Of all the pieces that can be a part of your online presence, your church web site is one of the most vital.  A good web site will help draw people to your congregation and keep those who are there involved and participating.  Your web site needs to be informative, easily navigable, structured for maximum use, and secure.

Three Types of Users
Your web site will be used by three groups of people, each with different needs.  People looking for a church, who’ve recently moved or had some significant change, will be looking for first-time information.  Members of your congregation will be looking for timely information on events and schedules as well as contact information for your staff.  Staff members will be looking for information that allows them to coordinate and plan.

First Impressions
Your web site is likely to be the first thing that people  see about your congregation.  Even if people are invited to attend by one of your members, many will check out the web site before they agree.  So, one thing your web site does is make a first impression.  If people can find important first-time information like your exact location (preferably with a map), times of services and classes, whether child-care is available, what your congregation believes, and who you’re affiliated with, they’re far more likely to come than if they have to dig to find it if they can.  Make sure this first-time information is right out front where they can find it.

Times and Dates
Let’s face it, the bulletin gets misplaced.  The e-mailed newsletter gets buried in your inbox.  When they want to know when and where, most congregation members will check the web site and nothing’s more frustrating than seeing a calendar and announcements that are months out of date.  The key to keeping members informed and participating is the information they need right now.  This is one place where navigation on your site becomes a vital concern.  Members need to be able to move to the information they need quickly and efficiently.

Staff Data
Some congregations use a means other than their web site for staff and volunteers to share documents and information, (We’ll discuss such “collaboration software” in a future post.) but many churches have at least some information for staff on their web site.  Obviously, one concern is keeping that information confidential and protected.  The most common way to do that is to have staff “log-in” to the web site with a user name and password that gives them access to additional menus, features, and pages on your site.  Make sure the site design is such that these additions are invisible to people who are not logged in.  That not only protects confidentiality, but also avoids confusion, especially for people who are new to your site.  Some web design software allows multiple log in levels so you can even compartmentalize your site for specific ministries.

Obviously these three groups of users have different concerns and goals for the use of your web site.  A good design will help each group find the information they need without being entangled by features aimed at the other groups.  That takes some effort and input from representatives for each group as you’re designing your site.  You should also periodically check in with each group to see how well it’s working.

Your Mobile Face
Until recently, most web sites were targeted for desktop computers.  The fact that some people might view them on tablets or smart-phones was a secondary  consideration.  However, in the U.S. nearly 40 percent of all Internet use is now on mobile devices.  That figure grows considerably when you look at certain minorities and younger populations.  As a result, this becomes one of the most important design concerns for your church’s web site.  Your web site needs to be mobile-friendly.   If people find they have to zoom and scroll a lot to use your site, they’ll go elsewhere.
Designing mobile-friendly sites used to be more difficult.  Now, most web designers and all web design software supports mobile devices.  Sometimes it involves a special view of your site for these devices, but most often they use what’s called “Responsive design.”  Responsive design simply means that the elements of your site dynamically format themselves to be viewed well on various screen sizes.  Responsive design also makes your site respond well to use on touch screens and other means of input and control.

Online Giving
While the vast majority of church giving still occurs from people putting a check or cash into the offering plate, many people are discovering the convenience of giving electronically.  Electronic giving allows funds to be transferred directly from a bank or credit account.  It also allows those transactions to be regularly scheduled so regular giving becomes very easy.  There are a number of secure systems for organizations to receive money electronically and most of these can be incorporated into your web site as well.
Be sure to check on how much the service costs in transaction fees and how easily it can be integrated into your web site.  Don’t forget mobile users here.  Some systems don’t work as well on “the small screen.”

Hosting
The first step in putting your church online is to purchase a “domain.” The domain is unique name for your web site.  It will look something like “firstchurch.org” and you can purchase domains for a yearly fee from a variety of sources.  You may also want to purchase additional, similar domains like “firstchurch.com,” “firstchurch.net,” etc. so no one confuses your organization with another with almost the same domain name.
Some churches have hardware on-site that supports all of their computing needs.  In that case, your domain and web site may be “hosted” on a local machine.  Most churches, however, contract with a “hosting service” which provides storage space and hardware for their web site.  They will often also include domain name purchasing in a package deal.  Most hosts will also provide a set of email addresses attached to the domain that you can set up for your staff.
These hosting costs should be written into the budget as a yearly expense.

In addition to hosting, you’ll also have to get content put onto your web site.  You can do that with almost any Internet connection, logging into your hosting service, but a faster, reliable connection will make the process easier.  Consider your current Internet service at your church and make a decision on whether to upgrade it if necessary.

Security
Even small organizations will sometimes suffer attacks.  As a communications tool, your web site needs to be protected from malicious intent.  We’ll discuss security in detail in a later post, but be sure that your web site has security measures in place to prevent common hacking attempts.  Keep your passwords for editing the site carefully guarded.  Don’t send them in e-mail without encoding them.  Also prepare  a procedure to recover in case the security is circumvented.  Make backups of site information regularly.
You should also write procedures, not just for security, but also for how information gets put onto the web site and who is responsible for checking it for accuracy and appropriateness before it is posted.

This looks like a lot of work.
It is.  You’ll need to have at least one person assigned the role of web site manager.  It may not be a full-time job, although working with all aspects of your online presence probably will be.  The web site needs to be maintained and updated.  As security flaws become known, they may require someone in your organization to make changes or add additional protection quickly.  You’ll need someone who works as a liaison between your organization and your hosting service or technology department.  All of that takes a very dedicated volunteer or at least a part of a paid staff positions time.  Consider this an investment in efficient communication for your church.  Good communication is worth spending time and money on.

Godspeed on your journey on the Internet highway.

 

Bio: Russ Smith has worked computer programming, hardware and software sales, web design, and as a consultant to small businesses and non-profits (including churches).  He is also an ordained minister with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and is currently serving as Senior Associate Minister with DisciplesNet, an online church.