What are WebForms
The Bahá’í Websites Individual website platform is what’s called a Web Form. These are very familiar to many people but have not been used for website design in this way until now.
A web form is simply an input field to receive information, such as a name, email are text message. They are commonly used to log into a website or submit information on a contact form.
How WebForms Work
We have engineered this information to fill in the data for a web page and actually publish that as a website. This is the simplest and easiest for people to use.
It requires no coding, skills or equipment. Open the admin page in any smartphone, enter your data and click the green ‘submit’ button. This requested information is entered into the web page and published.
To make corrections or changes, simply return to the admin page and change the information, click ‘submit’ and your are done.
What You Need
A web form can be filled in with any device, any screen, and in any language. You don’t need experience with websites, you don’t need a computer or a laptop. You don’t need WiFi. All you need is a smartphone.
Site Design
A web developer starts with your ideas, images, graphics, titles and stories. He or she wants to know who you are, what you do, and what motivates you or sets you apart from your competition.
Your information is presented in a dynamic and creative way that grabs your viewers’ attention, stimulates their interest, and leads them wanting to know more.
A good design will make the information both informative and exciting. The facts will be presented in an interesting way. Information will easily flow from one statement to the next. Images and graphics will keep the viewer interested in reading more.
A key part of web design is to gently lead your viewer toward your ‘Call To Action’. Good web design does this by avoiding ‘friction’. ‘Friction’ can be any extra unnecessary clicks, but it can be anything that keeps the viewer from clicking your CTA.
Your CTA is often a signup form for your email newsletter, it call also be a request for more information or to sign a petition. Your website’s goal usually should be to lead your visitor to action, or at least to come back again.
Domain Name
All websites have an IP address, which is a number, that looks like ‘185.89.41.135’. This is not easy for people to remember. Servers connect your domain name to this number. A domain name looks like ‘example.com’ or ‘example.org’. This makes it easy for people to remember.
To help people remember your website, this name should be short (more letters means more mistakes). Your domain should say enough about you (BahaisCity.org or CityBahais.org). Everything on the internet is rented, including domains. We have domain names.
Do not use hyphens because these are hard for people to remember. For example, ‘bestexample.com’ will always be stronger than ‘best-example.com’. The same name without the hyphen will always be stronger.
However, be careful not to combine two words that accidentally spell a bad word. A bad example is ‘BahaisinCity.org’. A good example would be ‘BahaiCity.org’. A better example might be ‘petsmart.com’ because it can be read in two positive ways: ‘pet smart’ and ‘pets mart’.
A .com or .org name is best, but some other names are possible. The .com of the same name will always be stronger. A .net is a valid name but is out of favor in the USA for some reason. There are lots of domain extensions for cities and countries. These may be memorable, but will be more expensive.
Free Transfer
If you already have a domain name, you can transfer it to Bahá’í Websites for a small fee. This fee includes one extra year of hosting, so there is no cost to move your domain.
Domains are generally rented per year. We recommend that you register your domain name for at least two years. This is because spammers and scammers intend to throw their domain away after use. Google knows this and ranks short-term domains lower in search results.
Web Hosting
Web Form websites are super lean and extremely fast. They will work well on any style web hosting, including the cheapest.
cPanel hosting or ‘Linux hosting’ is often the best deal. Our starter cPanel web hosting is comparable to other hosting company plans. This is probably all you will need for hosting.
SSL
An SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is becoming more and more important. This adds the ‘lock’ to your URL (web address) and changes the ‘http’ to ‘https’, which protects your data and visitors’ privacy.
Some browsers are blocking access to websites without the https. Eventually this will be a requirement for all websites. If your budget is a concern, you can publish your website first and then test for browser acceptance.
It is best to have your domain, hosting and SSL from your hosting company. This makes connecting them easier and avoids conflicts and errors. Any basic SSL will do everything you need and is a low amount per year.
Website Security
There are security programs designed to protect your website.
BackUps
The best security prevention is usually the SSL. The cheapest, fastest and easiest security fix is often restoring your website from a backup. There was a time before the problem. A backup is essentially a time machine to that time.
Professional Email
Many people use Gmail. There’s nothing wrong with that. But there are some advantages to getting email at your own domain – and, it’s not expensive.
Email Marketing
One of the advantages of Professional Email is to have your own newsletter list. A website is a monologue. Your customers come, hear what you say, and then go away. You don’t know why.
An email list is a chance for dialogue. You can send an email to your customers asking them what they liked or didn’t like, and some of them will tell you. That can be invaluable.
Contact Form
Protecting your email address from malicious spammers and scammers is a good thing. An easy way to do that is with your contact form on the website. it takes your customer’s information and sends it to you without giving out your email address.
You have to have email at your domain for this.
Financial Assistance
If you need financial assistance, please contact us here. Give us a chance to help you.
Free Account
If you are just getting started, but you are having problems, you can register a free account. You will need an account number when calling for sales and support, and this will help you get established.
