New: Facebook Hashtags!

Twitter hashtags are one of the major reasons the social media platform has experienced so much success. If you've been reading this blog regularly, you may have seen my post on how Twitter hashtags work.

In a nutshell,hashtags are Twitter’s way of making their user-generated content searchable and conversational. If you want your tweet to be discovered by others tweeting about similar things, all you have to do is add a hashtag.

Well, Facebook felt a little left out of the hashtag fun and has recently announced that they have added hashtag capability!

New Beginnings!

Hello AYSO Webmasters!

My name is Mike and I am the new Manager of Digital Media and Graphic Design at the AYSO National Office. On behalf of all of AYSO We are happy and saddened to announce that Jen will be moving on from AYSO and starting a brand new project that we hope and wish will lead her to happiness and many years of prosperity.

Starting today I have the honor of being your new guide to all things web and design related, and I want you to know that I take this role very seriously, as I could never replace Jen but only succeed her. I hope in the coming weeks, months, and years we get to know each other better as I fall into my position and learn the best way to help guide and assist all of you. A little about myself;

I graduated from The Art Institute of California Los Angeles with a Bachelors Degree in Graphic and Web Design.  For the last 10 years I have worked in various design and development roles for a multitude of companies and organizations in all sorts of industries including: entertainment, advertising, Olympic sports, and technology.

It's my aim to impart the skills I've learned and leveraged over the years so they can be a invaluable wealth of information for you and all of AYSO. I hope you enjoy this blog and the content presented. I look forward to to this new journey that we are about to take together. 

Cheers!

Make the Most of Registration Email Campaigns

Email campaigns are a great way to get information out to your membership. As as webmaster, these duties may cross over onto your task list. We have some tools available to help make it easier to send out registration emails.

Choosing the Best Layout for Your Website

You have your domain name and your hosting, but now it's time to get your actual site up and running. Which layout do you choose? There's hundreds if not thousands of layouts to choose from. Does it matter which one you choose? Of course it does.

There are one column, two column, three column websites, and bunches of variations of particular layouts. The simpler your site is, the easier it will be for your consumers to use it. Don't put too much information on the homepage. Homepage space should belong to the absolute most important information on your website.

Clubspaces Announces "Dark Date"

As we’ve previously announced, the Active.com team is planning to retire the Clubspaces websites. By giving you this information as early as possible, it was our hope that you would start seeking out new provider options as soon as possible.

Telling by your response, and the amount of questions and suggestion we’ve received, you all have been hard at work looking for a provider that will suit your needs. If you ever need more information or a second opinion, feel free to contact AYSO’s Production and Design Department!

This post is to let you know that the official “dark date” for all Clubspaces accounts is:

Does Your Region Have the Right Type of Facebook Page?

I spend a lot of time talking to RCs and Webmasters regarding social media best practices – especially about Facebook.

I get a lot of questions: How often should I post? What if someone posts something bad on my page? How can I keep up with a Region website AND a Facebook page?

But, before answering any of that, I always ask the person: What type of Facebook page do you have? Because if you don’t have the right type of page, you can be stopped before you even start.

All AYSO Regions, Areas and Sections should have a Facebook Business Page. If your Region has a personal profile, Group Page or Community Page, you do not have the correct type of Page.

Here’s why:

Custom Domain Names – They Look Great and are Easy to Remember!

It’s difficult for people to remember a long name or long site address with a bunch of weird words or formatting. Phone numbers are only seven characters because it is proven that seven characters are the maximum a human can remember at one time.

Knowing this, it’s a good idea to get your website a domain name (and a short one at that!) that people can easily remember. The long Clubspaces domain names are difficult to remember, let alone type into the browser! Here’s how to get yourself a nice short domain name and hook it up to your website.