The following post is part of a series outlining some ways to do youth ministry on a tight budget.
Having a presence on the web is important. The internet has become one of the primary places that people get information. And whether it is event details, program times and meeting places, or other details of your youth ministry, a youth ministry website is an extremely helpful tool to communicate with parents, teens, and leaders. But what if you don’t have the budget to get a professionally designed website?
The upside is that there are ways to create websites relatively inexpensively. The downside is that some of these solutions require time. So what you get for free, you pay for in time. But then, you’re not really that busy anyways, are you? So let’s look at a few ways to get some internet exposure without spending a great deal of money.
Facebook Pages
Facebook pages are an easy way to let you communicate with your students. You can post events, articles, message, and pictures. And it’s all 100%.
The Pro’s
- It’s free.
- Most of your teens will already have a Facebook account.
The Con’s
- You don’t have a lot of control over design or branding. You basically can post a “profile picture.” Beyond that, the page is the normal Facebook blue and white.
- You have to have a Facebook account. There are a lot of reasons why Facebook is a waste of time. And because it’s a social network, rather than a blog or website, there’s give and take. You have to wade through the stuff that’s posted by your students.
A Free Blog Hosting Site like WordPress.com or Blogger.com
There are a number of free blogging sites out there that allow you to create an account, get a “theme” that customizes the look and feel of the website, and lets you create a website for free.
The Pro’s
- It’s free.
- Most services (like WordPress.com or Blogger.com) offer a number of free themes. These themes let you choose a custom look and feel without having to actually do any coding.
- You have your own subdomain. For WordPress.com, you can get a URL in the form of [your youth ministry].wordpress.com.
The Con’s
- Although you have more control of design than on a Facebook Page, you may end up using the same theme as another website.
- Again, although you have more control over your brand, you still end up with a URL that includes wordpress.com or blogspot.com. For a small fee, you can buy your own domain customize your URL further (so awesomeymwebsite.wordpress.com becomes awesomeymwebsite.com).
- Taking this route over Facebook will require more time for you to set up the website and maintain it. It’s still less time having to create it from scratch.
Getting Your Own Domain & Host
Website hosting isn’t very expensive (read: $60 per year average) and getting your own youth ministry’s domain gives your website a level of clarity and professionalism that is probably worthwhile. If you have a little bit of money to spend, you can get a greater level of flexibility than a hosted blog site like WordPress.com.
The Pro’s
- It’s more customizable. With your own host (like HostMonster or BlueHost) and your own domain, you have the most control over how your website looks and operates.
- Most services (like WordPress.com or Blogger.com) offer a number of free themes. These themes let you choose a custom look and feel without having to actually do any coding.
- You have your own subdomain. For WordPress.com, you can get a URL in the form of [your youth ministry].wordpress.com.
The Con’s
- Although you have more control of design than on a Facebook Page, you may end up using the same theme as another website.
- Again, although you have more control over your brand, you still end up with a URL that includes wordpress.com or blogspot.com. For a small fee, you can buy your own domain customize your URL further (so awesomeymwebsite.wordpress.com becomes awesomeymwebsite.com).
- Taking this route over Facebook will require more time for you to set up the website and maintain it. It’s still less time having to create it from scratch.
So the moral of the story is this: youth ministry websites can be done for relatively cheaply ($0 – $60/year). Next week, we’ll look at training resources.