Creating a Website for Your Organization

Many clubs and organizations would like to have a website for their organization but do not know where to begin. This information is designed to help you in creating a site for your organization.

A quick, easy, and free way to get a website for your organization is by using Blogger, a free blogging service. The advantages of Blogger are that you do not need to pay for hosting, it is easy to use and does not require knowledge of html, and it is easily updatable. The disadvantage is that the site will be in a blog format.

Most organization websites should have the following information:

• Names and contact information of leadership
• Meeting times, dates, and locations
• Information about the club, who is eligible to be a member, what geographic area does it serve, what are its goals

The traditional method of creating a website will cost some money and require someone to build and maintain the site with at least a minimal knowledge of html.

The first step is to purchase hosting for your site. This can cost anywhere from $4 or more per month depending on the services required and the length of purchase. Common hosting companies are GoDaddy and JaguarPC.

Once you have hosting you will need to purchase your domain name. This is the name of the site that a person will have to type in to get to your page (ie. our domain name is azdem.org). GoDaddy is the most popular site for domain name registration, and you are able to purchase your domain name and hosting from them, which can make things simpler. Domain names normally cost around $9 a year, sometimes more depending on the name.

Godaddy also offers a Website Tonight service which combines hosting with easy to use website templates with plans ranging from $4 to $13 per month. The service is designed for people that do not have the time and/or html expertise to build their own website. Some very nice looking websites have been made through this service and may be a good option for many organizations.

If you are interested in learning how to build your own page and learning some HTML, you may want to invest in a beginners guide to help you along the way. HTML: A Beginner’s Guide, Third Edition is a good option.

Remember to ask around your organization to see if anyone has created a web page before. You may have someone around that can be a great help without knowing it.

In the near future we hope to have some more resources available for clubs to be able to create their own websites.