Website Basics

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LastUpdated:03/25/2013WebsiteBasicsPage1of6
WebsiteBasics
Awebsitecanhelpbroadcastinformationaboutyourorganizationtothegeneralpublic.Itcanhelpyou
increaseawarenessofyourorganization,passinformationtoyouremployeesorvolunteers,orpublicize
fundraisingevents.Withtheseinstructions,youwillbeabletoquicklyandeasilycreateawell‐organized
website.
Planning
Beforeyoucancompleteanyoftheothersteps,youmusthaveagoodideaofwhatyourwebsitewillbe
like.Considerthefollowingquestionscarefullybeforebeginningtheotherwebdesignsteps:
 Whatarethegoalsforthewebsite?
 Whatisthemaintopicofthewebsite?
 Whydoyouwanttomakeawebsite?
 Whatdoyouwantyouraudiencetodoinresponsetothewebsite?
Thedesignandcontentofyourwebsiteshouldreflectyouranswerstotheabovequestions.
Anotherimportantaspectofwebsiteplanningisongoingmaintenance.Youshouldtrytokeepthe
informationup‐to‐datebychangingthecontentfrequently.
Inordertoimplementawebsiteyoumust:
1) Acquireadomainname.
2) Secureawebservertohostyoursite.
3) Securesoftwaretobuildwebsite.
4) Designandbuildthewebsite.
5) Trackwebsiteuse.RefertotheWebAnalyticsdocument.
AcquiringaDomainName
Adomainnameisthe“easytoremembernickname”fortheInternetserverwhereyouwillbeableto
uploadthecontentsofyourwebsite.Itisalsopartofthewebsiteaddressthatpeoplewillusetogetto
yourwebsite.
Guidelines
Chooseadomainnameappropriately.Youshouldaimtomakeyourwebsiteeasytofindforvisitorsby
makingsureyourdomainnameis:
 Short
 Descriptive
 Easytoremember‐yourdomainnamesshouldbeassimilartoyourorganizationnameas
possible
 Hyphen‐free
 Number‐free
 Meaningful
 Unique
 Utilizeskeywords

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Theidealsituationisthatyourorganizationhasitsowndomainnameforseveralreasons:
1) Peoplewillbeabletoeasilyrememberyourdomainname.Theywillsimplytypeinyour
organizationandaddanextensiontoreachyourwebpage.
2) Thisdomainnamewillnotbetrademarkedbyanotherorganization.Sinceyourorganization
nameisownedbyyourorganization,youwillhavetherightstothedomainname.Ifyour
websitedoesusetrademarkedphrasesorwords,youcouldeasilybesuedbythecompanythat
ownsthatphrase.
ExamplesofDomainNames:
1) YMCA.net
2) Walmart.com
3) Baylor.edu
4) WacoHumaneSociety.org
RegisteringYourDomainName
Afterdecidingonyourdesireddomainname,thenamemustberegisteredwiththeICANNorganization.
Youcandothisthroughadomainnameregistrar.Youpaytheregistrarfortheuseofyourdomainname
annually.PopularregistrarsincludeRegister.comandGoDaddy.com.Ifyouhaveyourwebsitehosted,
thenthathostingorganizationmaybeabletoregisteryourdomainname,too.
Usethedomainextensionappropriateforyourorganization.Commonextensionsarelistedbelow.
Registerallthreeextensionssothatvisitorscanfindthewebsitefromallthreeandyourwebsitewillget
morepublicity.
 .org–usedfornonprofitsandothertypesoforganizations
 .com–mostcommon
 .net–commonlyusedbyinternetserviceproviders,webhosts,orotherbusinessesinvolvedin
internetinfrastructure;also,oftenusedbybusinessesfortheirintranetwebsites.
SecuringaWebServertoHostYourWebsite
YoumustsecurespaceonaserverwherethefilesofyourwebsitewillbeaccessibleontheInternet.
Thisserverisreferredtoasawebhost.Therearetwooptionsforhosting:youcaneitherhostyourown
websiteoryoucanbuyspacefromanonlinewebhostingservice.
HostingYourOwnWebsite
Thisoptioncanmakeiteasiertoupdateyourwebsitesinceyouhaveimmediateaccess.Youalsoavoid
payingfeestowebhostingservices.
However,drawbacksinclude:
‐ Lotsofexpenses–Youwouldhavetomaintainpowerfulserverhardwarewithapermanent24
hourhighspeedconnection.
‐ Serverlicense–Youwouldhavetopayforanexpensiveserverlicense.
‐ Laborexpenses–Youwouldneedsomeonetoinstallandmaintainthehardwareandsoftware
foryourserver.Itcangetverycostlytodealwithbugs,viruses,networkandotherissuesthat
couldaffectyourserver’sperformance.

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UsingaHostingService
ItismorecommontoletanInternetServiceProviderhostyoursiteforamonthlyoryearlyfee.Youcan
havefasterconnectionspeedsbecauseanInternetServiceProviderwillhavemorepowerfulhardware.
Also,youwebsitewillbemoresecureandstablewithanonlinehostingservice.Typically,youwillfind
domainnameregistrationinahostingsite.Examplesofhostingservicesare:HostGator.comand
GoDaddy.com.
SecureSoftwaretoDesignYourWebsite
Thenextstepistoinstallsoftwarethatallowsyoutowriteyourownwebsitecodeorautomatically
generatethecodeyouneedtocreateyourwebsite.YoucaneitheruseHTMLcoding(not
recommended),awebdevelopmentsoftwarepackage,oracontentmanagementsystem.
HTMLCoding
WebpagesarebuiltinalanguagecalledHTML,whichyoucanwriteyourselfusingasimpletexteditor
likeNotepad.Withthisoption,youcancompletelycustomizeyourwebsitetoyourexactspecifications.
However,ittakeslotsoftime,expertise,andmoneytolearnandmaintainHTMLcode.
WebDevelopmentSoftware
Youcanpurchasesoftwarepackagestobuildyourowncustomdesignswithouthavingtowritethe
HTMLcode.SimilartoHTMLcoding,webdevelopmentsoftwarecanbechallengingtousein
implementingawebsite,butallowsyoutotrulycustomizeeveryelementofyourwebsite.Examplesof
twopopularwebdevelopmentsoftwarepackagesarebrieflydescribedbelow.
Dreamweaver(websiteaddress)
Dreamweaverisawebdesignanddevelopmentapplication.Itprovidesavisualeditorsothatyoucan
designyourwebsitewithoutwritingHTMLcodeandacodeeditorsothatyoucanchangetheHTML
codeDreamweavergeneratesforyourwebsite.Thismethodissimplerforyoubecauseyoudonot
actuallyhavetowritetheHTMLcodeyourself,butstilltakestimetolearntheapplicationtools,andis
thepricierofthetwooptions.DreamweaverrunsonbothMacsandPCs,andisgoodformorecomplex
websites.
MicrosoftExpressionWeb(websiteaddress)
MicrosoftExpressionWebisanothertoolforcreating,designing,andeditingwebsites.Like
Dreamweaver,theHTMLcodingiscreatedforyouasyouaddgraphicelementstothewebsite.
However,itcostslesstopurchasethanDreamweaver.Forverysimplewebsitesthatyoucreateonyour
own(inaPCenvironment),MicrosoftExpressionWebisagoodchoice.
ContentManagementSystems 
Acontentmanagementsystem(CMS)isasoftwarepackagethatletsyoubuildandmaintainawebsite
quicklyandeasily.Itstorestheactualwebsitecontentinadatabaseandcanautomaticallypullthe
contentoutandshowitontheappropriatepagesbasedonthedesignyousetupinadvance.Thisallows
theCMStoseparatethecontentofthewebsitefromthegraphicsofthewebsite.

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Inthetablebelow,afewcontentmanagementsystemsarebrieflydescribed.
ContentManagementSystem: About:Suggestedfor:
SquareSpace–WithSquareSpace,
youcaneasilycreateasimple
websitewithmultimedia.
 Draganddropeditor
option
 Handlesmultimedia
 Createsmobilefriendly
sites
 Templatelayouts
 Standardplan‐
$10/month;Unlimited
plan‐$20/month
Morevisually‐orientedsites
WordPress–WordPressisoneof
theeasiestsystemstoinstalland
understand.Withthousandsof
freepredefinedthemesavailable,
youcanmaintainandupdateyour
websitewithoutexpertise.
 Add‐onsavailable
 Doesn’thandlecomplex
sitesverywell
 Canbedifficulttoadd
customfeatures
 Canbedifficultto
customizethecore
functionalities
 Freetocreateandhost
website
Blogs,smallbusinesssites,and
personalsites
Wix–Withadraganddropeditor,
Wixisaneasytousecontent
managementsystem.
 Predeterminedformats
 Nocoding
 Simpledraganddrop
feature
 Freetocreateandhost
website
Smallbusinesssites
GoogleSites–WithGoogleSites,
youcancreateawebsiteforyour
employeesandvolunteerstoview
information.
 Createapagewitha
singleclick
 Customizethelayoutor
choosefromatemplate
 Freetocreateandhost
website
Sharinginformationwithinthe
organization

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DesignandBuildtheWebsite
DesigntheWebsiteTheme
1) Selectorcreatethethemewhichrepresentsthelookandfeelofyourentirewebsite.Itis
importanttomakeathemebecausethiswillmakeyourwebsitecohesiveandtiealloftheweb
pagestogether.ThebenefitofusingaContentManagementSystemisthatithas
predeterminedthemesthatyoucanchoosefromandcustomize.
2) Addpicturesandgraphicsforvisualappeal.Caution:Don’tgooverboardbecausethatcanslow
downthenavigationonthewebsite.
3) Useadd‐ons(sometimesreferredtoaswidgets)toaddcapabilitiestoyourwebsitelike
calendars,surveys,linkstosocialmediasites,ashoppingcart,etc.
AddContenttoYourWebsite
Thecontentiswhatpeoplevisityourwebsitefor.Itisthemostimportantaspectofwebdesign,soitis
importantthatyouspendasignificantamountoftimethinkingaboutwhatinformationtoinclude.
Contentmanagementisanongoingprocessandyoushouldupdateyourwebsitefrequently.Youshould
gatherapossiblelistoftopicsandmakethoseintoseparatepages.
Asitemapisalistingofallofthedifferentpages.Anexampleisincludedbelowtoshowthebasicweb
pagesthatyoushouldincludeinanywebsitepertainingtoanonprofitorganization.Thisshouldbeused
asonlyastartingpointforyourwebsite;youcanandshouldaddpagesthatarespecifictoyour
particularorganization.
 Home
 AboutUs
 MissionandHistory
 Fundraising/Donations
 VolunteerOpportunities
 Staff
 ExamplesofOurWorkintheCommunity
 EmploymentandInternshipOpportunities
 ContactUs