Web design for family history societies

A proper online home for your family history society or organisation, built to serve your members without a website nobody wants to maintain.

Who this is for

Family history societies face a common problem: the people most committed to the work are rarely the people most comfortable with technology. A website looks simple until you are trying to update it before a meeting, wondering why the events calendar has stopped working, or discovering that an update has broken the layout.

I build and look after the site so your committee does not have to. The public pages are fast and lightweight, and a members area handles sign-ups, logins and payments. There is nothing for your volunteers to learn, no updates to keep on top of, and no layout breaking overnight. Send me what needs changing and I make the change.

I understand what family history societies need from a website because I have spent years building and running genealogy sites myself. I know your audience, your content types, and what your visitors are actually looking for.

What is included

Every society website includes all of this.

Fast, lightweight pages

The public site loads quickly on any connection, with nothing on the page that does not need to be there.

Member-friendly structure

News, events, publications, projects, resources, contact. I build the pages your society actually needs, not a generic template.

Reliable hosting

Fast hosting, SSL included, backups, and support from someone who knows your site. From £20 per month.

Mobile responsive

Works correctly on every device, from a desktop in the archive to a phone in the field.

Members area with payments

Secure login included as standard, with Stripe and PayPal support so members can join or renew directly through your site.

Search engine ready

Properly structured metadata, clean URLs, and a sitemap submitted to Google and Bing from day one.

A members area, as standard

Every society website I build includes a secure members area. Your members log in with their own username and password to access whatever you want to keep private: the journal archive, research databases, committee documents, member directories, or anything else that belongs behind a login.

New and renewing members can pay to join directly through your website using Stripe or PayPal. Subscriptions are handled automatically: members are granted access when payment clears and their account lapses when it expires. No manual chasing, no spreadsheets.

Most web designers treat a members area as an expensive add-on. I include it because societies need it. A website without one is only half a website for an organisation whose whole point is serving its members.

Access is managed through an admin panel. You add members, set their permissions, and control what they can see. No technical knowledge required, and I am here if you need help.

See a sample

I made a sample society website, for the fictional Wyvern Family History Society, to show what a society site can look like. It is a demo, not a real society’s website.

Pricing

One price, everything included. Members area, contact form, SSL, and hosting with no hidden extras.

Website build

£1,099 or $1,399 USD

Full society website with members area included. Final price depends on the number of pages.

Hosting

£20 per month, $25 USD

SSL, backups, and support included. The members area is hosted too. Larger sites with higher storage or traffic requirements quoted individually.

Monthly retainer

£35 per month, $45 USD, recommended

Routine content updates: new pages, officer changes, event listings, journal uploads. Larger additions quoted separately.

Common questions

What does the £1,099 build price include?

The full public website and the members area. That means the pages designed and built to your brief, the members login system with Stripe and PayPal payment integration, SSL, and a handover covering how to use the members admin panel. The final price depends on the number of pages and the complexity of your requirements. I will give you a fixed quote before any work starts.

What does the £20 per month hosting include?

Your site on fast servers, SSL so your visitors always see a secure connection, backups, and support from me when something needs attention. It does not include content updates. Adding new pages, changing officer details, uploading journal issues, posting event listings: those are what the retainer is for.

What does the £35 per month retainer include, and what does it not include?

The retainer covers routine content maintenance: adding new pages, updating officer and contact details, posting event listings, uploading journal issues or publications, and similar day-to-day changes. It does not cover larger additions such as new site sections, new features, or changes to the members area system. Those are quoted individually. If you are not sure whether something falls inside the retainer, ask me before it becomes work and I will tell you.

How does the members area work?

Members register or are added by you, pay their annual subscription via Stripe or PayPal, and receive login credentials to access whatever content you have decided to put behind the gate: journal archives, research databases, committee documents, or anything else. Access lapses automatically when a subscription expires. You manage everything through an admin panel, and I am available if you need help.

We already have a website. Can you migrate it?

Yes. I will review what you have, identify what content is worth keeping, and build the new site to your requirements. I handle the technical migration and switchover. Your existing site stays live until the new one is ready to go.

Can we manage the site ourselves after handover?

Content updates come through me. I look after the site so your committee does not have to, and that is what the retainer covers. Members are different: you manage who has access through the admin panel. The trade-off is that your volunteers do not edit the pages themselves. If your society wants to be fully self-managing with no outside involvement after handover, I am probably not the right fit. If you want a reliable site with someone behind it, that is what the retainer is designed for.

Tell me about your society

Get in touch with a brief description of your organisation, what your current site does or does not do, and what you would like to change. I will come back with an honest view of what I can do and what it would cost.

Get in touch