We're undergoing some changes here at nten.org. Specifically, we're looking to make our site easier for you and all of our visitors to use. We've been very lucky to grow our site traffic by about 60 to 70% each of the last two years. Since we're a small organization without a lot of marketing dollars to spend -- or, ahem, any -- we need to make sure we're making the most of this traffic.

According to our web site stats, we're not. Our bounce rate is pretty darn high for folks who find our site through search: about 68%. New visitors also bounce at a high rate: about 67%. Our blog, which gives us the most traffic from search, has a bounce rate above 75%.

Friend of NTEN Avinash Kaushik says that organizations should aim for a bounce rate under 50%. We don't expect our new visitor bounce rate will get THAT low, but there's some work we can do to make sure people find MORE great content and stick around our site.

There are two pieces to that puzzle. Part of making our content more compelling has to do with design. But the first thing we need to focus on is the information architecture, or navigation, of our site. The fine folks at Beaconfire are helping us wade through this process. Lots of you helped us with Phase One: The Card Sort.

This week, we moved on to Phase Two: The Wireframe Test. It's a fascinating process that let's you see right away what exactly you're doing wrong. If you've never seen a wireframe test before, here's how we did it (really cheaply!):

If you love food like I do, you've probably heard of Iron Chef (or at least Iron Chef America). The premise is simple: Take two talented chefs, add one secret ingredient, then give them one hour to cook up at least 3 delicious courses.

Eve Simon, Creative Director at Beaconfire Consulting, is serving up a tasty session at the 2009 NTC based on the theme: "This is Iron Chef...Battle Nonprofit". One San Francisco nonprofit will serve as the secret ingredient for four creative teams, who will each come up with a web site design, email template, and social media plan. Their results will be presented to you at the NTC, where you'll have a chance to vote for the winning plan.

You may also learn a thing or two about marketing best practices along the way! Check out this talk I had with Eve about her session:

A HUGE Thank You goes to our all NTC sponsors and exhibitors to date! We are super-geeked about the 2009 Nonprofit Technology Conference (and not just because we're geeks). We're putting many of your ideas into action this year and we already have a crew of super folks on our side to make the NTC the best place to connect, learn, and change around the technology issues relevant to you.

Check out this amazing list of sponsors! (Don't worry, you aren't too late, learn more and sponsor the NTC!)

It's a question I get asked a lot, especially since the latest e-Benchmarks study shows a drop in open rates. My answer can depend a little on my mood, but I generally think that email is not going to die, just as direct email is not going to die (anytime soon). Never say never, but bet on the fact that both will be around for a good long while.

This raises an interesting point: your job as communicator or fundraiser is getting increasingly difficult.