This Kelowna based charity called, “Hands to Hope” provide better health through clinics, medicines, hygienic instruction, and pure water to the mountainous and rural areas of the Philippines.

This website is designed to showcase the organization’s goals and mission for the Philippines, current and completed Philippine projects and future goals and objectives.

Some of the features  used in the design and graphics to development this organization’s website include:

• A well designed and displayed graphical header
• Rotating images connected with featured articles with a breif description
• The use of online media such as photos and videos
• Content pulled from youtube.com
• Photo Gallery
• Donation Page
• Powered by the famous and easy to use Wordpress CMS

Click to visit the Hands to Hope website, Kelowna BC.

Website design and website hosting for the Hands to Hope website provided by Next Step Hosting Services, Kelowna BC.

From Kelowna, BC, this Westridge Care Residence website was carefully developed with seniors in mind.  The graphic design and visual website layout showcases an appealing color scheme and with an easy navigation structure.

Website design features include:

• A graphical header
• Well colored and organized navigation
• Four main highlighted areas of focus with relative graphic and description: Corporate, Careers, About and Our Team
• Powered by the famous and easy to use Wordpress CMS

Click to visit the Westridge Care Residence website, Kelowna BC.

Website design and website hosting for the Westridge Care Residence website provided by Next Step Hosting Services, Kelowna BC.

Right out of the box, your social network will offer nearly all of the features found on today’s wildly popular social networks.

Instead of hosting your social network on our servers, we give you complete control over your project by allowing you to download the source code and install it on your own server.
Why a platform?

We don’t want you to create “turnkey” cookie-cutter social networks. We want your new social network to offer something unique. We call SocialEngine a “platform” because it instantly gives you a simple, unbranded network. This lets you get right to deploying your unique theme, social structure, or concept using our source code as a foundation.
What makes SocialEngine different?

SocialEngine is the only self-hosted social network platform that can truly give you the opportunity for explosive, viral growth. Other social network apps create social networks that look and work the same. SocialEngine’s simple design lets you highlight your unique theme. We’ve gone to great lengths to make customizations easier, with detailed comments placed throughout the completely unencrypted source code. SocialEngine also includes advanced social features not found in other apps, like subnetworks, multiple possible friendship structures, and very comprehensive privacy settings.
Only buy the features you want.

Other social network apps overwhelm your users with superfluous features. History shows that the simpler, user-friendlier social networks are more likely to succeed. SocialEngine allows you to buy features “à la carte.” This means that if your unique idea includes specific features like blogs or photo albums, you can build them yourself or buy them from us for a small fee.

Create your own social network!

At the Macworld Expo in January 2008, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers Inc., had this to say toward the book industry that received a lot of attention: “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is; the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” (cited in The New York Times)

Well, since you’re reading this article I would have to say that his statement is not entirely true.

And, if no one reads, one can only wonder why an estimated 410 million books were purchased in the US alone last year?

Well, Steve Jobs was referring to a growing trend in the print industry.  We all know it’s not that people don’t read anymore, it’s that today’s generation are going to more online sources rather than offline media such as paper books, magazines or newspapers.

It is very interesting to note that in January 2010 at the Macworld Expo, Apple Computers announced they would be selling a mobile device called the ipad.  Similar to The Kindle, it too uses 3G and Wi-Fi to download e-books.

With the billions of websites available and the increase usage of mobile smartphones like Blackberry and iphone, more people are reading and gathering digital content information quickly and on the go.

Recently, a news article posted on the local news website for the city of Kelowna where I live, grabbed my attention.  It stated,  “According to numbers released by ComScore, Castanet is number 1 in B.C. in general news with more than 5.6 million site visits per month.” (cited from Castanet’s website)

Considering the increased number of online readers, your church website must have written content that is going to provide the information people are looking for in a quick and readable format.

You have probably noticed that writing and preparing content for your church website requires a different approach from writing and preparing content for print documents and publications.

To make the reading experience of your church website more enjoyable for your visitors, here are 5 points to keep in mind.

1.  Less is better

Most people find that reading from a computer screen is hard on their eyes.  Because of this, reading online takes 25% more time than reading a book or article in print.
Keeping this in mind, it is a good practice to keep your website content 50% shorter than what you would have on the printed page.

2. Text Scanners

In a study released by usability expert Jacob Nielson, 79% of online readers scan or skim text rather than read word for word.

3. Lack of Patience

Do you remember the catchy little kids song about a turtle?  It went something like this, “Have patients, have patients, don’t be in such a hurry.”
Well, most readers on the Web are in a hurry to get things done.  They want the information, and move on.

Studies show you only have about 10 seconds to grab attention with your web site content so make sure to use relevant information. Also, try putting the most important information at the top with clear and concise text.

4. Skeptics

With all the misleading and incorrect information that can be found online, many people are very skeptical of what they read.  It is extremely important to show credibility when writing content for your church website.

Use objective language and avoid marketing jargon or exaggerated claims.

Hyperlinks to the sources of your information or to related information tend to add credibility.

5. Information Overload

With all the information available to us today through the internet and email, people don’t want to spend time and effort reading content that they may not find useful.
Write website content that provides your visitors with information in bite-size chunks, easily digestible.

Highlighted keywords, meaningful sub-headings, bulleted lists, one idea per paragraph and starting with the conclusion, are just a few ways to help them nail the information they want, quickly and easily.

Conclusion:

With all this said, I don’t think technology will ever replace the convenience and enjoyment of picking up a good old paper back book and a cup of hot chocolate.

Graphic Design Concepts in Kelowna, BC needed a website that would showcase their graphical portfolio and give potential clients an idea of their expertise.

This web development fulfills all their design and layout needs.

Features such as:

• A well displayed graphic header
• Homepage featured work articles with thumbnail graphics
• Contact form
• Powerful and flexible content management system for easy do it yourself updates
• RSS feed to be alerted of newly added content

Click to visit the Graphic Design Concepts website.

Website design and website hosting for Graphic Design Concepts provided by Next Step Hosting Services, Kelowna BC.

The Mission Creek Dental Centre, located in Kelowna, BC needed a website design that was bright and clean.

This site also includes:

• A Services page
• Photo Gallery of happy dental patients
• Clear Appointment Graphic
• Two contact forms: one to request an appointment and another to contact the dentist.
• Patient Testimonies
• Newsletter sign up
• A clear Motto statement
• Staff page with team photo

Click to visit the Mission Creek Dental Centre website.

Website design and website hosting for the Mission Creeek Dental Centre provided by Next Step Hosting Services, Kelowna BC.

Website design and hosting for Musical Singer Denise Kellerman living in Kelowna BC.

Web design layout includes:

• a homepage music player to highlight sample songs
• an online store connected with paypal to sell her music online
• a video player to showcase her TV interviews
• Photo Album
• Audio sample of each song on her cds
• Contact form

Click to visit singer, Denise Kellerman’s website.

Website design and website hosting for denisekellerman.com provided by Next Step Hosting Services, Kelowna BC.

This is a clean website design that highlights seminar material and TV broadcasts for expert Revelation presenter, Brian McMahon.

This website design includes items such as:

• TV Schedule of up coming broadcasts
• Seminar Description
• Online Shopping Store connected with pay pal for sale of seminar DVDs and audio CDs of presentations
• Calendar and location of upcoming seminars
• Newsletter sign up
• Visible graphics for DVD seminar purchase

Click to visit this Colville Washington website, Revelation Speaks Hope.

Website design and website hosting for Revelation Speaks Hope located in Colville Washington, provided by Next Step Hosting Services, Kelowna BC.

The MyKelowna.net website is designed to showcase the beauty of Kelowna, BC located in the Okanagan Valley west of Vancouver.

This website provides many professional features and has a clean web design layout.

• Well organized header with a clear navigation and graphic logo.
• Photo Galleries displaying images from many out door activities in the Kelowna are.
• Sponsored Ads and rotating banners for income possibilities
• Rotating featured articles on home page displaying graphics and description
• Articles displayed on home page by categories
• Weather information for Kelowna, BC
• A Business Directory
• Several web forms: one for contacting MyKelowna.net, another to Share Your Story about Kelowna, and another to Submit Your Website for a possible link on the site

Click to visit the MyKelowna.net website.

Website design and website hosting for MyKelowna Network provided by Next Step Hosting Services, Kelowna BC.

This Kelowna Church website is designed to display information about the church’s mission and focus while presenting a clean and organized layout.

Features include:

• A rotating image player on the home page showcasing important items
• Latest News and Events displayed on the home page
• A well organized right sidebar
• Calendar of events
• A bright header image

Click to visit the Kelowna Church website.

Website design and website hosting for the Kelowna Church website is provided by Next Step Hosting Services, Kelowna BC.