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EFFECTIVE CHURCH WEBSITES
Bet Hannon
Shameless Self-Promotion
Bet Hannon
www.bethannon.com
www.churchwebsiteprogram.com
Blog:
www.churchwebsiteprogram.com/blog
Facebook Page
“Like” our FB Page for tips:
“Affordable Church Website Program
(ACWP)”
Download Today’s Slides
Download the slidedeck from today’s presentation at:
Churchwebsiteprogram.com/KO2015
Where we are going…
What makes a site effective?
Design tips
Content tips: Home, About, FAQ
Dated content management
Getting Google to find you (SEO)
Safety, Security & Spam Prevention
Options & Costs
Arc of Adoption
Effective Sites
Website = communications tool
integrate your site
into your overall
communications
strategy
Effective Sites
Things to consider & balance:
Design
Function
User Experience
Content
Effective Sites
Reflects who you are in a flattering way
Effective Sites
Clear sense of audience(s)Members vs. Non-members
(90% of non-members will look at your site
before they come to church!)
Identify sought demographic of non-members
75-90% skewed to non-members!
100% of your home page geared for non-members
Think: Hospitality!
Effective Sites
Reflect who you are
vs.
Appeal to your sought demographic
Effective Sites
Keep the site CURRENT!
no past-dated content
design & trends in web-development
Dated Design
Up-to-date Design
Dated Stuff – Do Not Do This!
Splash Page
Flash slide shows (mobile issues)
Animated .gifs or visitor counters
Music/video that automatically plays
Patterned backgrounds that distract—subtle ok
Multiple navigation menus
Only text with no images
Weather or other non-core widgets
Design Tips
When designing:
intentionally move beyond our own tastes &
preferences
seek input from your sought demographic
get people with a graphic “eye” to help
be wary of “design by committee”
Design & Content Tips
Aim for clean, uncluttered and streamlined look
Streamlined menu: 6-9 main-level items:
(home, about, ministries, worship, calendar, news feed, contact us)
Clear, intuitive menus (should always know where you are)
CONSISTENCY of fonts, design & spacing
Search box
Website Architecture
As you think about content….
“Americans are searching for churches -- and temples, synagogues, and mosques -- that are not caught up in political intrigue, rigid rules and prohibitions, institutional maintenance, unresponsive authorities, and inflexible dogma but instead offer pathways of life-giving spiritual experience, connection, meaning, vocation, and doing justice in the world. Americans are not rejecting faith -- they are, however, rejecting self-serving religious institutions.”
Diana Butler Bass, Christianity After Religion
Spiritual Formation
Your website can
be a powerful tool
for spiritual
formation:
• resources
• teaching
• discussion
Content Tips
Most visited pages: Home, About, Staff
Home Page =
Home Page Tips: DO’s
DO:
Convey a warm welcome
Convey something of who your church is– but short (aim for 150 words—or less!)
This content will not change too much
Worship times visible w/out scrolling & near top on mobile
Easy links to Visitor’s FAQ or descriptions of worship
Address of church as link to Google maps
Home Page Tips: Don’t
DON’T:
No outdated content! (“Next Sunday” material goes
up Mon am.)
Avoid time-sensitive content in main page—promote
events in sidebars
Don’t use a picture of your building or pastor—
people are fine, but avoid appearance of closed
groups
About & Staff Pages
About Page:
More lengthy (up to 300-450 words), but gives
clearer picture of your church
Links to mission/faith statements; ONA statements
Staff Page
Portrait-style photos of all staff (incl. volunteer
staff) with short paragraph of bio & link to email
address (?)
Content Tips
No Crowding!
Don’t add too much content to
any one page or
paragraph–
“chunk” for scanning
No more than 3 images to any one page –
(especially home page!): slow & sensory
overload for viewer
Avoid Relative Dates
Remember not to use relative
dates (like "next Sunday")
without calendared clues (like
“Sept. 22").
Don't leave your website
visitors wondering if relative
information is still current!
Invite Participation
For every ministry or event, tell how a non-
member can get more information or
participate!
emails preferable
as much as possible, variety of people
Visitor FAQ
Think through all the
questions that a visitor
(or prospective visitor)
might have,
and answer them in an FAQ
(Frequently Asked
Questions)
www.churchwebsiteprogram.com/visitor-faq
Content is Forward Facing
Most content needs to be
“forward facing”
that is: present & future focused
Content: Think Visually
Less Wordy, More Visual…..
Dated Content Management Tips
Streamline & use tools for managing content that will
change frequently:
Use a blog as a “news feed”
Use RSS feeds FROM your site
Use RSS feeds TO your site
Use a Blog as a News Feed
RSS feeds FROM your site
RSS feed TO a Website
Responsive vs. Mobile
Responsive = adapts content to a smaller screen
(test by making browser smaller)
Mobile = a separate site that displays different
content, or content in a different way.
Search Engine Optimization
Google & others use secret algorithms, but here’s some best-practice advice:
1. Don’t worry too much about keywords
2. Instead, focus on your description (150
characters)
SEO (con’t)
3. Add alt-descriptions to all images:
Makes images accessible for visually impaired
Search engines use these alt descriptions to “match” to content on pages
4. Speed up your site! (Optimize images!)
5. Get backlinks! (Links TO your site on other sites)
6. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
SEO (con’t)
7. Maybe: submit to Google?
8. Time is your friend– retain domain names
Website Security
“Website security”
=
keeping your site
functioning as
intended
Website Security
Four Concerns:
1. Outside malicious users: probably less about
taking site down than posting spammy links.
2. Inside malicious users putting up damaging content
3. Inside non-malicious users who:
a) post unwanted content
b) post content inappropriate ways
c) inadvertently break the site
4. Corruption of website files
Website Security
Tips to Secure your Site:
Use secure passwords, esp for CMS sites
Login from secured networks
Limit users, but always have more than one
Login for website, info on hosting account &
domain name registration should be kept on file
in church office
Security (con’t)
Keep CMS updated—closes discovered
security holes
Make backups: at least monthly, as often as
daily, stored off-site
Take care with contact forms– make sure
executable scripts are blocked
Photo Safety
Get a photo permission & release annually–
ideally for all, but at minimum for minors
Know if there are individuals with photo
concerns in your congregation
Where to Find Photos/Images
Photos you take yourselves
Google Image search – watch copyrights
Tineye.com- reverse search
stock photos– sites have art/line graphics too
iStockphoto.com (these might be <$10)
123rf.com
Spam Prevention
Two most common places for spam: emails and comments on blog
Use a contact form to avoid exposing emails
Best practice: mask emails in “mailto:” links
Use “obfuscation” plugins
Use a “captcha” on contact forms & comments
Use a “honeypot” (then you won’t need captcha)
Use spam prevention plugins for comments OR set to have an administrator approve comments manually
HTML/CSS
Changes made directly to pages– no interface
Content Management System
The CMS functions as an interface for editing the DB
Costs
There are six main costs for creating & maintaining a
website:
1. hosting account (the server or “giant disc drive” where
your site files live)
2. the domain name registration—what you pay to get
to get exclusive use “mychurch.org”
3. administrative maintenance—someone to do all the
little things like updates & backups to make sure your
site stays operational and secure
Costs (con’t)
4. content management—making changes to the text &
images of the site.
5. design work in originating the site
6. administrative setup of the site
Website Options & Costs
Church Websites can cost anywhere from $0 to $5000+
Trade-offs:
Outside ads on side/bottom
Domain name: myucc.weebly.com
How much control you have over design & layout
What features you can include (blogs, videos, RSS etc.)
How much work you are willing to do
How much technical skill you have available
Ancillary features like email accounts, registrations, etc.
Options for Building Websites
1. Free Websites
Weebly.com; webs.com (HTML); blog (CMS)
Not recommended:
Ads & consistency issues (with HTML)
Don’t get a self-domain name (domain name
=~$20/yr) (with either HTML or CSS)
Be carful of Wix.com – some sites are in flash,
black screen on mobile
Options for Websites (con’t)
2. Use free blog & map domain name to it.
Must use available theme/template w/ limited
changes. (CMS)
Limited functions– cannot add plugins
Cost: ~$30/yr
Options for Websites (con’t)
3. “Builder interface”
a) Godaddy.com, Intuit.com, E-zekiel.com etc. These are not recommended: too hard to maintain consistency. (HTML) Cost: $60-$250/yr
b) Squarespace.com; Virb.com (CMS)Better for consistency; but do need an “artist eye” for keeping them nice. Cost: $95-$200/year
(shadowrockucc.org uses Squarespace)
Options for Websites (con’t)
4. Affordable Church Website Program
Uses Wordpress (CMS), but with plugins for
maximum flexibility
Adaptations & tech support available
Personalized coaching
Cost $180/year when using
offered theme.
Options for Websites (con’t)
5. Proprietary CMS
connectedword.com, ekklesia360.com, iministries.org
Church-specific CMS, with templates that may be adapted– limited layout changes.
Great tools, but you may not need all of them
“Ferrari” of CMS
Cannot export & move your site
Cost: $360-720/year ($30-60/mo)
Options for Websites (con’t)
6. Create a custom site using a CMS
(WP, Joomla, Drupal—order of complexity).
You get increasing flexibility of design & functions, in
same order
Make sure CMS & plugins are updated
Cost: $800-$7000+ for setup; $100+/year for
hosting
Options for Websites (con’t)
7. Create a custom site in HTML/CSS
Build & edit the site page by page.
Unless you have a design-gifted developer, site may have a dated grid-like look.
Changes have to be done by someone who knows code, and can be easily corrupted by carelessness.
Harder to manage dynamic content & use RSS
Cost: $2500-$6000 (plus ~$100/year for hosting), but sometimes you have a volunteer for $0
Affordable Church Website Program
ACWP provides small-budget churches with an “a la carte” approach to websites.
For the base fee of $15 per month, you get:
a secure Wordpress website set up with blank pages for you fill in
choose from offered themes
instructional materials on using WP
all administrative maintenance, including updates & daily backups
ACWP
Use “Add-on” services as much as you want or need:
Custom Wordpress theme: $300
Slight design changes to offered themes (ie. add your logo): $30/hr
Tutoring or consulting: $30/hour
Add on video players, photo galleries, donation links, etc.: $30/hour
Email addresses: $5 setup fee
Affordable Church Website Program
churchwebsiteprogram.com
(see “Participants”)
