What Every Pastor Needs To Know About Their Church Website
Did you know that your church website is the digital front porch to your church?
To put it another way, your church website is one of the first impressions that your church leaves with your first-time visitors who are checking you out.
What first impression are you leaving?
Don’t think you aren’t because your website is leaving some kind of impression right now with a first time visitor. Every church website leaves an impression. Good, bad, bland, fun or welcoming.
One anomaly I’ve found since entering into church world is that churches will invest budget into facilities, AV, staffing, but next to zero budget into creating the best first impression possible for their primary audience (I’m fortunate to serve in a church that is prepared to invest in the digital space).
In pure marketing terms (don’t shoot me) many churches think they have a great ‘product’ but expect people to wade through the quick-sand of a poorly designed church website and still expect visitors to come along to the church on the Sunday.
Why would they do that?
Ask yourself this question Pastor – What kind of impression do I want to make with new visitor on my church website? (If you serve in communications ask your Pastor the same question, or email them this blog link and they can answer it directly)
How do you want people to feel?
What kind of information do you think a first time visitor needs to know? (Hint: It’s not your statement of belief or a photo of you)
What perceptions do you want to break?
Can they easily see or read what you have to say on their smart phone? (because that’s how they will most likely check you out) You can find out more on this post on why your Church needs to update it’s website in 2013. There are seven great examples that I found here.
Does your website do this? If not, what will you do today to change it?
Thanks for this post. We are actually in the middle of redesigning our website here (I’m the worship pastor at my church). We keep going over every detail with a fine toothed comb to make sure that everything is right and does what it is supposed to do. We are also working towards revamping our social media content. Revamping=starting
I am actually struggling to find a good metaphor for a website – it’s possibly a front porch, and definitely not a welcome mat. I have yet to encounter a welcome mat that motivates me to pull over and enter a home or business. Nor has any prevented me from entering.
If we go off the fact that most first time visitors to your church are there because of a direct invitation, then most visitors to your website are also there because of something similar. How are they being drawn to your website? And, then, what draws them to your church after visiting your website?
Important issues to wrestle with and be intentional about. Thanks, Steve.