Your Website Isn't Working

I don't mean that it isn't physically there or it has a bunch of broken links. What I mean is that your website is not living up to its full potential. I see this all the time with churches.

“Let’s throw up our events!”

“Let’s make sure people know we’re laid back!”

“People need to see all twenty of our ministries because they are all equally important!”

While I can get behind some of the reasoning that churches use when creating their website, too often the website ends up looking like this:

Now obviously, this is an extreme example, but the point is the same. Often we make the mistake of trying to give everything importance on a website. So much so that the overall experience of the website becomes forfeit. This is actually a bigger issue than you may think. In order for Google to show your church's website on the first page of a search, it needs to follow a certain set of rules. These rules are what make up Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Part of your websites SEO is determined by a hierarchy of important content. Here is a diagram to help wrap your mind around it.

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So much goes into preforming well online that it can be a bit daunting, but it is important that your church puts its best foot forward in this digital environment.

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Your churches website should not be your digital announcement board. Instead, your churches website should fall directly in line with its mission and vision.

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What is your church mission? More than spreading the gospel, what is your specific vision? And don’t say “to love God and people.” That should be the mission of every church! Once you figure out what the goal of your church is then your website can reflect that. Take this website I built for example.

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The mission of Bethel New England is to encounter God and experience community. The website emphasizes building community by making it easy to sign up for events, small groups, and by adding a specific area for new people to get more informed. Through this website the church has seen an increase in online engagement that has directly affected in person attendance.

A good website ADDS to your church, it doesn’t distract or take away.

After all, we are in the digital age and if we don’t leverage these tools properly we will not be able to keep up. Having a good website is not an option anymore. It is a necessary step in growing your church and filling it with people from your surrounding community. Ultimately, your mission is to spread the gospel, and with a strong online presence, and an amazing website, you can effectively do that.

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