Author: Gordon Withers

Director, Digital Services at

As Director, Digital Services at Fíonta, Gordon oversees the organization’s web design and development group, ensuring that Fíonta delivers the highest-quality services to its nonprofit, association, and foundation clients. Gordon also consults on the technology needs of web projects, which includes analyzing clients’ technical capabilities, identifying areas for improvement, and recommending new technologies and integrations. He advocates for human-centered design approaches, ensuring organizations have sustainable content strategies and making websites accessible to all audiences.

Prior to Fíonta, Gordon served as a technology consultant at two other nonprofit-focused agencies: Freeflow Digital and Threespot, working on accounts such as the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities, Pew Charitable Trusts, the James Irvine Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and NOAA. He also served for five years as the Director of Web Services at NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the leading association for international exchange in higher education. Prior to NAFSA, Gordon spent over 10 years as a business analyst, web developer, and programmer. Gordon enjoys spending time with his family and playing rock cello whenever possible.

Jan
24

How to Apply Human-Centered Design to Association Technology Initiatives

Have you ever struggled with issues of technology adoption, mismatched expectations, or the perception of your organization as behind the times? The use of technology can change the way people think about you as an organization, for better or for worse. Human-centered design is a framework for projects and decision-making which can be particularly useful for […]

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Apr
25

The SEO Implications of Gating Content

Recently, I came across a question on ASAE Collaborate about the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) impacts of embedded content from third-party sites. An example for associations might involve directly embedding content from your AMS site into a page in your CMS site. Generally this type of scenario doesn’t negatively impact SEO, butwhat if the embedded content is […]

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Apr
25

The SEO implications of putting content behind a paywall

I came across a question on ASAE Collaborate about the search engine pptimization (SEO) impacts of embedded content from third-party sites. An example for associations might involve directly embedding content from your AMS site into a page on your CMS site. Generally this type of scenario doesn’t negatively impact SEO, but what if the embedded […]

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