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If you are considering starting or redoing a church, church organization,
ministry or parochial school website, these are things to consider.
To be
successful:
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It must be updated frequently.
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It must provide information quickly.
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It must be written the way surfers read; not like a newsletter.
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Sentences must be short with few prepositional phrases.
For an article on web writing email
webservant@stlchristian.net.
Suggestions based on opinions from many
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Look around - examine peer websites
to get ideas about what functions you like and dislike. It's also important
to get familiar with 'web' terms like: url, html, browser, roll-over
(mouse-over) images, host, server, search engine, keywords, meta tags and
unique users.
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Domain name - find an available domain
name that you can personalize, such as, yourname.com. Choose a name that
flows easy, a name that doesn't need a lot of explaining or need to be
s-p-e-l-l-e-d out. Although something like peace2u.org, sounds interesting,
it must be explained to every person that doesn't see it, because it's not
spelled like it sounds. Domain names cost from $0.00 to $35 a year and are
available to purchase for up to 10 years. One or two years is recommended because
prices are dropping. Name registration and hosting are separate expenses and
can be ordered from separate companies. Some hosting companies
register your domain name free as long as you continue to use their
services, but if you change hosting companies (or they get taken over or go
out of business) it can be difficult or impossible to transfer your domain
name to another company.
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Look and feel of site - determine what
kind of feel you want your site to have. Do you want a look that's classy,
high tech, simple? Look around, see what other people are doing. This will
help you determine what you do and don't like.
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Content - A website should move
visitors, not astonish them. Decide how big you want your site to
be and what you want on it. A good web designer will consult with you about
the internet and what's best for your site, but he/she can't tell you about
your operation. So, working closely with designer, don't be afraid to get
involved so that your new site is part of you too. Deciding on your content
up front is important to getting you to your final goal, a fully functional
complete web site, in a timely fashion.
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Hosting - Finally, you need to decide who
you want to host your web site. Do you want a local company or are you
comfortable using a company in other parts of the world. The site you
are visiting now is hosted by an Australian company.
Here are some things to look for from a host:
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Reliability - Sometimes people sign up
for bargain hosting, trying to save money. In some cases, signing up for
bargain hosting gets you unreliable service meaning your site is unreliable
or always down. If people can't access your site, why have it?
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Support - Does your potential host offer
an elusive (800) number that no one answers? Look for either of these two
things:
Email support or a live person you can talk to without being on hold
for an hour.
A browser based interface that easily allows you to make account
or email changes.
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Cost - the price to host a web site
has come down in the last year, $10.00 a month is too much. St. Louis
Area Christian Links hosting costs less than $80/year.
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Storage - ample amount of space to store
your web site and allow people to access it.
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Email - You want to make sure you have
included email addresses with your domain attached to them like, you@yourdomain.com.
Most companies are include at least five free email addresses with your
hosting plan. St. Louis Area Christian Links has almost unlimited email
addresses available.
Email Types - alias and pop
Both have advantages and
disadvantages. Email aliasing is "forwarding" mail that was sent to an
alias email address and is automatically forwarded to another email address or
email account. You may have an existing email account, such as
myaccount@hotmail.com. You can set up
an alias for your website,
anynameyouchoose@yourdomain.com, which forwards all incoming mail to your
current email address of
myaccount@hotmail.com. This way, you can have multiple email addresses and
only have to check one email account.
An email pop account is a
mailbox. It is something like a "snail-mail" post office box. All mail sent to
the address of this "virtual P.O. Box" is collected and sits in the pop account
- or virtual mailbox - until you come to "collect" it by connecting to your
account and downloading your mail. You will have to configure your mail client
to check each pop account separately once they have been created.
If you would like to forward mail from
a new address at your domain, e.g.,
anynameyouchoose@yourdomain.com,
you need to add an email alias. You would add a pop account if another person
needed their own separate mailbox for an email address at your domain.
For instructions on setting up your
email client, such as Outlook, Thunderbird or Netscape Mail, refer to the information
supplied for your software. |
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Thanks to our volunteers and all who
have made suggestions. |
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