WEBSITE BASICS -- Overview Page

The Website Basics section is for pastors, church board members, ministry directors, administrators and aspiring webmasters and Internet evangelists who are interested in starting a website project, or want to improve an existing site.
 

A Good Website is Essential -- Having a good, efffective website is absolutely essential in today's world where search engines and websites have replaced phone books, directories and reference books as the primary source for people to access and process information. Over 4.4 BILLION people are now online!  In developed countries, around 90% OF THE POPULATION access the Internet!

The Profound Importance of a Local Church Website -- A quality website for your local church is a very effective evangelism tool that can motivate seekers to come and physically visit your church.

Website Hosting -- Choosing the type of hosting technology to use for your website is the most important decision you are likely to make. It is critical that you have a basic layperson's understanding of the different types of hosting technologies currently available in order to select the best system and vendor to fulfill your project's goals in harmony with your technical capabilities and budget.

Like Building a House -- Building a good website is a bit like constructing a nice house. It all starts with the laying out of a good plan, and comes into fruition through the effort of those with the ability to carry out the plan.

Forming a Team -- Gathering the right people to assemble a team, make key decisions, and establish priorities.

From Simple to Complex -- Starting out small and simple can be the best strategy to launch a new website project and move it forward. A Content Management System (CMS) website may be the ideal site construction & hosting solution.

Easy and Simple with a CMS -- The easiest and simplest way to construct and host a website is to use a Content Management System (CMS).

Do We Need a Domain Name? -- Is it best to host a website under a distinct domain name?  If so, how do we acquire one?

Website Ownership -- The first story is about a free hosted website months after the webmaster moved to a distant location. The site was over a year out of date and the search engines had no problem finding it.

Types of Website Content -- Overview of the different types of content that can be placed on your website.

Obtaining Content for the Site -- Finding interesting and relevent information that can become appealing content for your website visitors.

The Cost of Content -- Evaluating the cost effectiveness of investing time, effort and money to develop useful content for a particular website.

Evangelism Emphasis -- What are churches and ministriesfor?  What are church and ministry websites for?  Surprisingly, only a small minority of church and ministry organization websites offer any communication and explanation of the gospel.

Keeping Information Current -- It is essential that information be kept current. If you don't have a lot of time to constantly update information on your site, design your webpage content to be low-maintenance.

Why Do Websites Go Bad? -- Church and ministry websites, much like a mass transit system, need to get past a point of critical mass. Members and friends are much more likely to help keep a website up-to-date when they themselves find it useful and informative. There are successful examples offered from the Meet The Webmasters of the eChurch awards.

Promoting Your Website -- Great ideas on how to promote your website off the web, as well as getting it listed in the directories and search engines.