FAQ

What is a WEB Site?

A WEB site is just a collection of information about your church, business or organization that you make openly available to others. They use the Internet to see the information on your site.

The information usually takes the form of text and pictures, much like weekly advertisements, flyers and newsletters. Animations, video and audio can also be used, to get attention of the viewer.

Why pay someone else for Design?

Many designers fill their sites with so much music, flash and animation that pages take forever to load. I will build anything you wish, but suggest pages that are simple, with repeating elements from page to page, so that your content "pops" in front of your viewers.

Except where you do it on purpose, your site should be consistent. The navigation links should appear in the same place. The same fonts and styles should be used. The same backgrounds. Use high contrast, preferably dark text on light backgrounds so that it will print well.

And never have broken links or pages "under construction!"

Can you make a web site yourself?

Of course. There is more and better software available today. Many hosts have 'builders' that let you click and build.

But do you want to? With today's cameras, you could photograph your own wedding. The best word processors are capable of writing a will. With the right tools you can perform your own root canal.

Seriously, you often contract out work you could do yourself. In this case, I have the tools and experience to make and maintain a site in a fraction of the time you might require. What is your time worth?

Does WEB design cost a lot?

Unfortunately it can cost a lot, but it does not have to. A January 2000 PC World (magazine) Special Report describes a "package price of around $2200 for a six-page site." Or, for "$300 to $700... designers will craft a three- to seven-page site using the same fill-in-the-blank Express Start tool that you can use on your own." The article also describes businesses that build their own site, spending weeks to save $1800 to $4000.

This is where I come in. I have collected and mastered a set of tools to build a site. I have the graphic-arts capability. I understand the needs of a church family. I have refined the process to dramatically reduce the time required. And, I have a passion to perform this service without the overhead and profit of a large graphics consultancy.

In short, I take copies of your bulletin, newsletter and other flyers that you provide to me by email. With those, I create and maintain a WEB site for your church, for less than your cost of producing your bulletin or newsletter.

Read on to learn more about how a WEB site can benefit your church. Or, jump right to the bottom line.

How Will A WEB Site Benefit Your Church?

Your Members

A WEB site can function much like your bulletin and newsletter, helping keep your members up to date on the activities of your church. Unlike a bulletin, it can be updated almost instantly. Hospital lists, if you choose to include them, can be updated as you learn that members are admitted or discharged.

The site can also do things a bulletin cannot do. Some churches provide an easy way to submit a prayer request, or to send e-mail to the pastor or staff.

Reference material that is only updated occasionally can also be kept on the site: Names and addresses of previous ministers. Photos of new members, staff, or even an on-line equivalent of your church directory are also possible.

Benefits:

Keep in touch.

Advertise Sunday School offerings.

Attract visitors.

A WEB site cannot replace a bulletin or newsletter. It can, however, enhance your ability to ‘keep in touch’ with the members of your church family!

Your Visitors

A WEB site can help a visitor find you in the first place; even before they arrive in your city or state. You can even provide a detailed road map and directions.

Your visitors can begin to know the nature of your ministry and people. Again, this can begin before their first visit.

After a visit, a WEB site provides some easy answers and contacts. They can find out more about a nursery program, read summaries of Sunday School offerings, and learn to recognize the Christian Education Director’s face (to volunteer for something!) And, they can submit a specific question or request that brings rapid response.

Are there other costs?

There can be registration and hosting costs in addition to the design and maintenance of a WEB site. These costs vary broadly, from free, to tens of thousands of dollars.

At the bottom of the cost range, you "hitch a ride" on someone else's site, often paid for by charity or advertising. Your conference or national organization may give you space.

At the top of the cost range are corporate sites, with their own computers, connections, staff and professionally designed content.

There are some advantages to incurring modest costs, to get features that the free offerings do not include.

Why Pay when you can get sites for free?

Domain Name

For $70-120 (for two years), your church can have its own domain name. Think about the hassle if every time you switched long distance telephone companies you had to change to a new phone number. A domain name is like that. If our host goes out of business, or you change for any reason, you can keep the same address.

Having your own domain name makes it easier for your members to use; typing VeroMethodist instead of http://www.gbgm-umc.org/ftpiercecumc/. And your domain name makes it vastly easier for visitors to find you using popular "Portal" sites like Yahoo or Excite.

Included features

For monthly hosting fees of $10 - 20, you can get several features that are not available from the free sites. One such feature is one or more e-mail accounts. Something called an "auto-responder" can automatically answer inquiries for information (such as a position opening).

They also provide more room than the free sites, allowing you to have more than a few pictures available, with room left for sermon recordings.

Available features

The "for fee" hosts also offer optional services at modest cost; services not available at any cost from some of the free sites. Several additional e-mail boxes can be added for a buck or two a month. Streaming audio, to broadcast a sermon live can be added.

These and other options allow you to expand in the years ahead, if that becomes desirable.

How is a good site Kept Up-to-date?

Like a bulletin, to keep a WEB site up to date requires some effort. Again, this is where I come in, for after the bulletin or newsletter is typed in the church office computer, I use the emailed file to update your WEB site very efficiently.

I propose to create your site, and maintain it through the year. Working with your staff or a volunteer, I can keep your site up to date. And, if the church staff desires to update any part, I will turn it over to them on request (with instruction).

What is a host?

A host is the computer and software that holds your WEB site. When other people go to your site, the host "serves" the pages to them.

The host also provides various (often optional) features like additional email boxes, forms handling, sound and video services.

What are your hosting options?

Hosts range in price from free to $50/month (and more). They also range in features. You can find many hosting options in the $20/month range, without sacrificing features.

Free hosts are, obviously, free. They have definite limitations, but they can be an excellent way to get started. They often require your site to display advertising for them and they do not include full email capability (called POP or POP3). And, you may find other limitations.

Your local ISP (the people on the other end of the phone line when you 'dial-in') probably provides some free space for you as well.

Some examples of free sites:

site name	pros	cons
www.netmanor.com	Only one advertisement on home page. Full FTP support	No FrontPage Extensions. Out of Business!
www.webhostme.com	FrontPage support.	PopUp advertisement on every page. $20/mo and $25 setup to eliminate ad.
GBGM	Methodist Church sponsored site.	No web based mail or other services.

What should I look for in a host?

Size is not really that important! Even 5 megabytes can support dozens of pages and photographs (if properly sized).

Full FTP. It sounds greek, or geeky, but it means you (or I) can update your site in bulk form. This is the key creating any site over one page, and updating it efficiently. FTP stands for 'file transfer protocol' and is the way you would send a group of files (pages) to your host.

Anonymous FTP is similar, but relates to what your site visitors can do. This feature allows you to download files to your visitors. Many low cost sites do not support this, because the bandwidth requirements are greater.

Disk Transfer, or Bandwidth is a measure of the amount of traffic your WEB site can support. While important, by the time you run out of the typical Bandwidth limit, you will be happy to pay for more; your site is a huge success! Many low cost sites advertise 'unlimited' bandwidth, but protect themselves by limiting sites that are primarily for downloads.

POP email accounts. These are the 'regular' email accounts that you can use almost any email program with. It doesn't cost a host very much to support email. You don't need unlimited accounts, just be sure you get enough to support your needs. These are usually easy and inexpensive to add to later.

CGI-bin, and FrontPage Extensions allow you to add some programming capability to your site, and are often included in only the more expensive host packages. For a simple site they are not strictly necessary. Look for a host that provides them in the basic package, or for a modest increase, so you are not boxed in later.

Real Audio, Real Video are brand specific methods of streaming audio and video to your clients. This is often an extra-cost option.

E-Commerce. There are basically three pieces, that are always at some additional costs (or included in more expensive "package" form. Check your prospective host to know in advance what are their packages and fees.

Merchant Accounts are set up through a third party financial center to transfer credit card payments to your bank. Many hosts have referral partnerships with a Merchant Account provider.

Payment Gateways are set up by your host, to send the transaction information to your merchant account.

Shopping Carts are the software, running on the host, to make your store. Some hosts provide shopping cart software, others support third party shopping cart applications.

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