CHurch Web Sites

I am in the process of re-designing my church's website, so I have a few ideas to share based on experience.

Content
Organize your content in advance, focusing on three goals: to promote the ministry, to give visitors enough information to choose your church and make plans to attend, and to provide resources for members. Write everything in a concise, friendly style, and keep in mind that the more religious, technical language you use, the less accessible your copy will be.

Many church websites are guilty of not providing enough information. If you've ever planned your out-of-town church attendance online, you'll know that there are few things more frustrating that a church page that doesn't tell you what the church believes, what it's ministries are, etc. So, without resorting to jargon, you should make your church's doctrinal position clear.

Design
Personally, I think the place to get fancy is in your static images, not your coding. Have some nice photographs of your church and congregation taken (by a professional, if you can), and then tweak them in Photoshop. Try and create a modern, clean, "designed" look if you can get away with it. A lot of churchs are fond of scripty typefaces and sentimental artwork. If you can avoid these, do.

One of the quirks of providence is that someone in your congregation will think he is a Java-script wizard, and he will voluteer to spice up the site with all kinds of coded pyrotechnics. If you can decline this offer, do. You want your site to be simple, elegant and functional, and most amateur coding solutions will not accomplish this. There are exceptions, and if you know what you're doing, great -- but I would suggest that you politely decline coding assistance if you can't code yourself.

Feedback
Be very open to feedback, especially from your pastor/elders and anyone in the congregation you happen to know has good taste. The human tendancy is to become attached to your work, and to resist changing what you've already done. Your fellow Christians will be sensitive to this, and they might not want to tell you what they really think. If you can, push beyond this politeness and get honest assessments of the site and what can be improved. Even if you can't make changes immediately, you can develop a "to do" list of future projects.

Anyway, I hope some of this advice helps!

Mark

 

Thankful -

Try this link: http://www.baptistboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=45&t=000001&p=

and if you can get into the member's private forum, try this one: http://www.baptistboard.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=45&t=000002&p=

[ June 16, 2002, 08:34 AM: Message edited by: Clint Kritzer ]

 

Just FYI, all registered members have access to the Members' Only Forum. The password is: BBMember

 

Mark,
Sounds like good advice. Let us know when your re-design is up and running.

 

Bumping up for the new "Website Design/Development" forum.

 

Hi,

I agree with J. Mark Bertrand.
Here is a site I designed for our church recently... I am still working on some of the sections.

Rutherglen Baptist Community Church
The idea was to try and keep it clean, modern and easy to use. You will find that there are no banners and no annoying popUp windows.

Furthermore I am adding more games to the youth section to keep the section moving and flowing.

A church web site is important and has been neglected by most churches. Normally the churches website is left up to anyone who volunteers. I read an article called 'Why someone should be in charge of your website' by Gerry McGovern. here is the link - > http://www.clickz.com/design/site_design/article.php/1121481

You will find many of the authors articles are very useful for anyone wanting to make the best out of a website.

Tony Ford
interface designer

 

Hi there
very first thing to do..is pray for guidance.
`keep the amount of people involved to a minimum. do a search for church websites, write down aspects you like, and use them.
`work with what you know,to get started, add more advanced features later on when you feel comfortable getting around the site and the use of the program you'll be using.

and..enjoy it.

Linda
ChristianGraphicDesign.com