Web Site Design and Development for Community Action Agencies

Description of Web Site Development Process

     Congratulations on your decision to pursue web site development for your Community Action Agency!  We are sure you will be pleased with our knowledge, professionalism, expertise, and experience with both community action agencies and with web site development.  Our goal is to assist you in developing a web site that turns your agency’s vision into a reality on the Internet.

      Let’s look at what is involved in getting a web site established.

    These are the steps we would take to create and maintain your web site:

1) Register the Domain Name (URL) (which you approve) and acquire web hosting, if needed;

2) Draft the web page design based on your input;

3) Add the information that you send us and/or identify to be included;

4) Send the Web Pages to the Host Server (so it can be published to the Internet);

5) Contact you to review the site and make changes if needed;

6) 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

7) Maintain the Web Site FREE for the first year. 

8) 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 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 URL should be recognizable, it should be easy to remember, and it should make sense.  Using your agency’s acronym can make a good URL (such as www.dccac.org for Dallas County Community Action Committee), or it could be a typical abbreviation of the agency’s name, such as: www.DallasCountyCAC.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 our web page software (FrontPage).  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 send you (e.g., program listing, board members, etc) and from materials that you send us, we will add the information to the web site.  A typical CAA 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.

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 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.

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Samples of our web site work include:

www.cencomfut.com–Center for Community Futures, Jim Masters (since December, 1996)

www.cceda.com–California Community Economic Development Association, Ralph Lippman (since October, 1999)

www.caasm.org–Community Action Agency of San Mateo County, Inc., Greg Redican (since April, 2006)

www.cornerstoneconsultantspa.org -- Cornerstone Consultants, Mary Virtue

     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 agency.

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    You can begin the web site development process for your Community Action Agency (or CBO) right now by filling out the online form below and submitting it, or you can download this as a PDF file by clicking this link.