What Makes A Good Team Website?
by: Bob Howdeshell
High School Baseball Web
Right now is the time of year to start a high school baseball team
website.
Have you been considering putting together a team site? Do you feel
like you don't have enough computer or internet savvy? It's really
not a problem. There are many easy to use FREE sports web site hosting
sources on the 'net. See our
"Free Team
Websites" article.
Trust me on this one. Yours truly had never even been near a website
before I made my first high school team site. I made mistakes, I got
confused and I asked a lot of questions.
Most of all I had fun! I was able to give something to the players and
coaches, and even the high school and it only involved my time.
Of course you will not have the completed team rosters, the schedules
or various other bits of information yet. But you can have all of the
parts set-up and ready to go for the spring.
I have looked at over 1,000 high school team websites and wanted to
offer some comments and opinions on what things seem to work and what
to avoid.
What Every Site Should Include
- I can not tell you how many team sites
that I have looked at and could find no reference to where the school
was located or what the name of the school was for that matter.
Naming your site "Bronco Baseball" is nice but doesn't give the name
of the high school or the location
Keep in mind that you are placing a site on the World Wide Web (www),
you never know who might be looking in.
Naming your site "Broncos Baseball" is fine just don't forget to add
a brief description on the front page that goes something like this......
John Adams High School is located in eastern Maryland and competes in
Region 7, District 1-3A.
The School Address - preferably on the front page. If
not on the front page have a link to a page called "Contact Us" or
something similar and obvious, on the front page.
Why is the school address important? It makes it easy for college
coaches to send correspondence to the high school coach or directly
to the player.
If a parent is unfamiliar with the location of your school they can
use the address and a resource like Yahoo maps to get directions.
Remember we all were freshman parents once and finding each new school
was an adventure.
If your team does not play their home games at the high school - add
the address for the home ballpark to the site (along with the school
mailing address)
Some web host formats (like Eteamz) allow you to create Yahoo maps
links to addresses right on your site
A telephone number - To contact the coach - even if
it is the main switchboard number for the school
Why? What if Coach Smith or professional scout Ed Powers was going
to watch one of your players, but it was raining? What if they needed
directions to the school? How would they find this out?
EMail Address - An email address (to the website
administrator) is always another good inclusion to the site. This can
be either on the front page or on the "Contact Us" page.
Loads Quickly - Be sure your main web site page
displays fully within 20 seconds over a dial-up line
Back To Home - Include a "hyperlink" to your home
page on every page of your web site
A Roster - I know this sounds simple but I have
seen high school team sites that did not have a player roster
A Schedule - Again I know this sounds simple but I
have looked at sites without a schedule on them
Make sure that you keep the schedule updated - as it rains in the
spring and games get rescheduled - make the changes to your site.
Keep the Front Page Simple - A "busy" front page
will make it difficult to find information. Add simple to understand
and read links, keep the clutter to a minimum.
I know every bit of information on your site will seem important -
but don't try to put it all on the first page!
Add Pictures - A website full of nothing but text
gets boring pretty fast.
Find out if another parent on the team has a digital camera. This is
the easiest way to get pictures and place them on your site. In many
areas you can even rent a digital camera. Trust me on this one - it is
far easier to start digital than it is to scan in every photo
If you use a conventional camera go for the photo CD option that
Walmart and others have in the photo developing departments
Links to a player's photo (face) from the roster is always a nice
feature. Action game shots are fun for both the players and the parents.
Make sure that you spread it around - get as many different players
as possible. Don't forget the guys on the J.V. team
Game Summaries - These are always a nice feature for
the player's, coaches, fans and parents AND also for Grandma and
Grandpa, Aunts and Uncles, or just friends out of state. An easy way
to keep up with their favorite player or team's season
Add Links - If you find a great resource for your
readers add a link to that site from yours. Links to the local
newspapers (if they provide coverage of your team) are always nice.
Some others might be the NCAA website, your state's athletic
association site, the state high school baseball coaches association
site (if your state has one), and of course it is mandatory that a
link to the High School Baseball Web be included on your site!
Guest Book - Maybe adding a guest book is not one
of the first things to add but they are nice. It allows site visitors
to add comments and support. They make for fun reading as the season
goes along.
NOTE: Make sure that any guest book that you add to your site has an
edit feature. Unfortunately inappropriate posts do occur
Related Articles
Free Team Web Sites
What To Avoid
Best Websites Examples
High School Baseball Web Award
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