A webpage is very important for Scout Troops and Packs to attract new members and communicate information. While there are endless ways to create a digital presence for your troop, pack, or crew, here are just a few ways to make sure that your unit can be found online.
The purpose of a scout troop’s site can be as functional or flashy as you like. Remember that a good site will be geared to both parents and youth and should show how the program will benefit the youth while also demonstrating how much fun and adventure members enjoy. Parents want to understand things like safety and methods while youth may be more interested in the things that they can do in the program. Good photos are essential to convey the information and engage visitors.
While many units maintain social media accounts on Facebook, it should be noted that a website provides an information source about the unit which includes information specific to the troop or pack that is in a much more organized and accessible format. Social media accounts are a great tool for helping draw visitors to the website.
As always, privacy of members and personal information is critical and websites need to be designed in consideration of the Digital Privacy Guidelines, Youth Protection Standards, and Barriers to Abuse.
Create A Free Google Business Profile
When prospective members and the community want to know if there is a Scouting America unit nearby, they will often look on Google Maps. Having a free listing of your unit’s information is the modern-day equivalent of appearing in the phone book.
Create a Site on Amazon Web Services
While AWS is a very powerful platform with a lot of tools, the Simple Storage Service (S3) module is a way to host static websites reliably in the cloud for less than $1 per month. A custom domain name for your troop or pack can be purchased and pointed to your S3 bucket for roughly $12 per year. Utilizing the Certificate Manager and Cloud Front modules in AWS, sites can be made secure with SSL and HTTPS protocols to ensure proper indexing by major search engines. This solution requires learning basic HTML coding, but many tutorials and templates exist on the internet to help you get started. Once you learn the basics, you will find this option to be very inexpensive and allow much more flexibility for designing your site than other options.
Create a Free Google Sites Page
Google Sites allows a somewhat limited but simple interface for designing a site and publishing it to the web. For about $12 each year, a custom domain name can be purchased through an independent domain registrar services and pointed to your Google Site to allow for easy access, linking, and search engine results. This is a great solution if your unit has assigned a youth to be the webmaster.
Use a paid host like Trooptrack, Troop Web Host, Dream Host, or other commercially availble options
If your unit prefers a more intuitive or simplistic approach and can support a cost of $100-$200 per year, many great solutions are available from hosting providers and can be located through a query on the web. Some solutions are specific for Scout Troops and offer additional features for your unit.
Don’t Forget to Submit Your Site to Search Engines
Once you’ve established a site that will attract new members to join your unit, make sure to submit its address to search engines like Google and continue to work on optimizing the site so that it can be found easily by common search phrases. Many free services are available for analyzing your site’s traffic and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Consult your district executive or district committee for guidance
Websites and technology rapidly evolve and new solutions often become available. As the promotion of your unit also helps achieve the aims of the council and district, there is assistance available for units needing to improve their marketing and publicity efforts. Talk to the staff at the Council Service Center to understand what assistance is available with website hosting and design.