Rugby site shows rapid improvement

Todd Fouts is relentless in role as Rugby Illinois webmaster

Webmaster of the Week: August 10-16

NAME:
Todd Fouts

SITE:
Rugby Illinois

POSITION:
Webmaster

BACKGROUND:
A University of Illinois grad, Fouts lives in Chillicothe, Illinois, and works in nearby Peoria as a program manager for Advanced Technology Services. Two of Fouts’ four boys play rugby, and he served as a Rugby Illinois division coordinator and on the organization’s competition committee before stepping up his involvement even more in March by taking over as webmaster. Fouts’ job at ATS is to oversee all the systems used by the organization, so his comfort level is high while working on the Rugby Illinois site. “We use all subscription-based, web-based systems, which is the same as Sport Ngin,” he said. While Fouts has the ability to write HTML code, he’s thankful he doesn’t need to with the Sport Ngin platform. “This is what I’d rather do, just let me find the right tool or component and then use it.”

WHAT HE DOES:
Fouts oversees the loading of the schedules and inputting of scores for Rugby Illinois’ more than 100 teams. He also has been busy tweaking the design and adding content to many of the site’s pages. He streamlined the top navigation by merging some categories and added Call to Action page elements on the homepage. Fouts dressed up many of the site’s landing pages with text, photos and links. Inspired by Sport Ngin’s list of the Top 5 rugby sites on the platform, Fouts has been relentless in finding ways to improve an already impressive site (Rugby Illinois just missed cracking the Top 5 back in May). “I like a site that is updated, so many sites have outdated information,” he said. “I like a site that I can be proud of.” Fouts created a History section that details the creation of the organization and lists milestone events, including an expansion in 2010 and the addition of a boys’ Freshman/Sophomore Division in 2012.

MAKING HIS MARK:
Fouts created a custom Google news search for Rugby Illinois and put the link to it – clickable through a Google rugby graphic – on the site’s News page.