Congratulations on your decision to pursue
web site development for your Head Start program! We are sure you will be
pleased with our knowledge, professionalism, expertise, and experience with both
Head Start and with web site development. The Center for Community
Futures has been online since 1994. Our goal is to assist you in developing a
web site that turns your program’s vision into a reality on the Internet.
Let’s look at what is involved in getting a web site
established. (Or, you can download this information in PDF format by clicking
here.)
These are the steps we would take to create and
maintain your web site:
-
Register the Domain Name (URL) (which you
approve);
-
Draft the web page design based on your input;
-
Add the information that you send us and/or
identify to be included;
-
Send the Web Pages to the Host Server (so it
can be published to the Internet);
-
Contact
you to review the site and make changes if needed;
-
Once the web site is approved, we can register
it with the major Search Engines to increase the number of visitors
accessing your site (optional); and
-
Maintain the Web Site FREE for the first year.
-
After the first year, we will co-evaluate the
success of your web site and discuss future maintenance options (we
charge $480 per year for web site maintenance, or you can maintain
the site).
Each of these steps is described below.
1. SELECTING AND REGISTERING THE DOMAIN NAME
(URL)
The Domain Name (URL) is the physical location of your web site,
the address that people type in the browser to view your site.
For example, the Center for Community Futures’ domain name is:
www.cencomfut.com.
The Domain Name should be recognizable, it should be
easy to remember, and it should make sense. Using your
agency’s acronym can make a good domain name (such as
www.ochs.org for Orange County Head
Start), or it could be a typical abbreviation of the agency’s name, such
as: www.OrangeCoHS.com
We will talk with you about selecting a domain name, and we will
also check the availability of the domain name(s) that you want. Once
selected and determined available, we will register it with the service
provider (required step, and it costs $74.97 for 3 years, without web
hosting. With a web hosting package, the cost is reduced. See Section
9).
2.
DRAFTING THE WEB PAGE DESIGN.
Based on what you tell us about what you want the look and feel
of the web site to be, we will
draft a design using Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer
software. There will be
ample opportunity for you to review the draft design; we will work on it
until it meets with your approval.
3) ADDING THE INFORMATION TO YOUR WEB SITE.
From a list of possible items that we will provide you (e.g.,
eligibility requirements, program services, staff listing, etc) and from
materials that you send us, we will add the information to the web site.
A typical Head Start web site can have anywhere from 1 to 100 pages of
information. The norm is
about 10.
4) SENDING THE WEB PAGES TO THE HOST SERVER
(so it can be published to the Internet)
This step is an internal one in which we send the web site
information electronically to a service provider, who in turn publishes
it to the Internet. It is
after this step that you will be able to see your web site on the
Internet for the first time.
5) CONTACTING YOU TO REVIEW THE SITE AND MAKE
CHANGES IF NEEDED.
Since you won’t be able to “see” the web site until it has been
published on the Internet, we will contact you promptly and ask that you
look over the site and provide us with your feedback if any changes need
to be made.
6. REGISTERING YOUR WEB SITE WITH THE MAJOR
SEARCH ENGINES (Optional).
Once your web site is finalized and approved, we can register it
with all of the major search engines.
This will allow increased visibility of the web site on the
Internet, and it will result in more “hits” (visits) to your web site.
7.
MAINTAINING THE WEB SITE In Year One.
Once the web site is up and running, we will maintain it for FREE
for the first year. Web
site maintenance involves at a minimum:
·
Checking, adding, and deleting links and
hyperlinks as needed
·
Updating information, such as Newsletter
or staff changes
·
Adding information to the site, keeping
it current, and removing outdated info
·
Seeking agreements with other Web Sites
to have reciprocal links
·
Other tasks as needed.
8. FUTURE: After the first year, we will
co-evaluate the success of your web site and discuss future maintenance
options. Future maintenance
options include:
a) Having us maintain your web site for the
subscription rate of $480 per year.
b) Having web site responsibility transferred to
you or to a designated third party.
* * *
9. FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENT.
The cost for us to establish and run a web site for your
organization will not exceed $1,495 for the first year. The price
includes professional web site design, development, publication, and
maintenance (valued at over $5,000).
Additional charges include mandatory fees from
service providers for: domain name registration for three years (about
$75, or free with web hosting package) and web server capability for
three years ($447, about $149 per year) and
monthly dial-in access or
broadband charges for your organization, which are usually about $10-$40
per month. (We can help you sign up with these providers.)
For year two and on, our maintenance fee drops to $480 per year.
* * *
Samples of our web site work include:
http://www.cencomfut.com–Center
for Community Futures, Jim Masters (since December, 1996)
http://www.caasm.org–Community Action Agency of San Mateo County,
Inc., Greg Redican (since April, 2006)
http://www.eocsf.org – Economic Opportunity Council of San
Francisco, Yalanda Birdsong (since June, 2007)
To enter into agreement with the Center for Community Futures to
establish a web site for your CAA – please fill out the form below and
submit it. Call or fax Teresa at (909) 790-0670 or e-mail her at
teresa@cencomfut.com if there are any questions or comments
or if you are ready to co-develop a website for your program.
* * *
