Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. 100%. You are the owner. I am the contractor working on your project.
The website is not in your physical possession – it “resides” on a host server (see “Technical Questions”) – but you legally own it and everything on it.
Legally, it is considered “intellectual property” because it is a creation of the mind and not a physical product as such.
You also own the copyright to your own site and material (see below).
No. Coding is the work of web developers. Web designers can carry out a very robust design business and load tons of content without coding skills. Modern design platforms and page builders allow for non-coders to work with ease.
If there is ever a time when more technical knowledge is needed to create or fix something, there are plenty of expert consultants for that.
After the initial setup, not much. (See the “What the Design Process Looks Like” document for more about the setup.)
In the long-term, your website engagement basically comes down to you being interested in it at some level. That interest doesn’t have to be daily, by any means, but like anything of value, “You get what you give.”
As a general rule, it would be good for you to think weekly at least about the content you want to create or post on the website, even if that is just a matter of linking to something interesting on another website.
Content is key to creating and keeping interest in a website and remember that it’s an incredible modern form for communicating your message to larger audiences.
But creating content takes time, so busy priests have to know their purpose in using a website for their mission.
I provide a ton of services—admittedly my clients get a really good deal—but everything has limits, and that includes my energy and time!
To be specific about what I cannot provide:
- I cannot do your promotional or marketing work for you, but I will give you a few ideas about how to do it (email newsletter, managing a mailing list, ads, etc.) I know some fantastic Catholic marketers, who will help you in those areas much better than I can.
- Apart from setting up a social media account or two for you, I cannot manage your social media for you from that point on.
In general, I do not provide writing services because of the time-consuming nature of professional writing. I do, however, offer writing services for a separate fee (see “Design Questions” for this.)
Yes. As one professional to another, I’ll just tell you up front what doesn’t work for me :
- Micro-management. Please don’t do this. I am entirely accountable to the client, so you never have to worry about me slacking off at any point in your project. You get 100% quality work from me at all times.
- Disengagement. This is the opposite of micro-management. It is when the client drops the ball and lets his own project fall by the wayside. There may be serious reasons why it could be necessary to suspend a project in midstream, but “getting bored with the project” isn’t one of them. Just let me know if you have to pause or abandon. It’s preferable to me trying to read your mind.
- “Ghosting”. “Ghosting” is a Gen Z term for abandoning or ignoring someone who wants (or needs) to communicate with you. You’re busy, I get it, but please don’t ignore my communications if you’ve hired me to do a job for you! (You’d be surprised how often that happens.) I’m busy too, so I’m reasonable about this. I don’t ask for instant responses, just the basic professional courtesy of responding in a reasonable timeframe when I need your input.
Yes, you can trademark your site’s name, but it is generally unnecessary to do so. Just the act of publishing it gives you the standard copyright protections.
Exceptions to this would be if you are large company that would have a legitimate reason to be afraid of someone stealing your name or corporate assets. This is unlikely with a private blog site.
The larger threat may be that someone wants to damage your mission and thus launches a copycat site using a similar name (using your same name with a hyphen between two words, for example) or the same name with a different extension that you don’t own (.com, .org, .net, .us, etc).
To minimize this possibility, it is always best to purchase your same website address with those extensions so that someone else can’t set up a copycat (or at least not as easily).
There are several:
- Your own: Basically, once you publish or post something of your own (text, audio, or visual), it is legally copyrighted to you. Post away! The same applies to a website. This is why you’ll usually see in the footer of most websites a line like this: © 2024 RND Development LLC. All rights reserved.
- Material on the Internet: You can’t just cut and paste other people’s content (particularly published articles and photos) without their permission, but you can link to other people’s content with no restrictions (in fact, you’re doing them a favor by driving traffic to their piece). If you really like something you want your audience to see, you can post a short excerpt of it and add a [Read More] link. And don’t forget, you can always just ask them for permission to use it! Most people are flattered that their work can be of service to other people’s missions.
- Excerpts and quotes: You generally have the leeway of the “fair use” doctrine which allows you to post quotes and excerpts of other people’s work up to 250 words. But bear in mind that this is not an absolute rule, and if someone prohibits you from using their material entirely, you are bound to refrain.
- Images/electronic media: Image use and electronic media is the wild west of the Internet these days, and the general rule is that you cannot use content that other sources have created and posted unless you have permission to use them. However, the case law is nebulous. It’s always best to play it safe and use the abundant free and fee-based stock image resources for the images you want, or post your own.
- Plagiarism: It goes without saying that taking someone else’s written word and reproducing it as your own is risky business, not to mention highly unethical in our line of work. (It’s very easy to identify cut-and-pasted text through internet searches these days.) Everyone except Joe Biden is held accountable for plagiarism, so it’s best to avoid this altogether.
First of all, you won’t get sued for a simple copyright violation, at least not without some attempt to address the situation first. I’ve had this experience, and it’s rare but manageable. Let me give you a concrete example:
One day, in a rush to get an article out, I did an internet search and found an image that expressed my theme well. The photo I found was not attributed to anyone that I could tell, but that didn’t mean it was not subject to copyright. (I knew better but used it anyway.)
I posted the image at the top of my article, and almost two years later I was contacted by an American law firm representing the copyright owner (which happened to be a European news organization). The global reach nowadays is amazing. They included in their communication a screenshot of their image being used on my post without permission. I was caught dead to rights.
They initially demanded $1200 for the copyright violation! They were very professional about it, but also serious. Their demand was couched in all the legalese of “failure to pay may result in legal action…,” etc.
I consulted with a lawyer who determined that the contact was not a hoax (first thing to verify.) He suggested I negotiate out of it, so I wrote and explained that I was working for a non-profit and could only afford X-amount of dollars. They accepted the offer, and I signed a release promising I would not do it again (!) and assured the issue was legally settled.
It was a costly mistake, but a great learning experience. Some companies (especially media organizations and film/music industries) do in fact search for violations and do in fact assert their rights. Point taken.
There are a ton of copyright- and royalty-free websites that provide imagery for the internet. However, these two things are not the same.
- Copyright-free means you can use their stock images without fear of a copyright infraction. Some ask you to cite the source as part of the user agreement (Best: Wikimedia Commons), others let you use the images without any attribution whatsoever. Most of these sites are subsidiaries of big media companies and are always trying to get you to upgrade to a paid plan, but you can find amazingly beautiful and relevant pictures with their free sites. (Best sites: Pixabay, Pexels, Unsplash, among many others.)
- Royalty-free means that you can pay a licensing fee for an image once and not have to pay the original copyright holder any more fees. The name is deceptive because you pay for the use of these images (which in itself is a type of royalty), however, what they really mean is that you don’t have to continue to pay to use the image. (Best sites: Getty Images, iStock, Adobe, Shutterstock, Alamy, 123RF.com, Cathopic, among many others.)
- My preferred sites: Pixabay (free, no attribution needed at all, huge selection) and Alamy (a free image plan, but the wider selection comes with reasonable plans for excellent images of different sizes).
This entirely depends on what style you want for your website. Most websites nowadays are full of images that are carefully selected, crafted, and placed to enhance your text. Blog posts especially are usually accompanied by some imagery to enhance your message.
To reduce the burden of sifting through lots of images, I often choose images for the client that I believe work best with his message.
However, if you have specific images you want to include in your design, please send them to me. Even if they are not high-quality or high-resolution images, often we can find a way to incorporate them attractively. At the very least, they could provide ideas for other higher quality images.
But you don’t have to take all your own pictures by any means! See “Copyright Questions” for information about where to find copyright-free stock images to use on your site.
It helps to have a killer logo, but aim for one that truly fits your concept and expressed your identity. A logo identifies (“brands”) your website and ministry, so you want it to express your mission clearly. It’s also highly personal (unless it’s a corporate logo), so you want it to be of some quality and dynamism.
A logo can be as simple as your name in some cool or decorative script, or it can be an image. It can also be a combo of image and text.
Good logo design done by a professional graphic designer can be expensive and time-consuming to get the design you are comfortable with, but it might be worth the time and cost for you to find one that really satisfies you and looks good on your site.
Yes. I’ll be the first to tell you that I am not a professional graphic designer, but I’ve been known to design some excellent logos! In fact, it’s part of the package.
Absolutely, no problem at all. Platforms nowadays make it easy to post YouTube and Vimeo videos, as well as mp4 files. Others can be embedded through code. They key is to be careful about copyright issues (see “Copyright Questions” FAQ on that).
The same as videos. Any digital file can be posted and designed for maximum effect on your site.
Only if you want to. I can teach you how to do that if you wish. It’s not very hard.
Basically, it’s my mission to offer busy clergymen the chance to just send me stuff you want to publish and the peace of mind knowing that it will get up on the website in record time and in a style that you want.
We might also get to the point where you do most of the posting yourself and ask me to do it when you are just too busy. In any case, posting your content is part of the package, so I’m prepared to do it all for you if you wish.
Also, if you have a coworker or colleague who is more adept at this kind of thing, I’d be happy to train him or her to do the work.
You have souls to save – which is much more important work!
I have much experience editing the writings of others, including work as a Managing Editor for the Catholic Stand website, where I edited the articles of eleven writers every month for four years. I find editing easy and enjoyable.
My editing is properly called “touch-up editing” and is limited to the following:
- Amending typos and minor grammatical glitches (trust me, you can’t see yours, and I can’t see mine. Another pair of eyes helps.)
- Smoothing out syntax and phraseology for clarity.
- Suggesting or adding items of relevant that may add to the impact.
The operative principle, however, is that your words are entirely yours, and the editor only enhances what you have written.
(See the “What I Offer You” document for a more detailed explanation of the editing function.)
No problem. It happens!
My entire mission is to craft a website to best serve your mission. In the “What the Design Process Looks Like” document, I lay out how I intend to do that for you so you get exactly the kind of website you want in a reasonable timeframe.
Nevertheless, a website has to fit like a comfortable shoe. If you really don’t like what I’ve created, we’ll scrap it and start over! Or, we’ll just work on one design after another until you are fully satisfied. No holds barred.
While I cannot offer to do your promotional work for you, I can offer lots of ideas to help you, which you’ll find in these pages and any time you want to pick my brain.
The best way to create awareness of your website is to post about it on social media and also—if you have a natural audience like a parish or ministry—to tell people about it through your email list. Listing it in the parish bulletin is a great way to get the word out, and not just one time but with regular reminders.
This will depend on how much you are willing to engage in this project. Posting something to social media is easy, but the harder promotional efforts involve:
- Arranging radio and podcast interviews,
- Posting articles in other people’s publications and blogs (nowadays we call these people “influencers”),
- Creating promotional materials and flyers for handing out at conferences, etc.
If you are willing to spend some money, you could even buy ads on social media and in Catholic publications to draw attention to your site/ministry/mission, etc.
It does not. You can use your own email list to contact your people, but if you’re just sending it from a generic email service (like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc.) you will run into problems as your list grows. Search engines tend to mark these as “spam” very easily.
If you would like to grow your list of subscribers/followers, it’s best to go the route of creating a regular Newsletter with a reputable email service to stay in front of them.
Not to discourage you, but creating a newsletter a lot of work; it can also cost you some money. There are free plans with the big email hosting services (such as Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, etc.), but the service has number thresholds, and as your list grows, you will be required to pay greater fees according to the number of subscribers on your list. (Most of these let you send out unlimited numbers of emails because they charge by subscriber.)
On the positive side, creating newsletter can be a fantastic way to engage your audience. I send out my own newsletter every Sunday, and it is one of the most enjoyable and enriching things I do—but also a lot of work!
You don’t have to have social media accounts, but they are valuable if only for one reason: they put you in front of new audiences.
Some would say that social media is necessary for doing anything in cyberspace these days, but more important than having a social media account is having a clear plan on how to use social media effectively.
The wisest advice I’ve heard is to choose one or two of these social media forums (that you are probably using anyway) and focus on them for promotion of your website without worrying about the others. Even St. Paul couldn’t possibly be “all things to all social media platforms” nowadays.
That’s always best, and if for some reason the specific name you want is not available, you can create one that is similar to it. That is important for branding purposes, to create the same or very similar image in the minds of people when they think of your ministry.
Social media accounts are not hard to set up, either as your own account or as a dedicated “business page” on your account (Facebook especially.)
You can also set up accounts that are similar in name but that clear show the relationship to your website (by linking to your site, the same branding, etc.)
You can even set up a regular “feed” from your social media site to your website so that every time you post something on social media, it “feeds” to a section of your website where people can see it, click on it and get directed to your social media to engage the conversation, etc.
As I noted in the “Technical Questions” FAQ concerning the difference between a Blog and a Website, social media has kind of replaced Blogs as the place where people talk. It’s good to learn how to use social media to get your message across.
The sky’s the limit. A friend of mine says that good promotional skills require a “marketing mindset,” which simply means that you are always looking for opportunities to get your word out. Building on our second point above, here are a few more ideas:
- Above all, build your mailing list by having people sign up for it at parish or ministry events you sponsor. You can also place a sign-up form on your website for the casual visitor who might be interested in learning more.
- Get a booth to sell things and promote your projects at a local Catholic conference.
- Have your own business cards made up which include your website address.
- Put the web address in the parish bulletin or any other publication you send out for ministry.
- Set up your email to include your web address at the bottom of every email you send out.
- Get ministries in the parish to create their own pages and/or add their own materials to the website on a regular basis
- Preach about materials you’ve put on your website for the benefit of the faithful!
Last but not least, make sure to consecrate your website to your patron saint or angel and pray that it will be made by grace into an anointed forum for the work of the Kingdom!
The technical aspects of a website can be incredibly complex and will sometimes need the services of a technical geek who knows the ins-and-outs of software coding.
My job is to save you from having to worry about those dimensions of your website because you have to spend your time saving souls, which is a much more valuable work for the Kingdom.
But you do need to at least be aware of a few terms and tricks of the trade, so we’ll start with a few technical terms so you can understand what they mean for web design.
The coding is like the “virtual DNA” of a website.
Websites with lots of bells and whistles require more specialized coding knowledge. A web designer works on the artistic end while a web developer is like a computer engineer who manages the guts of the website (i.e., coding, virtual DNA).
Apart from any specialized items, however, most coding issues are simplified so that a person without coding skills can easily manage most of them. The new platforms are set up for that very reason.
Think of a rocket at Cape Canaveral that launches from a platform into outer space. So does a website, except it launches into cyber space.
The platform is like a stage in a theatre that encloses all the elements that will eventually constitute your website: technical, security, interfaces, design, and content. Access to it is often called the “back end” much like the “backstage” of a theatre.
As there are different stages for different artistic performances (theatre, opera, concerts, etc.), so there are different platforms for the art of websites.
I generally use WordPress, which is the most popular and authoritative platform for building websites. WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, and Shopify are the major platforms for building websites these days, but there are many others.
The template of a website is the professional category, its general species, character, or model look.
For example, cooking websites have a different character than lawyer’s websites because their tools, issues, and audiences are different. The same can be said for the differences in e-commerce, sports, news, educational, and service websites.
Churches, non-profits, ministries, and evangelization apostolates all have their own unique branding too. We’ll find yours.
A case in point: here are two websites that used the same template. They have different purposes and are unique in their own rights. Compare the Prayers for JD Vance and the Kickstart Media websites.
The theme is essentially the style of the website.
The term is often used interchangeably with template. There are technical differences between these two elements, but generally speaking the two are not very different because they give the website its overall look.
A theme determines how the various parts of a design work together. It defines the basic rules for laying out the pages, for consistent font styles, colors, and elements, etc. A theme also allows you reproduce elements and pages without having to recreate everything from scratch.
The design of a website is basically its personality.
It’s what makes the website for St. Martin de Porres Parish in Jensen Beach, Florida (stmartindp.com) different from the website of St. Martin de Porres Parish in Dripping Springs, Texas (stmartindp.org).
Check them out, you’ll be amazed! [PS—I worked on the Florida one!]
In other words, the design gives a website its uniqueness, flair, pizazz, buzz…it’s basically personality–you!
The “front end” of a website is what shows on the internet, but as noted, every platform also has a “back end” which contains all the technical aspects of the site and where the design work takes place.
Once set up, I will provide you with a “Specifications” document for your site, which is a full list of access links, Passwords, design parameters, and any other information you need in order to understand every aspect of your website.
In the event you need to move to another designer (no problem) or move your website to another platform, this information will be critical, and you will have it in your possession with regular updates as things change.
Very little nowadays. In the late ‘90s and early 2000s blogging was the primary way for people to interact in cyberspace. Today, social media has usurped that function.
In fact, the Blogger.com platform was established as early as 1999 as the preeminent platform for blogging. All the domain names end with /blogspot.com. It is now owned by Google and is still a blog platform, but the last blog post they posted on their own blog was in May of 2020! Social media has made these types of blogging sites almost totally disappear.
I’ve noticed that some clergymen who have been blogging for years continue to host blogs on this older platform, so it is still useful for many, but, as the old song says, “The times, they are a-changin’.”
Nowadays, what is called a blog is usually just an element of a larger website. Think of it as the dedicated page on a site (or sometimes the front page) where you post articles hoping that someone will read them and respond with feedback. It’s less a forum for interaction than a place for posting articles.
Sure can. There are some technical issues to deal with, so please see the PDF on on the “Services” page for more information on this subject.
You need a domain name to have a website because the web address is what makes it possible to find you on the World Wide Web.
The services that provide domain names are called domain registrars because they register these URLs with the ICANN (International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which is the gateway to the Internet. This very interesting article tells you all about it if you want to learn more.
If you don’t have a domain name, I can obtain one for you through my web hosting service (Bluehost), which will allow me to set up your website there. Or you can obtain a domain from one of the numerous providers, and we will “point” it (direct it) to the website (explained further below).
You can obtain a domain name from many sources (GoDaddy is probably the most recognizable provider), but the major problem is not where to get a domain name. The problem is finding a name for your site that isn’t already being used.
If the domain name you want is already taken, there are many ways to adopt similar names: by adding hyphenation or periods in the name, or by going with a .org, .com, or .net address for the same name if available.
A very effective way to do adopt a similar name nowadays is by adding “my” to the front of a name that’s already in use.
For example, I have a client who owns a religious gift shop called The Catholic Shop, but he could not get the name of his business because it was rather generic and his ideal choice, CatholicShop.com, was already taken by another business. Instead, he just added “my” to the front of it and found that this domain name www.mycatholicshop.com was available! Easy Peasy.
If you give me three to five of your best domain name prospects, I’ll search and see which is available.
We can do this one of two ways:
Either 1/ There is a technical way to “point” the domain name from your registrar to the service that hosts your website. This way you do not have to transfer the domain name to any other service. Anyone who searches for your domain name after that will be directed to your website without fail.
Or 2/ I could transfer it from your domain registrar (wherever you originally purchased your website name) to my web hosting service (Bluehost) which is also its own registrar. Such transfers are done all the time and there are some advantages to having the registrar and the web hosting under one service.
The transfer cost is basically what you would pay for a new domain name on the new registrar, and will probably be around $35 (the fee includes privacy protection, which is optional but recommended.)
Note that the cost for a domain name is a recurring annual fee charged by the registrar, not by me.
Continuing the platform analogy: if Cape Canaveral is the platform for rocket launches, the web host is mission control.
A web host is a company that holds your website on its server. Pure and simple. Good web hosts provide the technical support necessary to keep your website safe from hackers and viruses, and provide other services such as:
- Updates for WordPress and plugins (virtual tools you can add for specific functions you need on the site—they “plug in” to the existing platform);
- Backups of the site and database;
- Site security and file monitoring;
- Intrusion detection and blocking;
- Site repair if hacked;
- Dedicated email accounts for your domain; and
- Other types of technical support when needed.
Some years ago I began to work with Bluehost, which is one of the larger and more reputable webhosting companies. It provides all of the above services, a large database of documentation for the user to learn the system better, and a 24/7 help line for any technical need.
Absolutely! WordPress has a very user-friendly e-commerce function called WooCommerce, which is handy and can be easily tailored to your needs and style.
Search Engine Optimization aims to bump your website higher up on Google searches (allegedly) but it is an incredibly complex game. Among other things, it requires inserting key words into your writing and design to more closely conform to Google search engine specifications.
In my experience, optimization efforts are extremely time-consuming and hardly worth the effort. It is difficult to see the positive outcomes. I also think they are fairly fruitless unless you’re in major competition with other organizations for web hits and sales.
This is rare in the non-profit world. Websites that have smaller and focused purposes (and audiences) are better off trying to get the word out through individual promotion of the site rather than through trying to get the best SEO score to satisfy the Google monster.
Yes, the phenomenon of responsive design (mentioned in the “Creative Ideas for Your Website” document) is the standard for web design nowadays.
Something like 60% of people now access the internet through their phones exclusively. This means that responsive design – making sure that a website’s design expands and contracts proportionally (i.e., “responds”) to all the various screen sizes on which it will be viewed – is a practical necessity.
As part of the design process, we will test your site on all screen sizes available to us before we launch just to make sure that it is functional and beautiful wherever it is viewed.
Because of modern web security protocols and tools, this almost never happens any more, but it is still possible. My approach is one of regular vigilance over your site: a combination of prevention, regular monitoring and updating of security measures, and immediate technical fixes when problems become evident.
WordPress is an open source Content Management System (CMS), so it is technically vulnerable to malicious attacks by bad actors and misfits, but the creators of WordPress release regular security updates and patches to cover any technical loopholes that bad guys try to exploit.
As noted above, regular maintenance, updating, and monitoring usually prevent attacks of any kind. In the unlikely event of a catastrophic attack or failure, Bluehost provides daily backups of all source codes and content which can be re-loaded once the system us up and running again.
I don’t know, but I wouldn’t doubt it. It’s always good to presume that Big Brother is watching. But then again, so is our Heavenly Father. We are still a free society, so be yourself and live out your full mission without fear.
