This sponsored post was provided by MereChurch.
Are you pondering a redesign of your site, or struggling with managing your site? We can take care of the technical headache of running a church website so you can focus on your ministry. Get in touch with MereChurch to get started.
I have been working on church websites for about sixteen years. I have worked with hundreds of organizations, some of them through many iterations of their sites, and I’ve noticed a thing or four that are common among effective sites.
The Right Information
Effective church websites are visitor-focused, not congregation focused. Your active members are already tuned in to your communications channels. They are motivated site searchers. If the information they are looking for exists, they will find it. Potential visitors, on the other hand, need to be drawn in.
Are you giving potential visitors the information they need to make an informed decision about visiting your church?
Give them a picture (literally) of what they will experience when they show up. Help them know when and where to go, where to park, where to take their kids, what to wear, how long they will be there, and what to expect. You can accomplish much of this with a photograph and some simple instructions on a “plan your visit” page.
Beautiful Design
Your site is your new front door and church lobby. Newcomers will visit your website before showing up in person in order to help them feel oriented to your congregation. They will form a first impression that will cause them to visit, or to move on.
What impression are you sending about your church community through your current site?
Simple Administrative Tools
Most churches do not have the staff budget available to hire a skilled web technician, and therefore need a revolving cast of volunteers, an administrator, youth/music minister, or perhaps even the solo pastor to make all the updates to the site. The tools that drive your site should be well-documented, user-friendly, and have tutorials and articles readily available on the internet for further learning.
Simple administrative tools will allow you to easily keep your site up-to-date to show your community your active ministry.
An On-call Web Genius
Even with the availability of articles and tools on the internet, there will be many instances where you will need to have someone who knows what they are doing on call for you. Much like an electrician or plumber for building upkeep, or a mechanic for your vehicles, a web technician who knows your setup (or can quickly figure it out) is a must.
Hacking threats, software updates, server errors, volunteers quitting, forgotten passwords, account information for your web host, your software provider(s), your domain registrar, license information for premium tools, social media account information…
Keeping track of all of this information can be a real headache and distraction from your mission!
MereChurch can cover these bases for you right now.
We can take care of your website headaches starting today. We specialize in creating and maintaining websites for ministries of all shapes and sizes. Think of us as your web deacons who won’t move or leave the church (until you ask us to go away.) For a small monthly fee we will host and proactively maintain your site, keep it secure, keep all your registrations current, and be a single source of information for everything related to your website operations.
We can provide the excellent, professional design and site maintenance you need to accurately communicate who you are and what you do.
