Development... continued

 14.   Website

Early development of a festival website is important. This is the most inexpensive way of getting your festival’s message out. Most communities have website designers who are willing to donate their time to help you set up your site. Most website designers are not copywriters, so you will have to develop and write your own text. If you do have a site, it is extremely important to keep it up to date. Nothing turns off potential attendees than an out-of-date website. The hosting of your website is another issue. Again, many communities have hosting companies will to donate their hosting services. If this is not available to your festival, there are several hosting plans available, some very inexpensive, but limited in scope. It’s worthwhile to do a little research in the beginning to determine your best hosting route. Work closely with your designer, he/she should be able to point you in the right direction. One word of caution, before you finalize your event name, check to see if that name is an available domain name.  For example, if you choose the name “Apple Festival”, you may find that that name is not available. However, if you put your town’s name in front of “Apple Festival”, it’s likely the name will be available. To search domain names, log onto www.internic.ca, type in the name you want to register and it will tell whether or not it’s available. There are many dot variations that you can use, but the most appropriate for a Canadian festival would be.ca. However, it is your committees choose on the final domain name. It’s best to have your hosting company register you domain name.