Do Historical Societies Need a New Website? Signs It's Time

Not every historical society needs a new website. Plenty of small organizations get by fine with a simple site that just tells people who they are, where they're located, and when they're open.

But there are a few specific signs that usually mean it's worth revisiting.

Nobody on staff can update it

If updating your website means calling a volunteer's nephew, or the person who originally built it fifteen years ago no longer answers emails, that's usually the clearest sign. A website that requires a specific person to touch it isn't sustainable, especially for organizations that run on volunteers who come and go.

It doesn't have anywhere to put your collection

A lot of historical society websites were built years ago as a simple digital business card: an address, some hours, maybe a short history of the organization itself. That's fine as far as it goes, but it usually leaves no real place for the actual collection, the photographs, the documents, the local history the organization exists to preserve.

If your organization has years of material and nowhere on the website to put it, the site isn't doing the one job that matters most.

It looks noticeably older than everything else you interact with

Visitors, especially younger ones, make snap judgments about legitimacy based on how a website looks. A site that hasn't been touched in a decade can quietly undercut the trust an organization has spent years building in person.

You're duct-taping tools together

Some organizations end up with a website, a separate Facebook page for updates, a Google Drive folder for photos, and a paper newsletter, none of which talk to each other. If keeping your public presence together feels like managing four different tools instead of one, that's a sign your website isn't doing enough of the job.

What doesn't need to change

If your organization already has a strong, modern website that's easy to update and has a clear place for your collection, you probably don't need a new one. In that case, it usually makes more sense to add videos or a History Hub that works alongside what you already have, rather than replacing something that's working.

The takeaway

A new website isn't automatically the answer just because a website is old. It's worth considering when the current one can't be updated, has no real place for your collection, or has stopped reflecting the organization you actually are today.

If you're not sure which category your organization falls into, we're happy to take a look and give you an honest opinion, even if that opinion is that you don't need to change anything.