Did you know that having a bad church website reflects poorly upon your church? When a company looks at creating a website to represent their business, they carefully choose the style, text and overall look because it creates a first impression of the company and who they are. Churches should have the same outlook on their websites. The difference is, it’s not about trying to sell something… it’s about reaching people that don’t know Christ. That’s BIGGER than any company goal! Let’s look at some common mistakes churches make.
Keep Your Audience In Mind
It’s easy to design church websites for members or regulars, but they aren’t your target audience. The website needs to be designed to reach non-believers. Give them a place to come and read about life-changing events happening for God’s people!
Church's Statement Of Faith
Some might disagree with this point, but hear me out. Many churches have “Statements of Faith” which is GREAT... but it’s not beneficial to make this a focal point of the site. Viewers that visit the site might not have a religious background and may find this more confusing than helpful. I would suggest a “What We Believe” area that gives basic information on the church’s mission, vision, and core values. You could have a link to the church’s “Statement of Faith” to give them the option of getting more information… maybe at the end of “What We Believe” page.
Website Material Out of Date
Once you have a great website, don’t assume the work is done. Having an AWESOME looking website for the church does no good if the content is not fresh! Make sure that you have a way to update content, add events, write blogs, and add sermons online. If a church website never shows activity, viewers may believe there is nothing happening and there will be nothing for them there.
Slow Download Time
Graphics are cool, but not all viewers will be using high-speed internet. The more graphics you have on one page, the slower those pages will load. If you have many photos, have a designated page for them. This gives the user the ability to choose what they want to view. A lot of graphics and little text can also cause a downgrade in your search engine optimization.
Not To Pretty Website Designs
The best designers can visualize your ideas and build on them. Your church website will be a reflection of your ministry to the entire community. Don’t let it be just another church website. Find someone who can create a design that is unique to represent your church.
A good church website can improve your church’s relationship with the community. Most importantly it will reach others for Christ. That’s why we need to be purposeful with the sites we use to represent our churches. We at sonline MEDIA can help by providing churches with a website they can easily update, while providing a custom unique design that fits that specific church.
