SABRECAT » 2008 » October

October 2008
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
« Sep		Nov »
	1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Creating a Free Club Website

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

Need a cheap, easy club website? Consider a free blogging service…creating a website has never been this simple!

Let’s face it, most fencing clubs are not gigantic institutions with barrels of cash. Members (and volunteers) come and go, students graduate, and many a website has been started and abandoned. There is hope!

First, why have a club website?

Public face of your club
Central way to provide information about hours, directions, schedule, upcoming tournaments, etc.
Info about coaches and qualifications
Recruiting of potential new members
Place for sponsors to advertise
Club news and tournament results

Why use a blog format?

Free
Minimal computer knowledge needed
Multiple user accounts
Easily updatable
Maintains an archive of old information
Customizable
Admin access easily transferred

Do I need a custom domain? No, but a memorable name will make your site easier to find. The cost is around $10 per year from sites like GoDaddy and Network Solutions. You do NOT need to buy additional services to get the domain name. The name can then be rerouted to your free site. You will be billed annually by the service, and the name can be transferred any time to other services or put in someone elses’ name. And make sure you check “automatic renewal” so you don’t forget and lose your name!

I direct you now to the site for my own club, Salle New Bern (currently on Blogger), for an example. (The fancy header and snazzy t-shirt design courtesy of yours truly!) Another, more flexible service is Wordpress, available as both a free hosted site and a downloadable software to host on your own domain. There are many more free blogging services out there as well, so you don’t need to limit yourselves to these two.

Other do’s and don’ts:

Use caution when posting the names of minors on your site.
Don’t include any personal information (other than a club email address or phone number).
Don’t steal copyrighted images. Fencing Photos has a gallery of photos for free use by clubs (Be sure to read the user agreement).
Do put your web address on t-shirts, business cards, and any other club materials
Do consider an update schedule to make sure you don’t forget about the site, even if it’s once per month or once per quarter.

In today’s world, a website is really a must-have marketing and information tool for any business or organization. I’ll keep this article updated as I think of new things. Leave your own suggestions in the comments!

MDR