overall program performing and teaching opportunities. For parents, the experience of paying fees and purchasing clothing were improved with a more traditional e-commerce shopping design. An area of future focus and growth for the program includes a section for alumni support, in which we can see continued involvement in supporting the program. A sponsor’s link was included to celebrate the businesses that have supported our program, as well as showcasing ways to get involved. A new team store experience allows fans to purchase their favorite merchandise 24-7 with delivery to the school. A new calendar integration allows users to filter out specific activities that don’t apply to their students. An annual traditions section allows us to link details for events that recur throughout the site. This has combined traffic from lower-performing sites like our golf tournament and marching festival into one place where users can learn more about our program.

We have a lot of pride in the entire band program at Blue Springs High School. As we work to showcase our program as a professional organization externally through events and performances, we wanted a site that would reach users with that same level of polish. As we work to grow our fundraising efforts, there needed to be a way to convey to potential advertisers the work of our program and what their money goes to. And we had to make those transactions easy with the ability to collect money online. For payment processing of band fees and clothing, we needed to have a better design that would make those payments go quickly. And we also wanted to eliminate orders for our team store that required tracking down parents for payment by making an online experience for pre-paying easily available.

The “rough draft” for the site was created in early January. This included blank page layouts in which content could be added and a home page design that would allow for easy updates of current activities. This draft was reviewed with the band staff for approval. Content was created over the course of two months using a punch list of the pages that needed images or text. New features using the WIX web development platform were “auditioned” throughout the site to find better ways to display the information without too much copy. The team store product and all band fees were loaded with complete descriptions and images. After approximately two months, the site was hosted in a test setting in which the band staff was able to review content and the overall look and navigation of the site. The site was then reviewed by a “focus group” of parents to gather feedback about the content and user experience. Once final edits were made and pages that were still in progress for design or use were hidden, the site was launched publicly and announced to our general membership. With the sales of our annual season’s highlight program book needing a mechanism for pre-orders, the site was announced to parents. Original communication included the link directly to the order page for the annual season’s highlight program book. But from there, we were able to use the WIX analytics to better determine where users would navigate outside of their purchase to gather information for the program. Improvements continue to be made, and it is important to make updates to content and information regularly. And finally, we continue to work on Search Engine Optimization to make sure our site is easily found by users looking to learn more about our program.

There were two primary “developers” on the site. They worked in tandem to manage a punch list of work that needed to be done on the site. There was work with our treasurer and bookkeeper to make sure the payment processing funds were being transferred and accounted properly, and that reporting was made available for incoming transactions. This team worked with the band staff to ensure that the message being communicated and the content matched the presentation they wanted for the program. A parent and student “focus group” was used for reviewing the overall experience and making sure the flow was clear. The entire website set-up took over 3 months of ~ 20 hours of work between the two developers.

We utilize the WIX website development platform. It’s an easy site development tool with strong features and additional third-party plug-in options. The platform had been used previously with fewer features to work on websites for our marching festival and golf tournament. This program gave the developers a lot of options in trial design as they’re both parents with limited website development experience.

We started the promotion of the site through the sale of our annual season highlight program book. Outside of this, we’ve had information shared through our parent meetings and volunteer fair. Throughout the marching season, parents have been provided handouts with the site address for all payment requirements referencing the site. The marching festival and golf tournament promotional materials have all utilized this web address using QR codes to help direct users to the site. And finally, through WIX’s email marketing tools, we’ve been able to create direct email messaging that allows users to click directly from within the email to site pages. This has been extremely helpful in efforts to take pre-orders on team store merchandise.

The WIX web development program has different levels of commitment in terms of features and prices. There are also additional options for plug-ins and third-party apps that carry additional fees for use. The monthly cost for the site’s hosting and use of the WIX platform is ~ $40 totaling ~ $500.

Everyone has an opinion about how websites should work and how things should navigate. There has to be an overall filter in this feedback, as not all changes will be perceived positively by all. So, there needs to be consistent feedback on an issue prior to changes being made. Additionally, the user experience on mobile devices versus desktop is different. This means that you’re essentially designing two sites through the WIX platform. And based on the overall device use breakdown, the number of mobile users has been much higher than originally expected. The payment processing setup process has also gone through a couple of changes. With the use of PayPal, our credit card processing charges are much lower than the initial setup using Square. So, modifications to that processing have been an adjustment.

We’re able to view analytic detail on the site in terms of which pages are being viewed, how much time is being spent on the site, and where users are coming from. We work to enhance content and features to grow that usage at all the levels of data we receive, to grow the number of users. Ultimately, this will mean more people are learning about our program and hopefully contributing money towards the future success.

It shows a sense of pride we have for all aspects of our program. Without out-of-date imagery, a poor user experience, a URL address that was difficult to find, and better search engine optimization, we’re able to showcase these successes in front of more parents. This also helps with our recruiting as future students and parents can see how strong our organization is and why they will be excited to be a part of it.

Find someone to manage the development process that has technical aptitude. Practice prior to launch. There are a lot of features that can be added and changed to test the user experience. And finally, test the technical aspects like payment processing, reporting, and fulfillment carefully.