Email
J.D.Zine
for a free price quote.
You will be surprised how inexpensive it will be.
You will be surprised how inexpensive it will be.
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Email
J.D.Zine
for a free price quote.
You will be surprised how inexpensive it will be. |
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Email J.D. Zine today: jdzineone@yahoo.com |
The purpose of this guide is to help local church leaders think about what face they want to put forward on the World Wide Web. Getting started The leaders of the church will want to be as concerned about the content of the church Web site as they are about the content of their newsletter or the sign in front of the church - maybe more concerned since the Internet has the potential to reach so many more people. Before getting started, it is essential to have "toured" a number of church Web sites to get a feel for their look, links and organization, but remember that understanding the actual technology is not mandatory for your work on purpose, content or organization. Who is your audience? What is your message? The first and most important question is one of audience. Whose eyeballs are you hoping to attract? Possible viewers include: prospective visitors ("prospects"), present members, the youth group, shut-ins, snowbirds, friends in the community or all of the above. Your answer to the audience question sets the direction for your work on content. The second important question is what are you trying to communicate to this target audience? Are you trying to attract new members? Are you hoping to keep friends in the community informed about the church? Are you providing the latest information to members? Do you want to stay in touch with members who are away for extended periods (snowbirds, college students)? If you want to gear your Web site to those already in the church or to friends in the community then be prepared to create pages that require regular updating. If the pages don't change regularly and contain current and useful information then members and friends won't be visiting your page more than once or twice. Pages that need to be updated weekly or monthly are most conveniently maintained by emailing or phoning JDZine. Can your church office handle this? Recruiting a volunteer may work but be sure that he or she agrees to undertake this regular task - and that the church is ready to supply the information on a regular basis. A stale page can be worse than no page at all. If you decide to have an "all of the above" kind of Web site (one targeted at present members, friends in the community and prospective visitors and new members) then you will need to organize your site in a way that speaks to "prospects" but allows members and friends to easily find the information that interests them. Some sites have a button called "News for Members" on a page otherwise designed for prospects. Your Web site should at a minimum include: The Church's name and street address (including city or town and state), Worship hours (with nursery availability) and time for church school, Telephone number and email address (if available). Directions to the church, possibly including a map, and information on parking. A welcome message from the pastor Information on the youth group, adult education, and church school curriculum. Hands-on ministry and mission opportunities. A calendar is a plus but only if it can be kept absolutely current. If this is not likely then you might consider a yearly event list that gives prospects a general overview of the church year. A list of typical church activities, educational opportunities and mission work. What do members and the community at large want to see? Even for members, it may be best not to include long lists of committee meetings - members already know and others probably are not interested. Instead, consider including church newsletter articles (only if kept current), news on members and a secure section for prayer requests. People in the community might be interested in information on holding weddings, funerals and other events at the church. The most common Web site design is to have links on the home page leading to the major areas of interest in the site, such as worship, events, Christian education, mission, theology, etc. The look Put up action photos of the people of the church as well Pictures of children in church school, people worshipping or volunteers doing hands-on mission. JDZine will always register your site with search engines, such as Yahoo, Alta Vista, Direct Hit, Lycos, Excite, MSN search, GoTo.com, Infoseek, HotBot, Google and Northernlight. That way, if someone does a search for your church, for example, your church's site will pop up. No Setup Fees |
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" A website is only as good
as the information provided by you."
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