5 Tips For a Great Church Site

A Properly Designed Site Can Grow Your Congregation

 

 

Many churches these days have a church site that has information about their church. In fact, I can tell you what most of those sites have: a link to the pastor's latest sermon, pictures of the staff of the church, the doctrine of the church, maybe a video about what the Gospel is, and probably a calendar of events. If there is a youth group, there might be something there for the youth as well. And that - well, that's about it. The problem is that churches could so so much more.

 

So here are 5 tips on how to make your church site even better:

 

1. Don't Share Your Doctrine - Explain Your Doctrine

 

So many churches have a good doctrinal statement that is up that tells the world at large what exactly that congregation believes. However, what makes the doctrinal statement ineffective is that most churches instead of explaining the doctrinal statements will just give a list of Biblical verses that apparently support their statement. How many non-Christians do you think actually check that? Instead, just put a brief statement explaining why you believe what you believe.  Try to explain it to a non Christian rather than the people that already come to your church.

 

2. A Church Site Serves a Dual Function

 

Most church sites are designed for either one of two things: to either reach out to others to try to get them to attend, or to reach out to their congregation so they have a network all their own. The best church sites accomplish both of these things.  I've written about this before but I mention

 

3. Most Church Sites Have A "Coming Soon" Page

 

Nothing turns off perspective visitors more than coming to a page that is supposed to be about your church, but turns up nothing but a "Coming Soon" banner. When you set up your church site, don't go live until you have every page set up the way you want - to do otherwise makes you look unprofessional, and when you look unprofessional, you get zero visitors.

 

4. Share What Makes Your Church Unique

 

Just like every person is unique, every congregation is unique, What makes people want to join your church is because they can relate to the congregation's uniqueness, but many churches don't share anything about what makes them "them." Share a little bit about yourself and what makes you as a church truly tick.

 

5. Ultimately It's About Jesus - It's Not About You

 

In regards to #4, some churches take things a little too far the other way and end up sharing everything there is to know about themselves, including the fact that three out the last five pastors had an affair with the secretary. Your church site should have a focus on Jesus, and then a secondary focus about you.

 

When you have a properly designed church site, not only will you be able to effectively spread the Gospel message to anyone who visits your site, but you'll also be able to connect your congregation together effectively and be able to truly make your congregation more than just a group of people in this age of the internet and social networking.