3. Traditional Website
Complaints
Website separate from registration and fundraising
Difficult to update or make changes
Can’t keep up with website security
Not mobile friendly
Too costly
Outdated
4. What Do I Get
With My Free
Race Website?
Let’s start with the basics!
5. Out-Of-The-Box Features
Professional Website
Your Brand First – No Ads
Easy to Customize
Photos
Call to Action Buttons
Participant Lookup
Registration Management
Results
6. But Wait, There’s More!!!
Search Engine Optimized
Mobile Responsive
Built In Analytics
High Availability
Data Driven
Secure PCI Level 1
7. “The service may be free but the quality
is still sky high.
- Bobby B
8. We Make Our Process Easy
Domains
Finish by
branding the
website with a
custom domain.
Content
Create and
customize the
content for your
website.
Cover Page
Explore the magic
of cover pages to
make your
website pop.
13. Default Race Website
Out of the box it comes with all of the
technical details and infrastructure
previously mentioned, but the next step is
to brand your event and add content.
Menu tabs are automated based on
content and features.
14. Automated Content Gets You
Started
Data Driven Content
Price Increases
Refund Policy
Google Map Directions
Questions Form
Social Media Share Icons
Take advantage of the automated content
that works for you 24x7.
15. Race Page Options
This presentation and the bulk of
website design customizations are
going to be centralized under the
Race >> Race Page tab as shown
here.
25. Create Custom Content
Referral Program
FAQs
Race Highlights
Build out your content to make it feel like a
real, professional website and not just a
registration page.
34. Cover Page Intro
Mobile Optimized Landing Page
Customizable Header and Content
Branded for your race
Drive action with custom buttons
Advanced Transition Options
35. Header Banner
Mobile Optimized Landing Page
Customizable Header and Content
Branded for your race
Drive action with custom buttons
Advanced Transition Options
Up to 4 Banners Swap, Edit, and Customize
36. Header Content
Name Your Header
Optional Custom Text
Preset Button Actions
Race Theme Colors Auto
Applied
37. Photo Upload Options
New Croppie Tool
Zoom With Slider To
Set Positioning
Recommended Image
Sizes
▷ 2000x800 for full
▷ 900x360 for split
38. Cover Page Content
Multiple Content Options
Imagination is the Limit
Race Theme Colors Auto
Applied
More Smart Components
Coming Soon!
48. Domain Setup Process
Point Domain
Set the A Record
and CNAME
record.
Access Domain
Get your own
domain or login to
your domain
manager.
Prove
Ownership
Set TXT records.
RunSignup gets
an SSL Certificate
for your domain.
54. Domain Gotchas
Copied wrong info
Multiple A Records
Pointing existing website with
content will break old links
We don’t own the domain
Requires a Payment Account
Must log in to domain separately
(similar to other *signup.com
versions
Your website is your online presence. It’s how athletes find your event, where they register, and how you promote your brand. A traditional website can be expensive, difficult to update, and lacking in mobile responsiveness or SEO. RunSignup’s free race websites are designed to solve this by creating easy-to-update sites without sacrificing a professional design.
Throughout this presentation, I’m going show you how to make the most of your website, including branded colors, custom content sections, a sleek cover page, and a dedicated domain.
Calls to Action buttons drive registrations and donations
I want to briefly highlight the importance of a Data Driven website. It means that content on your website is tied directly to the information on your RunSignup dashboard.
So, things like price increases and dates are automatically updated, and dynamic content like participant lists, photos, and results are always up-to-date.
We’re going to break down the process into 3 modules.
The theme options are primarily based on where you want the navigation menu for your race website.
Social Media Feeds for Facebook and Twitter can be placed on the right column of all pages.
Homepage Custom Content allows you to add a Tagline and Countdown clock.
Windows native program Windows Photo Gallery
Mac native program is Preview
Google free image editor of your choice
Advanced options to create duplicate menu items for preferred display and navigation.
Advanced trick here is I created a custom section for the Refund Policy and we set that to show under the Race Info section. But the automated content page for Refund Policy is being hidden.
In this example we’re also hiding the SignUp and Donate tabs because I prefer the big call-to-action buttons and better highlighting the Referral Program.
Link Options 1) Race Info 2) Results 3) Donate 4) Volunteer 5) Registration 6) Custom URL
More options coming soon!
Fundraising
Event Tiles
Social Media
Sponsors
We can’t go into details for security reasons, but we have a robust infrastructure investment and are PCI Level 1 compliant.
We handle SSL encryption for you where most web companies charge $150-500 per year for a secure e-commerce SSL website. For our domain feature we use a company called Let’s Encrypt, which is the leading certificate authority and supported by major industry heavyweights like Google, Cisco, Facebook, Microsoft and others.
All web traffic routes thru our existing PCI Level 1 certified infrastructure. This means your free websites is independently audited and verified annually.
Your website is running on that same infrastructure that powers our system, so it gives you assurance that your website will be reliable. Our advanced design replicates much of our infrastructure for automated failover. We also monitor our systems 24X7.
Our cloud infrastructure is designed for fast performance. This means webpages load fast, which will make your users happy and help your Google quality scores. In addition, we handle huge peak loads.
Registrar – Where you pay for your domain
DNS – Domain Name Server – Where traffic gets directed
Hosting (web and email) – Where the website lives
A subdomain is an extension of your existing domain.
Like help.runsignup.com or training.timingmatt.com!
If you’ve had trouble doing this in the past or have specific questions about your domain, we have a "Domains Help Desk" on the Mezzanine. Stop there and see our support team!
Create and customize the content for your website.
Explore the magic of cover pages to make your website pop.
Finish by branding the website with a custom domain.
Your website is open 24/7. RunSignup tends to drive a lot of traffic to our page due to our search engine optimization. In these cases we quite often are your first impression with a participant and the cover page can help drive behavior. So use the ideas covered today to upgrade your race website!
