We have Pastors or Ministry Workers contacting us almost daily looking to get a website.
We know that ministries and churches don’t have huge budgets. But God has called all of us to be good stewards (managers) of what He’s given us. So is a website a good use of funds?
Well, yes. And no.
I’m sure you know the basic facts:
- Your congregation wants information about the Church.
- The majority of people prefer finding information online.
- More than 80% of people will go to your website before visiting your church.
- You have the potential of “church outside of your walls” with an effective online presence.
- You need a website.
But everyone wants an amazing website, without a lot of money. They want their website to be at the top of an organic search on Google. They want it all.
There’s only ONE THING that EVERYONE goes to a website for.
Content.
So content has to come first. Then a simple website that is easy to update your content.
How do you develop content? Here’s some basics:
- Know your Brand. Who you are and what you do well. Your benefits.
- Know your Audience. Who you are currently reaching. And those you want to.
- Know your Positioning. This is what sets you apart from the noise of all the other churches in your area.
All these things will help create a design for your website. But wait! You need even more:
- A strong, simple logo. This is the memorable visual that even an elementary school kid can recall in a sketch.
- A color palette that all your materials use as their primary colors.
- A font palette that uses effective fonts — for web (sans serif works best) and for print (serif is better).
- Design elements that are unique to you. And will be evident on all your materials.
Once you have all these things, it’s easier to develop the Content-rich website. But there are some things you need in the choice of your website:
- Be sure it’s simple, unique (not a template) and engaging.
- Be sure it follows the principles of good SEO (search engine optimization).
- Be sure it has an analytics package as part of the hosting. This should be free or almost free.
- Be sure it’s easy for you to update your content. Be careful of those who charge a month fee for this.
- Be sure you create something professional. You should be proud of the end project!
We’d love to work with you to complete all of these for you. Just contact us to get started. Or based on budget, we can help you do some of the work and we’ll assemble the finished product for you. We love God and His church!
