The Host With The Most

Once you've decided how you want to approach your church's website, the next major decision to make is where you want to host the site. There are many (thousands, if not millions) of web site providers that range from free to pricey, each with a different set of features. With so many options, it can be difficult to choose the right one for your church's needs. However, here are a few key points to keep in mind:

• Avoid "free" hosts like Geocities and Tripod - While these hosts are great for basic "beginner" personal sites, they are not good for professional sites for two reasons. For one, they do not have a very rich feature set, which will make hosting a dynamic site almost impossible. Secondly, and most importantly, they place ads on the site in order to provide their free service. And as we previously discussed, there can be a number of drawbacks to advertisements appearing on a church web page.

   

• Evaluate your needs - If you want to put together a full featured dynamic website, make sure your host includes some kind of database and scripting or programming language. If you plan on sharing a lot of photos or audio files of sermons, you'll want to choose a provider who can give you lot of disk space (to store the files) and bandwidth (to transfer the files). Whatever it is you plan on doing with your site, make sure that the host you choose can handle all aspects of that plan.

   

• But don't go overboard - Don't spend the money on things you don't need. For example, if your church is small, you shouldn't spend the money for features you can't or won't use. Most churches should be able to provide for their website hosting needs for $5-25 per month. Also, beware of hidden fees, like setup fees. No host should charge you for setting up your site unless they help provide the design and layout of your site.

   

• Check the rep - Lastly, make sure you take some time to investigate any web host before signing up with them. Some hosts will make all sorts of claims, but are unable to fullfill them. Personally, I take the time to Google any web host before I'll consider using them (either by name or URL). There are many message boards and review sites out there where people share their experiences with different providers, so make sure others have had good experiences before committing your time and money.

   

While finding a solid web host may be like finding a needle in a haystack, with a little consideration and research you can find the one that works best for you.