For reference, our church website is: www.fccerwin.org and I created it using all free tools and services.
First here are a couple quick things about me and how we set up our site, then I'll give you some specific advice and resources. I have been making and managing websites for about 8-9 years now. It's a hobby that has grown into an unofficial job that I do, because it has been a useful contribution at churches I have served in. I am convinced that a website is one of the best "bang for your buck" advertisements an organization can invest in. Where else can you have an interactive message, that you maintain complete control over, available 24/7 to anyone in the world with a computer and internet connection for about $5/month?
The current FCC website is a culmination of the many things I have learned over the years by playing around in my free time, and while it is by no means perfect, it's not exactly the kind of thing that someone with no experience in web design could easily make or manage on their own. Since I am telling you this in writing instead of in person I am hoping that does not come off as arrogant or as though I am discouraging you from making your own website, but I'd be doing you a disservice to tell you otherwise.
The current FCC website is a culmination of the many things I have learned over the years by playing around in my free time, and while it is by no means perfect, it's not exactly the kind of thing that someone with no experience in web design could easily make or manage on their own. Since I am telling you this in writing instead of in person I am hoping that does not come off as arrogant or as though I am discouraging you from making your own website, but I'd be doing you a disservice to tell you otherwise.
Here are some specifics of how we made our site and what we use. We pay a web hosting service called Bluehost about $5/month to handle all the files of our website. Along with that came a free domain (which is the www.fccerwin.org address) and an e-mail system connected to that domain. The website itself was created using the free "OST Newsletter" template at OS Templates, which I modified with our information. Among the various free features we use are Facebook social plugins, Bible Gateway verse of the day script, the Table Project, Google maps and calendar, and Dew Player. I think was able to create the majority of the website in roughly two weekends of about 15-20 hours each, and I am constantly working on making little improvements or updates each week on average about 2-3 hours.
I realize I am probably the exception in most churches and you may not have a person in your church that can do all that, but it might be worth asking around. As a Youth Minister I can tell you that some kids/youth could easily run circles around me in web design, because they have grown up around this stuff their entire life. If you don't have a skilled volunteer who can take on this project then you are either going to have to hire someone to create and manage the site or will have to lower your expectations of what your website will look like and the features on it. For example, one company, Clover, that offers a relatively "affordable" pricing plan for ministry web sites charges a one time design fee of $1000 and then $20/month. Considering what they do as far as time and talent, I think it's a really good value, but whether or not that is good stewardship for a small church is another issue.
If at this point I've gone completely over your head or discouraged you somehow, let me offer some advice for some relatively simple and free things your church can do with very little experience that will vastly improve your presence on the Internet and hopefully connect you with more people.
Use Google - Google is the phone book or our time. It's often where people go when they are looking for something. They already have some public information about your church, so why not help them out and make it easier for them to share your information by updating your Google "Place Page" Type in the name/address of your church and hopefully a listing will show up with a link to your "Place Page" Click the "edit this place" or "business owner?" links at the top of the page then add more details. In addition, Google offers some great free services that can be useful to your church (calendar, documents, and even sites)
Create a Facebook page - People are living their lives on Facebook now, and there is no better or faster way for people to spread the word about something to everyone they know than Facebook. If I had to choose between a Facebook page and website, I would take a Facebook page any day. You probably already have many people in your church using it who could intuitively create and manage a page for your church in about 5 minutes. Start here.
Create a church Blog - A blog is essentially just a website designed in a journal format. It's not as powerful or flexible as a website, but is easy to learn and generally free. It would be a great place to start if you have no website, and some services will even let you use your own domain name. For example you could sign up for a free blog through Blogger then buy a domain name from GoDaddy.com (ex. - www.yourname.org) for about $10/year (you can do this in Blogger), and connect the two so that when people type your address they are directed to your blog. Once you buy the domain name it is yours and if you make a full website in the future you can take that with you.
I hope all of this helps you to sort through the confusion and better connect with the local community in ministry. Ultimately a website is a communication tool to teach people about who you are and what you are doing and to coordinate your congregation to work together. Feel free to contact me if you have additional questions about our website or your website project. I am glad to help with anything that is promoting or building God's churches. Until next time!
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