Your library's web presence

 These days if your library can't be found on the web, it may not exist to a lot of people. So, it's important to establish and maintain a web presence. Luckily there are a number of ways to do this.

Search

The first and easiest way is to claim your library as a business in Google search. You start with a simple Google search. 

You'll probably find something like this

 

You'll notice that one of the links provided following the basic information is - Own this business? By clicking on that link, you can set up an account where you can update the information and view reviews and searches. This is probably the first place people will come who are new to your library. So accurate hours and contact information as well as a few photos can be very helpful.

Social Media

There are lots of social media sites. You're probably going to have to pick and choose. The most important consideration is which site(s) your library's patrons use most. In particular, which sites are most popular with your target audience. But also, which sites do your staff or volunteers who will be keeping up your social media use and feel most comfortable with. You may want to reach teens who you know are on TikTok or YouTube but you don't have anyone comfortable with video. So, you may want to opt for Instagram instead and focus on still photos. You can work your way toward video. And some of these platforms make it easy to string together still photos, add captions and music and create a video. Facebook is still popular for a lot of libraries due to its wide reach and fairly user friendly creator pages where you can invite multiple people to contribute content at varying levels. The important thing about any social media account is to post content to it regularly. 

Websites

 There are a number of factors to consider when deciding on a website for your library, e.g., domain name, web hosting and web building software. If you want to spend the money, you can pay a single company to provide all of these services for your library. The prices will vary from a few dollars a month for a simple site with little storage and few features to around $30/month for a business level site with e-commerce options. You probably don't need that, especially when you're just starting out. You can also find a few free options where you can find some fairly simple web building tools and a site that will host your pages. You will have to put up with advertising and you won't be able to use your own domain name on these. There are also some that are free to try. You can opt to pay if you decide you like it. Something I would definitely suggest if you are new to website creation.

Free with ads

• Blogger - this is the software MT Bibliotechies uses. It is blogging software and has its limitations as far as library web pages are concerned. But it is easy to set up and use and you can buy a domain name for your library from Google for as little as $12/year. 
• Google sites -  Google also offers a free website builder with a limited number of templates. You can use their URL or your own domain name as above.
  
• WordPress - WordPress is the web building software behind many websites. It's also available via WordPress.com. There is a free version available with ads. You can also find low cost versions including domain name hosting for as little as $5/month - paid annually. WordPress is a powerful tool but can have a bit of a learning curve.
  Anytown library sample website
  
• Wix.com - Wix is a popular and easy to use website builder used by several Montana libraries. They do offer a free version that comes with ads. They will constantly try to upsell you, however. It looks like their cheapest paid plan is $16/month and includes domain name hosting.
• Weebly.com - Another free website builder and host. The good thing about these is you can try them out. If you come up with something you like, you can always choose to upgrade and pay later. The downside is the proprietary website building software can make it difficult to move if you should decided to do so down the road.
  

Domain Name Registration

First of all, why do we care about domain names? If most people are just going to put your library's name or the name of your town and library in a search engine to find you, why bother with a domain name at all? If you're going to use it in a lot of places: ads, posters, bookmarks, newspaper articles, it's a bit easier and looks better than the URL you're going to get from a free site. For example, I started playing around with designing a free site on Wix for Drummond and was given this unhelpful URL - https://sreymer7.wixsite.com/my-site-1. Admittedly, a domain name is not necessary and if you're just planning on linking your website to city/county web pages and ASPeN, you can probably choose to forego the extra expense. But if you'd like to have one or would like to get one in case you want to use it in the future, there are a number of places you can go to register a domain name. Just keep in mind that you will also need a web host with many of these. So, separate domain name registration is best when you're just reserving a domain name for future use, or you already have a web host you're going to use that doesn't include domain name registration. It's also good practice to continue to register a domain name that your library might have used in the past, even if you're not currently using it. I can recall an incident where a library failed to renew and their domain ended up being used by a Russian porn site. That's not where you want people to go who are looking for your library

• Hover - this is the one I use. I started using Tucows years ago for software and continued on with Hover. Just an easy to use service with good customer support. It can be a bit more expensive than some of the others but we're talking about a few dollars a year. They don't offer web hosting or web building services so they won't try to upsell you.
• Google Domains - as mentioned in the section on Blogger and Google Sites, Google will register your domain names for you. It's probably most useful and convenient if you're using other Google tools but they do claim to work well with a number of trusted partners.
• Forbes Advisor - The Best Domain Registrars of 2023 - if you want to shop and compare various registrars.

Website Hosts 

You'll need a server somewhere to host your website. In years past, it might have been a service that your ISP provided. Perhaps your city or county hosts your website. If so, they may also have templates and/or website creation software they require you to use. They may also include your library as part of their larger domain. So you might have a URL that looks like <library.montanacounty.gov> or <montanacounty.gov/library>.

But in many cases, you're either going to choose to go with a free with ads web host or pay for one. As with the free ones listed above, including their paid versions, many will offer to take care of all of your website needs for you: domain name registration, website hosting and website creator tools. That's great if you find one that you like, at the right price that's easy for you to use. Having it all in one can make it more of a challenge to move, should you decide to do so at some point in the future. Also be forewarned that the great prices and freebies you see offered are often just your initial sign on price. It will go up after your initial sign up period. The great $2.95/month is also only available when you pay  for a year or more in advance. That said, a smaller library probably doesn't need a lot of bells and whistles and can probably get a pretty good price. It looks to me like the on-going price for most basic WordPress host sites is about $10/month. 

If you look at a lot of web hosts, you'll see that many use WordPress as their site creator software. That makes it easier to move. The templates you use on one host will probably be available on another. There are also a lot of tutorials and help available. But there is a bit of a learning curve. Some web hosts have their own proprietary site creation tools - largely templates - that can make it really easy and fast to set up a nice looking website quickly. It can be frustrating for anyone with more website knowledge who wants to get under the hood and customize. It would also be difficult to just move one of these proprietary sites to a new web host should you decide to do so. You'd probably have to start over again.

Check out the free with ads sites above, particularly if you're new to website creation. You can try one or more out for free and see if it works for you. If so, you can choose to pay to remove ads and/or attach your domain name. Some other web hosts to consider:

• GreenGeeks - okay, I like the name. I set up a website for a nonprofit with them several years ago. No complaints. They use WordPress. They have a promo price of $2.95/month for their cheapest option. It goes up to $10.95/month regular price.
  
• DreamHost - never used them myself but recommended by Forbes for new WordPress users. Promo price of $2.95/month. Regular $6.99/month for starter plan.
  
• SquareSpace - a popular all in one website host using their own proprietary custom site builder software. They have a wide variety of templates and a logo maker. I've used it with a nonprofit website. I found it pretty easy to use. The person I turned it over to hated it but she hated all things tech - the perfect webmaster. :D You can do a free trial. Pricing starts at $16/month paid annually. You might be able to get a promo discount as they advertise on a lot of podcasts.
• ONE TO AVOID -  GoDaddy - I managed a website for a nonprofit that was hosted on GD and had a horrible experience. The treasurer for the group was upsold to a managed plan we didn't need without consulting me. This involved a site migration which made our site inaccessible for weeks. Getting it back online took hours on the phone on hold and with customer support. One had to refer to another. We continued to have problems for several months. Their prices may be cheap but you get what you pay for, in this case, very poor customer support.
  

Forbes Advisor  10 Best Web Hosting Services (March 2023) - Forbes list gives you other options to check out.

Tech Radar Best web hosting services of 2023 - Tech Radar has its own rating. You can check out which web hosts they recommend. But even more helpful is their explanation of various services and terminology at the bottom of the page.