Connecting to people to talk about faith is not as very easy as it seems. In today’s modern-day world, it would take a lot of initiative to interact with them on a personal basis. Thankfully, the internet was developed. This made it less complicated for people within the community to get in touch with church employees, specifically individuals that may ask anything regarding spiritual life. Just how can we accomplish such a feat? The answer is easy. A professionally set out church website.
Exactly how does one develop a church site?
In the UK, we seem to have not paid much attention to the Church website as an essential part of the whole process of evangelism, discipleship, and community. As a pastor myself I have observed how churches have neglected to consider the essential aspects of their church website. So just before we talk about how to let’s look at how not to develop a church website. I will be brief with this part.
Firstly – Don’t start with a church website
You say what! no church website hows that possible. For most churches, the problem starts by quickly creating a website that is flashy, or basic, or even okay, but without a clear communication strategy or a digital marketing strategy. This leads to a lot of church websites not being updated and redone in 3 years. So before you can think of developing your church website think of these things:
- How does your church communicate
- Who is your target audience
- How do you reach them
- Who is responsible for communications
- Who has the final word
Once you have established these parameters it’s safe to complete your digital marketing plan and start developing your church website.
There are numerous website developers or designers that can assist with your church website. Please don’t relinquish this task to a volunteer who has no to very little experience in church website development. A good church website developer is well-informed and also very adept in seeing to it that your web site can attract people. Nevertheless, there are several essential aspects that you need to take into consideration and discuss with your developer or designer when developing your church website. These necessary elements can be of large assistance to truly affect individuals who are seeking spiritual support.
Essential Elements of a Church site:
1. Attractive Design
The adage “first impression lasts” is very real. If people find your church website to be messy and not easy to use or is very hard to navigate, they would certainly not bother to recognise anything more about regarding your church. They could believe that since you did not make the necessary efforts to present your church website well, it is very easy to think that it has been disregarded. So, how can these individuals be ensured that your church is a place that can help them?
When people see your site, there must that “wow” effect. It would absolutely leave them with an excellent impression regarding your church. Remember, exactly how the website is set out is a big aspect of what your visitor decides.
2. About Us
To get your visitor an idea of exactly how your church runs, the about s page must be as informative as feasible. You can most likely input the background of your church, what is your mission as well as vision or your objective towards your church as well as the community, and also probably you can link to some projects that you have. It would certainly help to provide the site visitors with a clear way to of how to interact with your church in the direction of its people. You can additionally be creative with a video involving the leadership (the head pastor with a welcome short video) encouraging individuals to see as well as learn more concerning your church.
3. Location
Most individuals make use of the web (Google) to look for a church locally. They would probably seek a list of churches that are near their home. So making certain that your church website is visible to the search engines and you have claimed your Google My Business page for the church. You need to also make certain that the address of your church is located on all pages of your website. This would make it easier for them to see.
4. Service Timings
It is necessary that your church website contains the service times of your church. This would give visitors a very good idea of when and also time to prepare if they want to join your Sunday service and the like. You can in fact put on the location and also service timings on one page with the additional information on plan a visit. It would certainly make the website much more helpful even at an initial glimpse.
5. Contact Us/Chat or Support Box
What makes a church website a lot more eye-catching is their willingness to help immediately. With this attribute, it is simpler for the site visitors to connect to any type of church personnel with regards to their queries, asking some recommendations, asking about special solutions (i.e. wedding celebrations, baptismal, and the like), etc. Just make sure that someone is constantly on the website ready to point the visitor in the right direction. This is called “excellent customer service” in the business world, which we seem to be missing in the church. If people figure out exactly how practical your church is, it would certainly make them feel welcome and valued.
6. Plan A Visit
Helping the first time website visitor of your church to feel comfortable and cared for is important and crucial. Plan a visit does just that by affording each church website visitor the opportunity to plan a visit to the church, eliminating the worry or concerns a first-time visitor may have of the car park, children’s ministry etc. A carefully planned journey for each visitor should be in place, this journey process will be different from church to church but to give you an idea we use this assimilation process: greeted, directed, treated and seated.
6. Profile of the Church’s Leader
If you have this info on your church website is really of huge assistance to your site visitors. It offers the site visitors an idea of what the leader looks like and what their placement is. If they are trying to find a reverend they might quickly come close to that person and ask what they wish to know more regarding your church.
7. Connect socially
This is really essential if you want more people to understand about your church. Nowadays, social media is a very influential device to market your church. Possibly majority of individuals who would see your church learn more about it from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
8. Include Church Events
One method to get site visitors to connect with your church is by posting your events on your site. If you have a future occasion you can invite everybody to sign up with name and email only. It is with these events that really assist people to determine and also be persuaded to join your church. Make every service and event, and utilise social channels to amplify your reach locally. With these events and interactions, it can aid them to realise if your church is actually what they are looking for in their spiritual journey.
With these vital essential aspects, rest assured that your church website can actually draw in even more site visitors. Be advised to be as pleasant as possible as it helps to put first time guests at ease that are looking for spiritual assistance or trying to find spiritual nutrients feel comforted and also secured. Remembering that everyone is going through something and only God’s love is the cure.
