10 Steps for a Great Church Web Site

by Mike Fetting

In the book Prioritizing Web Usability, the authors state that on average an Internet user spends 1 minute and 49 seconds visiting a web site before deciding to move on, and if they decide to stay, will spend on average of 3 minutes and 49 seconds on a particular site. The following 10 steps can help you transform your church web site from a short stop on the digital highway to a frequent destination for the traveler:

1. Identify the purpose. What question do you want to answer and for whom? What is the age and lifestyle of the person you are trying to reach? Identify what your searcher will want to find on the site. Or do you want your site to be a place for fellowship and bonding among members? Don't forget to help those in the congregation without computers to understand why this means of communication is important. Bring everyone on board with this ministry tool.
   
   
2. Define content. Consider whether the site's content is related to your purpose. For instance, if the searcher wants to know what kind of programs and activities you offer, list those-along with times and who's invited. If the searcher is trying to get a "feel" for your church, you may want to have testimonials from people, or pictures that show the activities.
   
   
3. Verify accuracy. Avoid misinformation, typing errors, and poor grammar. Always make sure your information is complete. For example, if you advertise a children's program or Easter pageant, identify where it will be, when it takes place, who can come, and how much it will cost. Don't assume that people who scan your web site will call the church office for more details.
   
   
4. Keep it timely. Keep your site content updated. If your web site is worth doing, it's worth the time-and possibly financial-investment of making it good. Outdated materials can be more detrimental than not having a web site at all.
   
   
5. Ensure ease of use. Make it easy for visitors to quickly find answers and information. When developing your web site, have users sit down and navigate through it to see if it's really user friendly. Users don't return to a web site that's hard to navigate-no matter how great the materials.
   
   
6. Create a pleasing appearance. Look at other sites as examples. If you see something you like on another web site and aren't sure how to do it, you might even ask the webmaster of that site to give you a tip. You can find plenty of sites on-line that will also give you the how-to, as well as books at the library.
   
   
7. Obtain a second opinion. Ask people not familiar with your church to critique your site. Ask them what questions it answered for them, and what questions they still have about the church, or areas they expected to find and didn't.
   
   
8. Keep your text in bite-sized portions. Keep your text short. A simple guideline is to take content intended for print, make it half as long, and then reduce it to half as much as that.
   
   
9. Keep most frequently wanted materials up front. Consider why someone might visit your site when deciding what to publish there. It's frustrating for browsers to discover the information they are seeking is buried in web pages of content. Give the basics up front with links to more information. Common questions include directions, office hours, phone numbers, E-mail addresses, and service times.
   
   
10. Protect your members. Remember that anyone can access web pages from anywhere around the world. Be very sensitive to giving out members' phone numbers and mailing or E-mail addresses on-line. If you have membership pages with directories, keep them password protected. At the very least, get a member's permission before printing anything about him or her, even prayer requests.

Mike Fetting is director of information technology at the Nazarene Global Ministry Center.

Holiness Today

 

< back to Church Issues

next article >