Web Site Tips for Churches
Is your church considering
putting together a web site? Got a web site and want to make it better?
Here's some tips for creating an maintaining a GREAT web site.
By Annie Lynsen, Synod Communications Director
Maintenance
The biggest turn-off for just about any web surfer is going to a site
for information, and finding out that it hasn't been updated for months. You
wouldn't want to meet a new person while wearing clothes you haven't changed
for three days - it doesn't convey a good impression. Likewise, you
don't want visitors thinking you don't care enough about your web site to
keep it up-to-date. The web is a great evangelism tool, and is especially
effective for introducing your church to new people who are moving into your
community. If all they have to judge your church by is your web site, you
want to make sure you keep it up-to-date and functional - at the very least!
Have
Good Organizational Support.
It's difficult to maintain a web site when you lack the staff support to
do so. Having volunteers build and work on your web site is a great idea
(several congregations enlist high school students), but what happens when
they move away, go to college, or just plain become too busy? The web site
could languish. You need to have a backup plan for when this happens; or, if
you can spare the resources on your staff to do so, having someone on the
church staff in charge of the web site is probably the best way to make sure
it stays up-to-date. Even if nobody on your staff knows programming
language, there are several great, and often free, resources to build web
pages without any programming skills whatsoever! (See the bottom of this article for
links to these resources.)
Plan
Before You Design.
What is your web site for? Why do you want one? Ask yourselves these
questions before you even begin to build. Who will be using the site? What
information would those people want? Consider distributing a survey in your
congregation, asking what congregation members would like to see on your web
site (even if you've already got one!). The web can be used to bring in new
members, give basic information to those wondering where your church is
located or who the pastor is, serve as an information center for existing
members to find out more about upcoming events, etc. There's endless
possibilities! Spend plenty of time brainstorming before you begin. And
allow room for expansion - meet periodically to brainstorm ways to improve
the site.
Keep
It Simple!
Don't bog down your homepage with endless possibilities, flashing icons,
scrolling text, multiple font faces, and 10,000 buttons or links. This will
overwhelm your visitors, look unprofessional, and take eons to download (not
a good way to make a first impression - showing up late for your first
meeting!). Instead, keep a simple, sleek design, with a set color scheme and
as much white space as you can afford. Limit your use of graphics. Keep your
front page simple, with maybe 3-7 links to different pages within your site,
and a picture of the church or congregation. Have some welcoming, inviting
text describing who you are and what your homepage is about, then let them
choose where to go next.
Keep
your fonts simple.
Go with the most common fonts on your page - Verdana/Arial/Helvetica or
Times New Roman. If the person reading your page doesn't have the font
you're using on his/her computer, their computer will display that text in a
font they DO have. (And it might not be a font that's easy to read, or
particularly attractive!)
Organize!
Organize your information in a clear and simple manner your users will
understand. Have three to seven main categories of information, and make
sure it flows logically. Have people other than those who have designed the
web site test it before you launch it on the web.
Keep
It Short!
Limit each page to one or two printed pages of text. The web is not for
publishing entire novels on one page.
Test
It Out.
After your web site has been launched, go out onto the web from a
DIFFERENT COMPUTER, one that is NOT on your computer network, and test it.
Check every link and every page to make sure they work like they should. No
matter how much you test a page before you launch it, some errors will only
show up once it's been published. (Don't ask me why - I haven't figured this
one out either!) Also be sure to test it on AT LEAST Internet Explorer and
Netscape Navigator, to make sure it's compatible with multiple browsers.
Advertise
the HECK Out of It!
Once you've put all the time and effort (and, sometimes, money) into
creating and launching a web site, make sure everybody knows it exists! Put
notices about it in the bulletin, have some space devoted to the launch in
the newsletter, put the address on your stationery, add it to the bottom of
all your e-mails, put the address on flyers and post them all over the
place, put the address on business cards, etc! Also be sure to let search
engines know the site exists - go to www.yahoo.com,
www.google.com, www.lycos.com,
www.excite.com, etc. and submit your
site for free. Then people can search for your church and find it without
knowing the address ahead of time. (Note: Once you've launched your web
site, you will probably start receiving e-mails from companies that will
submit your site to "10,000" search engines - for a price. Don't
bother with these - you can submit your site to all the major search engines
for free, and that's really all you need.)
Don't
Stop With Just a Web Site!
E-mail is also a great way to reach out to people within your
congregation. Consider publishing your weekly newsletter on e-mail, then ask
people to sign up for the e-mail version in lieu of the print version. This
will save you some money, and will help make sure your newsletter gets read!
You can create distribution lists with most e-mail programs and web-based
e-mail providers (i.e. Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.). Have separate distribution
lists for various committees, youth, and maybe even weekly e-mail Bible
Studies or Devotions. This can help save a LOT in paper and postage costs
(and time, too)!
Some
Helpful Links on This Topic:
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