EvangelismCoach

Church Websites

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2 Church Website Pages to Help First Time Visitors

I consulted with the Church Hospitality Team leader of a large urban church that is developing a parking lot ministry greeter team.

Over the decades, this church has acquired neighboring parcels of land in the city to expand their campus.  The end result being that there is no contiguous land parcel for one parking lot.

Instead, there are small disconnected parking lots scattered around the campus of multiple buildings.

The question we explored is how to help first time church visitors navigate the complexity of multiple parking lots when certain lots are full.

Together, we discovered two useful ideas for the Church Website: [Read more…] about 2 Church Website Pages to Help First Time Visitors

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How Google will bury your church website

On April 21st, a new update from Google will bury your church website from MOBILE search listings if your website isn’t ready for their new requirements.

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Is your church website an open door or barrier to your church?

Today, Yvon Prehn allow me to share her guest post about your church website.

Yvon is an excellent writer and shares frequently on church communications – in fact, that is her ministry.

I’ve benefited much from my conversations with her and her regular newsletter provides all sorts of great snippets.  She also runs a membership site that is extremely affordable for churches and ministries.

Guest Post: Is Your Church Website an Open Door or Barrier?

Today, if we have a question about anything, where do we look up information?

If we want hours of operation, products offered, staff bios?

If we want to know what movie is playing, what time a concert starts, what classes are offered at a college where do we do to find out?

Obviously, we go to the website.

It’s the same whether we are looking up information about what computer to buy or what church to attend.

We judge the organization, its people, and its products based on the website.

If the website gives us winter hours and it is spring; if the sale has been over for weeks or if the hours of operation are incorrect, we aren’t likely to visit the business or have confidence in it.

If the business is a franchise and the website is an obvious template, with little local personalization, we won’t think much about the technical skills (equated with competence overall) of the staff.

Again, we judge a church the same way.

Unfortunately many church websites don’t meet the minimal standards.

Though lost customers may be bad for a business, the consequences for a church are much more serious. Following is an example of what can happen and then some suggestions for change.

Read more:

Excellent Church Website Tips

The article goes on to give excellent tips to keeping up your church website.

  • Keep it current.
  • Learn how to create one in wordpress

In my experience, I still see a lot of churches that make dumb mistakes on their website – stuff that should easily be fixed:

Help your church visitors find you this coming Easter

Easter is right around the corner.

Does your church website reflect your Easter services?

Does it promote the post Easter sermon series to help your visitors decide to return?

This Easter, some people might want to visit your church.

This Holy Week, some out of town guests may want to visit your special services for holy week.

You don’t know who they are.

They don’t know where they want to go.

God has given these first time church visitors spiritual thirst that propels them to seek a church.

So what do they do?

They likely search the internet first to find a church website.

Read more:

Coaching Corner:

Take a good look at your church website.

Would a potential Easter visitor find the basic information needed to attend your services?

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6 Christmas Strategies to Grow Your Church

I’ve been the first time visitor to churches during the Christmas season.

I have been the first time visitor to a Christmas Eve service where I didn’t ever want to go back.

On the other hand, I visited a church on Christmas Eve and was so impressed I wanted to invite friend the following week.

What will your first time visitors decide this Christmas season?  Will your worship service fill them with such hope and comfort that they wan to bring a friend?  Or will your church members ignore their presence and secretly hope those visitors won’t return?

Here are 6 Christmas strategies you can be doing to help your church fulfill its mission to share the gospel and change lives.

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How Can I Persuade My Leaders To Invest in a Church Website? A Discussion Starter

If you are the pastor of a church who needs to persuade your leaders to invest in a good church website, what can you do to make your case?

I know how I use church websites when I travel.

I look for service times and addresses.  Churches without that information won’t even get a visit from me.

I once visited a church website and couldn’t find an address.  I didn’t even know what state or country the church was in.

Then it took me several pages to discover what time was their meeting.

I visited another church website and couldn’t find the time of their Christmas Eve services, so we did not go.  They accidentally kept us away.

That shouldn’t be.

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Does your church website answer questions for potential visitors?

This question came across my twitter feed (@EvangelismCoach) this past Sunday:

“It’s 2nd Sunday .. I’m visiting a new church .. Heels or Tennis shoes ? I never know how to dress when I’m a visitor”

This brings up the point:

Can potential first time church visitors find out the information they need on your church website landing page?

  • Where is the church?
  • What does the building look like so I can recognize it?
  • Would I fit in with these people?
  • Who is the pastor?

Church websites lead people to your door.

I once visited a church website and couldn’t find an address, so I didn’t even know what state or country it was in.

Then it took me several pages to discover what time was their meeting.

I visited another church website and couldn’t find the time of their Christmas Eve services, so we didn’t go.

That shouldn’t be.

How is your church represented on your church website?

Here are some quick questions a potential church visitor might want to know:

  • What are these people like?
  • What is appropriate to wear?
  • Will I understand the message? (Do you have your sermons easily online for people to hear examples of what they might hear at a service?)
  • Where is this church located?
  • What does the building look like so I will recognize it?
  • What is done for my children?

You can fix some of these issues quickly by:

  • Sharing photos of church life, of some worship settings
  • An frequently asked questions page for church vistors
  • Address and service times on every page.
  • Real life photos of pastors vs formal studio photos

Do you need help with your church website?

Look into Clover for your church website.  This is an affiliate link which will benefit our ministry work in Latin America.

I subscribe to a email list of church administrators and this one has been highly recommended in that list.

We just switched to Clover Church Websites Sites last month. Our Youth Pastor maintains it and loves it. They even have a live person that answers the phone if there are any questions!

We compared Clover to Bridge Elements which had a cheaper upfront cost, however the Clover Church Site was much easier to work with and edit. They are also going to be rolling out an on-line giving platform we may also switch to.

We use Clover Church Websites for the exact same reasons that you mention and absolutely love it. I have been responsible for many different websites over the years from designing them from scratch to taking over other people’s designs and Clover has made web site administration a joy again for me.

Very easy to use. I have several different staff who have no web experience updating various content. I mainly make sure that it stays within our graphic standards and make changes to structure when necessary.

Very good support from Clover. ­ Extremely helpful and friendly and responsive. But I’ve had very little to call them about ­everything just works.

Definite limitations due to the fact that they’ve designed it for easy use by non-web designers but the benefits, in my opinion, far outweigh the limitations. We haven’t been backed into a corner by any of the limitations.  Most have an easy work around.

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