As technology continues to advance apace, the attraction, benefit and even the need for a Club to have its own website is ever greater. Many Clubs, if not most, are already taking advantage of the latest innovations, but whilst some sites are professionally designed and maintained, visually impressive, comprehensive and user-friendly, just as many are unwieldy, illogical and out-of-date both in terms of design and the information displayed.

In two articles published last year (see The GCS, February, p99 and March, p108) some of the benefits of having a website were explained along with an attempt to allay the fears of tackling such a project. Even in the relatively short time since then, the number of potential uses has increased whilst greater help is now at hand to support Clubs with this task. Many of those who created a website early on are now at the stage where they are reviewing its appearance and functionality, especially where the site was built using technology that has now been superseded or where it was built by enthusiastic amateurs or companies who may no longer be in a position to offer support. Others who have not yet started out are seriously considering the practicalities of such an enterprise.

There are a few Clubs where the PC is still most likely to be thought of as the chap who pops his head into the bar to catch after-hours drinking, so perhaps the most daunting prospect for any Club is the technical expertise needed to design, build and maintain the website. Indeed it is this last aspect, the maintenance, that can so often be time-consuming as it is necessary to keep a track of all the information that is stored and make sure that it is updated regularly, on a monthly basis at worst. There are too many Club websites where the list of ‘current events’ is 6 months old or the ‘Green Fee’ section gives the prices from 2001! It is therefore imperative that an easy and quick method of keeping the site current is available.

It is therefore encouraging to learn that there are various companies now in the market who are offering assistance at all stages of such an endeavour. The individual services on offer and associated costs can vary enormously, but the various considerations include:

· the registration of the Club’s internet name (its ‘domain name’);
· the initial design and build of the site;
· the location (i.e. computer) where the site will be hosted and who will make sure that it is available;
· who will update the information on the site and how; and
· how will people find the site (particularly relevant for Clubs seeking to market their course and other services).

One very understandable worry of many Secretary/Managers is that they and their assistants do not have the time (and quite often the interest) to learn the requisite technology. The other main concern is the cost (financial and time) both in building a system and then in maintaining it.

However, more systems are being built to protect the user from these considerations and there are now products that effectively ‘do all the hard work’ for the Club that wants to set up or redesign its website. This leaves the Club free to concentrate simply on making sure that the data that is displayed on the website is both what it wants to be there, and as importantly, up-to-date.

There are literally hundreds of companies, many of them very small (which is no bad thing), that offer a variety of website services. Some offer the chance to create and maintain very simple but useful sites at low cost. The sites of Clubs using such an approach can therefore end up looking quite similar. Other companies offer the chance to create all manner of technical wizardry such as ‘virtual tours’ and the whole gamut of services that provide anything the Club might want. These, following the old adage that you get what you pay for, can end up being expensive.

In order to look at the middle ground, The GCS looked at two recently launched products offering Clubs the opportunity to build (or replace) their own website, each offering a solution that should appeal to the less technically enthusiastic!

The first system has been built by WEBCreative, a small company based in Surrey which is jointly-owned by a keen golfer who was aware of the nervousness of many Clubs to tackle new technology. They therefore decided to build a golf-based, menu-driven system which allows virtually all tasks (i.e. loading the right information onto the website) to be performed simply by pointing and clicking on the purpose-built menus.

This obviates the need to learn any new computer languages or tricky coding and the one-day, on-site training course on offer from the company should be all that is needed to use the system.

The basic package features all that one would expect from a Club’s website with the facility to feature competition results, calendar of events and competitions, course guide and map, society information and green fees, social functions and contact details. However, the enhanced version of the system offers the opportunity for a joint-venture with the Club’s Professional as it is able to display stock, prices and information as well as handle the associated financial transactions in a totally secure environment that offers the necessary protection from hackers and fraudsters. The Club itself may choose to sell its services (green fees, deposits, etc), this way and this could even be useful for the payment of membership fees.

Very importantly, the structure of the site is logical and easily navigated which means that even inexperienced users should be able to find what they are after. There is also a full security system to control the updating of information on the site which means that it is possible to allocate responsibility for maintaining the various sections of the site to different individuals.

With regard to cost, the more sophisticated website systems in use can cost many thousands of pounds to create and maintain. However, the WEBCreative product costs the Club about £2000 for the initial design and build, including the on-site training. Thereafter, there is a monthly charge of £50 to host the site. Telephone support is available for £250 a year and includes free product updates. If the Club wants the enhanced version with the e-commerce facility for financial transactions, then this is another £1500.

The advantages of using a system such as this are:

1. The website template has already been created and there is therefore no reinventing of the wheel. Despite this, it is possible for each Club to customise the site to have the look and feel that suits it best.
2. The relatively low start-up and maintenance costs.
3. The ease and simplicity of updating the site with the Club’s own data.
4. The lack of need for specialist technical skills and training.
5. The opportunity to link in with the Club’s Pro’ Shop and use a secure financial transaction system.
6. The ability to update the website in situ and review the changes before committing them so that they will be seen by those browsing or using the site.
7. Support in creating the links that will enable the site to be found by those who do not know the site’s address. There are still many Clubs who have a site that will not be found even using a good search engine such as www.google.com.
8. It is possible to set controls that restrict the browser to certain screens/pages such as a Public view, a Member’s view or a Committee view.

The second system is one that has been developed by Highcraft Systems, the company responsible for the ClubMinder system, and is called Club Noticeboard. This product is split into two main areas, the Administrators Console and Club Pages. The Administrators Console is used to add and edit Club information using just a standard internet browser. A 'form' based approach is adopted throughout, again meaning that no technical expertise (such as knowledge of HTML) is required.

The types of information that can added and maintained is being extended, but currently includes:

· Club description, including photos, logo and banner;
· News categories and items;
· Diary categories and events, using an on-screen calendar;
· Officers;
· Club directions; and
· Member registration/status;

All descriptions and diary events can be entered as formatted text, with photos, and it is also possible to paste in Word documents as all formatting will be retained.

News and event items can be secured so that they are only available to certain groups of users. For example, it is possible to post the minutes of a meeting so that they can only be viewed by committee members.
Club Pages is a system which uses the data stored in a secure database to generate a set of web pages which appear to the browser as a complete club website. It is also possible to link directly from a Club's existing web-site. When users visit these pages, they are presented with the news, events and noticeboard information set up previously using the Administrators Console.

Club members can also log on or register, allowing them to view 'member only' items and add their own descriptions and news items, thus effectively building their own 'mini web site'.

The cost of Club Noticeboard depends on the number of members of the Club, reaching a top level of £350 per year for those with over 400. Clubs signing up before the end of this year will receive their first six months free and the system is currently being enhanced so that it will be possible to print paper copies of forthcoming events for any given month, thus ensuring that all events have only to be typed in once and stored in one location.

There may well be similar products on offer by other companies around the UK and each Club will want to consider carefully who to use. However, the systems mentioned above would appear to be a good start.

For more information and contact details for the products described above, visit the following websites, www.webcreativeuk.com, www.highcraft.co.uk and www.clubnoticeboard.com.