Continuing our series on web hosting FAQs, in this video I talk about the benefits of working with a Christian web hosting company.

Read the full transcript: Web Hosting FAQs: Why a Christian web hosting company?

While there are probably other benefits to working with a Christian web hosting company, the two that stand out to me are:

1) Shared Mission

I can’t speak for all Christian-led companies, but we at OurChurch.Com view our clients more as ministry partners because when all is said and done, we share the same mission – to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and see His kingdom advanced. Our ultimate goal is not to provide our clients with a service we can provide as profitably as possible, but to help you achieve your God-given mission.

2) Shared Understanding

Again, I can’t speak for other Christian web hosting companies, but every one of the people on our team at OurChurch.Com is a Christ-follower and an active part of a local Christian church. We are a part of Christian schools, para-church ministries, and have led missions trips.  We understand how communications, websites, boards, budgets and approval processes work (and often don’t work We can recommend and provide solutions that secular  companies simply don’t get.

What do you think?  Do you think there’s value in working with a Christian organization for your website and web hosting? Why or why not? Are there other benefits you see in it?

Continuing our video series on Web Hosting FAQs, in this video I answer the question, how much does web hosting cost?  However, there may bigger costs that are often overlooked?

Read the full transcript: Web Hosting FAQs: How much does web hosting cost?

The simple answer is that web hosting can be anywhere from free to $30 a month.  There are lots of web hosting companies that charge about $5 a month for a web hosting account.

Unseen costs?

Since we’re talking about a difference of only a few dollars a month from one web hosting company to the next, the biggest cost you may experience may not be the monthly fee.  Consider the following…

Disabled accounts: If your web hosting company promises “unlimited” bandwidth and disk space, but then right when you are experiencing a big surge in traffic they shut your account down for “excessive use,” how much will that cost you in terms of lost visitors, customers or ministry opportunities?

Poor support: If you have a problem with your website but can’t get any help for 2 days because the web hosting company has outsourced and scaled back its support, how much will that cost you?

Un-Christian values: If you pay GoDaddy for your web hosting or domains, during last night’s Super Bowl, you got another reminder of what your money is funding.

The bottom line is that when there’s only a few dollars a month difference in price between various services, price is probably not the most important factor in the buying decision.

What do you think?

How important is price vs reliability, support, values or other factors in your web hosting decisions?

Continuing our series on Web Hosting FAQs, in this video I explain what bandwidth is and why you should be wary of web hosting companies who offer “unlimited” bandwidth.

Read the full transcript: Web Hosting FAQs: What is bandwidth? Unlimited Bandwidth?

Many web hosting companies these days promise unlimited bandwidth with their web hosting services. The fact of the matter is that’s just not true.

If YouTube came to them and said, “Hey we want an account with you for five bucks a month, so we can do unlimited transfer of all of our videos.” They’re obviously not going to be able to do that.

There’s no such thing as unlimited bandwidth

Every web hosting company that promises unlimited bandwidth has a limit, they’re just not willing to tell you what it is. At some point if you use too much bandwidth (or disk space or CPU processing power), they’re either going to slow down your connection or they’re going to cut you off and discontinue your account.

At OurChurch.Com we’re up front with you about how much bandwidth you get with each web hosting package, and we don’t offer “unlimited” bandwidth.

What do you think about companies that offer web hosting accounts with “unlimited” bandwidth?  Have you ever gone with one of them only to find out otherwise later on?

Continuing our series of video blog posts on Web Hosting FAQs, in this video I answer one of the most fundamental questions – what is web hosting?

If you’d prefer top read the transcript: Web Hosting FAQs: What is web hosting?

The short, non-technical answer is that web hosting is space on a computer (or web server) that is connected to the Internet and designed to display (or serve) web pages when requested by a web browser.

The two biggest reasons the vast majority of people and organizations choose to use a professional web hosting service provider are reliability and support.

Reliable Web Hosting 

You could host your website on your own computer or a computer in your office, but your website would go down every time you have a computer, power or Internet problem.  Professional web hosting service providers are usually able to keep your website available nearly 100% of the time because servers are in data centers that are designed to withstand major storms, have a back-up diesel generators, redundant internet connections, 24×7 support staff and a supply of back-up parts and servers. (This is true of our data center.)

Superior Support

The other thing you get with web hosting service, is customer support.  Many free/cheap web hosts outsource their tech support.  At OurChurch.Com all our support is provided by our friendly, Christian, U.S. based employees.  Our mission is to help you achieve your mission online, so we  want to be there for you when you have questions about your website, email or even if you just want to pray with someone.

Discussion

Have you ever tried to host a website on your own computer?  How did that go?

When it comes to website hosting, how important is good customer support to you? Is it critically important to you or are you willing to endure poor support to save a few dollars?

See other posts in the Web Hosting FAQs video blog series

Hi folks, we’re creating a new series of videos and blog posts covering Web Hosting FAQs.  In this video, I address the question, “Can I get a free website?”

Read the transcript: Web Hosting FAQs: Can I get a free website?

While I address the question in more depth in the video, the bottom line is that, yes, you can get a free website on some sites, including OurChurch.com.

However, there are always trade-offs:

• Some sites that offer free sites show ads on them.
• Others show ads in the admin area or hit you with lots of email ads.
• There’s no domain name included.
• There are significant restrictions on the number of pages, amount of disk space, etc.

My perspective on free sites…

…is that having your own domain name and having a site free of distracting ads is absolutely critical to the success of your online efforts.  If you aren’t willing to pay $5-$10/mo for those things, what does that tell your website visitors about your commitment to the cause?

The only exception to that is if you and your organization are based in a developing country where you’re living on just a few dollars a day.  If that’s you, you are why we continue to offer free websites.

Do you have a free website?  Why or why not?

Earlier this week one of our clients contacted me about a “statement” she received for DNS services.  The “statement” (shown below) is deceptively designed to look like an invoice for existing services. It’s phony and there’s no need to pay it.

If you receive one of these invoices, throw it in the trash.  Or better yet, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

It’s reminiscent of the deceptive domain name renewal notices Domain Registry of  America sends out.

OurChurch.Com (and all web hosting companies I’m aware of) includes DNS services with every web hosting package.  While there are circumstances in which someone may choose to use 3rd party DNS  services, they are rare and not the norm.

Have you received one of these phony DNS Services invoices?  What do you think of it?

How do I get a website?!? That’s a question I’m often ask by leaders and communicators who find themselves needing a new website for the very first time.  The number of choices can be overwhelming. In this video, I explain three ways you can get a website and the pros and cons of each, so you can choose the option that’s best for your organization.

The ways to get a website are:

1) Web Builder. Use a do-it-yourself online web builder. Pros: simple and affordable. Cons: not unique, lower quality, not portable.

2) Web Hosting. Get a web hosting account and upload or install your website. Pros: affordable and portable. Con: technical skills required, must build & maintain site yourself.

3) Web Design. Hire a web developer. Pros: beautiful, unique site, custom functionality, no technical skills required. Cons: cost

Regardless of which direction you choose to go, OurChurch.Com can help. We have a web builder, provide web hosting services, and custom design websites for churches, schools ministries and businesses.

I hope this you in the decision making process.  Read the full transcript of the video at How do I get a website?  And see other posts in the Web Hosting FAQs video blog series.

If you have any questions, post a comment below or contact us. Which option for getting a website seems best for you?

We at OurChurch.Com have been providing web hosting services since 1997.  We’ve answered thousands of questions about web hosting over the years, in this video blog series, I’ll be answering some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about web hosting.

Web Hosting FAQs 

1. What is Web Hosting?
   
2. How Do I Get a Website?
3. Can I Get a Free Website?
4. What is Bandwidth? Can I get unlimited bandwidth?
5. What does web hosting cost?
6. Why a Christian web hosting company?

What questions do you have about web hosting? Ask them in a comment and I’ll either answer in a reply or maybe even feature your question in a new video blog post.

Next year hundreds of new top-level domains (TLDs) will be introduced and .church may be among them thanks to LifeChurch.tv.

The innovative mega-church which produced the wildly popular YouVersion bible app (50 million free downloads & counting), has submitted an application to ICANN to manage the .church domain extension.

According the Christian Post, “under the LifeChurch.tv proposed .church registration, the URL would be open to churches, denominations and organizations of all faiths and religious beliefs. As a self-sustaining initiative, .church domains would be available for purchase at a reasonable cost and on a first-come, first-served basis with no auctions or bulk purchasing.”

We at OurChurch.Com register hundreds of domain names for churches every year. So I can tell you from firsthand experience that it can be very difficult for a church to find an available domain name that is a good fit. A new .church extension would give churches new options, and options that would be easy to remember and clearly indicate they are a church.

Kudos to LifeChurch for taking another bold move to advance the Kingdom of God online!

What do you think about the possibility of new .church domain names? If  .church domains become available will you encourage your church to register one?

In addition to commenting here, ICANN is seeking public feedback on all new TLD applications. You can also voice your support or concerns here.

Just firing off a quick note here with the latest news for those of you who participate in our partnership/affiliate program.  (If you’re not a partner yet, take a look at how you help us help your friends and website visitors achieve their mission online and earn some cash in the process.)

1) New Site.  At the beginning of the year, we launched the new OurChurch.Com website.  We designed it to Start With Why, meaning the first and most important thing we tell people is why we do what we do – to help Christian organizations achieve their mission online. We also designed it to be simpler, cleaner and brighter.  The results have been excellent as we’ve seen a jump in new sites built with our web builder and record numbers of requests for phone consultations about custom website design and search engine optimization.  That means a greater percentage of the people you refer to us via link or word of mouth are working with us and earning you a commission.

2) New Graphics. Along with the redesigned site, we also created some new graphics for you to use on your site to refer people to us.  Take a few minutes to update the graphics you’re using.  We’re confident they’ll produce more referrals as well.

3) Commissions Paid.  Commission checks for Q1 earnings have been mailed.  Yea!

That’s it.  We’ll keep it short and sweet this time.  Thanks for partnering with OurChurch.Com and working with us to help Christian organizations achieve their mission online!

In His Service,
Paul Steinbrueck
OurChurch.Com