http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/ This page contains the blog. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:26:00 +0000 http://ubertor.com/?v=1.0 en This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use. http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/17/ http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/17/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:34:35 +0000 Church Site Makeover http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/17/ We are getting started today with our church website makeover. I wanted to show you today what the church website looks like now. Basically you can call this the "Before" video and over the next few days we will have the after videos, documenting each step of the transformation.


2 important things to mention in this video


1. There is no link back to the homepage...
2. The homepage of the church website is just one big image. Remember search engines need content.  If you want them to pick you up, you have to feed them some content.


Enjoy the Church Website Video #1
 











 

Read More]]> We are getting started today with our church website makeover. I wanted to show you today what the church website looks like now. Basically you can call this the "Before" video and over the next few days we will have the after videos, documenting each step of the transformation.


2 important things to mention in this video


1. There is no link back to the homepage...
2. The homepage of the church website is just one big image. Remember search engines need content.  If you want them to pick you up, you have to feed them some content.


Enjoy the Church Website Video #1
 











 

Read More ]]> http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/17/#comments http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/15/ http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/15/#comments Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:41:06 +0000 Build a Church Website http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/15/ Just started last night on the new website for River Community Church in Wichita, KS. The site is coming along nicely and will be completed within the next few weeks. I'm working closely with Nate Hart at River and am really excited to be providing a website for them. 


Some of the things that I noticed on their old site, like not having their service times on the home page and no link back to the homepage from the interior of the site will be nice to get cleared up. Overall their old site looks fine, they just need something that they can update more frequently and have a fresh look.


Again, really excited to be building their site -- you can track the rough draft via this link http://riverccc.myubertor.com

Read More]]> Just started last night on the new website for River Community Church in Wichita, KS. The site is coming along nicely and will be completed within the next few weeks. I'm working closely with Nate Hart at River and am really excited to be providing a website for them. 


Some of the things that I noticed on their old site, like not having their service times on the home page and no link back to the homepage from the interior of the site will be nice to get cleared up. Overall their old site looks fine, they just need something that they can update more frequently and have a fresh look.


Again, really excited to be building their site -- you can track the rough draft via this link http://riverccc.myubertor.com

Read More ]]> http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/15/#comments http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/13/ http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/13/#comments Sun, 30 Mar 2008 16:35:16 +0000 Church Website Results http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/13/ We had church service this morning obviously... since it was Sunday and we had several visitors. I think about 5 guests in total. I didn't to chat with all of our guests but I did talk with one gal. It is probably not appropriate to give you her name... let's just call her, Jill. As I talked with Jill, I asked her... "Have you been to the Bridge before?"


Jill's answer... No - I used to go to church but, I haven't gone to church for a while. She told me that she met with a friend in our neighbourhood who "talked some sense into her" Next day, Sunday, she woke up and thought... "I think I'd like to go to church..."


So, where did she turn... You guessed it Google... She went and typed in "church in Kitsilano" and there we were at the top of the list. She clicked on our listing and came to church and was actually talking about wanting to get involved right away.


If you are questioning the need for a church website and you are questioning the need for an effective church website... Think again...


People are looking online but they won't find you if you aren't there. Get a Church Website 

Read More]]> We had church service this morning obviously... since it was Sunday and we had several visitors. I think about 5 guests in total. I didn't to chat with all of our guests but I did talk with one gal. It is probably not appropriate to give you her name... let's just call her, Jill. As I talked with Jill, I asked her... "Have you been to the Bridge before?"


Jill's answer... No - I used to go to church but, I haven't gone to church for a while. She told me that she met with a friend in our neighbourhood who "talked some sense into her" Next day, Sunday, she woke up and thought... "I think I'd like to go to church..."


So, where did she turn... You guessed it Google... She went and typed in "church in Kitsilano" and there we were at the top of the list. She clicked on our listing and came to church and was actually talking about wanting to get involved right away.


If you are questioning the need for a church website and you are questioning the need for an effective church website... Think again...


People are looking online but they won't find you if you aren't there. Get a Church Website 

Read More ]]> http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/13/#comments http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/11/ http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/11/#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:52:10 +0000 Build a Church Website http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/11/ Your homepage is the most important page on your website but is does not have to say it all.


Many homepages you see are cluttered with information because people know that the homepage might be the first page that someone visits to they are are looking to say everything before people leave the site. For this step I would encourage you to grab a scrap of paper and just start writing. Turn it sideways and sketch out some boxes where things should go.


What should your homepage do, If it doesn't need to say it all?


Contact Information (also on everypage!)


The contact information should be prominently displayed. I would recommend that you have the church contact information in the upper right hand corner of the website. You want people to connect with you so don't make it hard for them to find you.


Service Times and Locations


Again you want people to connect with you and one place that they are going to connect is in your service times. Make it easy for people to find when and where you meet. This could be on every page, but if you have 3 - 4 services it could get tedious. At the minimum have a clear link to a page that lists your service times.


Call to Action


This is sort of an ecommerce term, but I couldn't think of anything else to call it. It should be prominent on the page and above the fold. It might be something like.. Thinking about visiting the Church - Start Here 


Pictures of People


I would recommend that you make this part of the banner. Church is an body, a being, not a building so be sure to include some pics of people on your homepage. Preferably high up on the page. I'm not a big fan of stock photos because, what people are into today is authenticity. So grab your camera and make it real.


Intro Paragraph about your church.


You should start your page with some sort of intro paragraph about your church. Try to write it so that you are talking to people and not just about your church. Use important keywords like "church" "your city" "your neighborhood" "landmarks you are close to"  The reason for this is that the when people search for "church in kitsilano" they will find your church online. This open paragraph is critical for the search engines and visitors.


Place for Announcements / Events


Set aside some place on your homepage where you can put upcoming special announcements. This is especially useful for members and regular attenders if you have a place where they will look each time for announcements or special events they will know what to expect each time they come back to the site. 


Important Ministries (optional)



Children's ministry, or small group ministry or homeless ministry. Perhaps a place on the page where people can go to see what it looks like to be involved at the church. 


Subscription to Mailing list or Give Away (optional)


Your site it about informing and connecting so you may want to offer a free gift to people that subscribe to your mailing list -- assuming you have a mailing list. Your email list is a great way to stay in touch with web visitors and you can ask people to sign up online to stay in touch with you. 


The home page is important so takes some time and really think it through.


Who is it for... and what to you want to accomplish...


Next step is thinking about the other pages you want to have on the site and what they should say. 

Read More]]> Your homepage is the most important page on your website but is does not have to say it all.


Many homepages you see are cluttered with information because people know that the homepage might be the first page that someone visits to they are are looking to say everything before people leave the site. For this step I would encourage you to grab a scrap of paper and just start writing. Turn it sideways and sketch out some boxes where things should go.


What should your homepage do, If it doesn't need to say it all?


Contact Information (also on everypage!)


The contact information should be prominently displayed. I would recommend that you have the church contact information in the upper right hand corner of the website. You want people to connect with you so don't make it hard for them to find you.


Service Times and Locations


Again you want people to connect with you and one place that they are going to connect is in your service times. Make it easy for people to find when and where you meet. This could be on every page, but if you have 3 - 4 services it could get tedious. At the minimum have a clear link to a page that lists your service times.


Call to Action


This is sort of an ecommerce term, but I couldn't think of anything else to call it. It should be prominent on the page and above the fold. It might be something like.. Thinking about visiting the Church - Start Here 


Pictures of People


I would recommend that you make this part of the banner. Church is an body, a being, not a building so be sure to include some pics of people on your homepage. Preferably high up on the page. I'm not a big fan of stock photos because, what people are into today is authenticity. So grab your camera and make it real.


Intro Paragraph about your church.


You should start your page with some sort of intro paragraph about your church. Try to write it so that you are talking to people and not just about your church. Use important keywords like "church" "your city" "your neighborhood" "landmarks you are close to"  The reason for this is that the when people search for "church in kitsilano" they will find your church online. This open paragraph is critical for the search engines and visitors.


Place for Announcements / Events


Set aside some place on your homepage where you can put upcoming special announcements. This is especially useful for members and regular attenders if you have a place where they will look each time for announcements or special events they will know what to expect each time they come back to the site. 


Important Ministries (optional)



Children's ministry, or small group ministry or homeless ministry. Perhaps a place on the page where people can go to see what it looks like to be involved at the church. 


Subscription to Mailing list or Give Away (optional)


Your site it about informing and connecting so you may want to offer a free gift to people that subscribe to your mailing list -- assuming you have a mailing list. Your email list is a great way to stay in touch with web visitors and you can ask people to sign up online to stay in touch with you. 


The home page is important so takes some time and really think it through.


Who is it for... and what to you want to accomplish...


Next step is thinking about the other pages you want to have on the site and what they should say. 

Read More ]]> http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/11/#comments http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/9/ http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/9/#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:25:26 +0000 Build a Church Website http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/9/ What must your Website do?


Now that you are
clear on the purpose and vision of your church website, lets focus our
attention on what features your want to have on your church website. Please bare with me as we go through these foundational stages. It might seem tedious but it is important.


From
my experience: My tendancy is to think, "I want to build a website." so
let's get to building a website. Jumping to the tasking of building
before I consider the vision and lay a foundation has just led to
disappointment. I start building and then discover halfway into the
endeavor that I'm headed in the wrong direction or it will be more work
than I originally thought. Be patient, lay a good foundation and you
will more pleased with the results.



What features do you want to have on your website (click on the links for more info.)




Features of Site
Must Have
Would be Nice
Could live without
Totally Optional


Easily Updated

 XX
 
 
 


Content Management

 XX
 
 
 


FTP Access
 
 XX
 
 


Podcasting
 XX
 
 
 


Password Protection
 
 XX
 
 


Forum
 
 
 
 XX


Live Chat
 
 
 XX
 


Blog

 XX
 
 
 


Blog with Comments

 
 XX
 
 


Photo Gallery
 XX
 
 
 


Optimized for Search

 XX
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 




Take
a few minutes and fill in this table. Don't think about it too much
just mark the columns. What features do YOU want...don't be concerned
with how or how much it will cost at this point just mark the one that
you want and prioritize them. There are a few blanks at the bottom if
you want to add some additional features.

Here
are the definitions of the features and possible ways to realize these
features on your site in a simple cost effective manner.

Easily Updated
What
I am referring to here is that you will not have to be a computer
programmer or know HTML, php, or CSS to build and maintain your
website. Here is the thing, there is probably someone in your knows
HTML or some other language, but in my experience if they build your
site it could end up coming out more complex and be quite difficult for
you to maintain. This may not be the case, but it has been in my life.
If you can create a word document and email photos you should be able
to update your website. Back to the Chart

Content Management System
A
content management system often abbreviated CMS is defined by wikipedia
as "program used to create a framework for the content of a Web site."
A CMS stores your files, organizes and and manages your content and
then presents it in simple way. A CMS uses a backdoor or a control
panel where you can log in and make changes to your website. It is like
logging into your email but you are logging into your website to make
changes. Content Management systems can be very robust, but often the
more features they offer the more confusing they become. Back to the Chart


Here are a few content management systems.



Joomla!

Mambo

Drupal

Wordpress (blogging platform but also a CMS)

Ubertor (what I use for the Bridge Church Site. Designed for real estate websites but is very flexible.)



With
content managment system you don't have to have any software installed
on your computer. If you have internet access you can edit your
website. You don't need Frontpage or Dreamweaver. All you need is a
computer and an internet connection.

Strong Recommendation:
Every small to medium church should use a Content Management system to
manage and present their website. For the rest of this tutorial we will
use Wordpress as the content management system. Back to the Chart

FTP Access & Storage
This
feature gives you the ability to upload any and every type of file that
you want online. FTP could basically be thought of as a hard drive that
exists online. Much like you have a hard drive on your computer, this
is storage on a server somewhere. Most content management systems will
allow you to store files, but the size of file and type of file might
be limited. With FTP you can store whatever file type you want and file
size are not as limited. If you don't have storage online with your
webhost your can find some storage in a few place. Storage can be
useful but is not required. Back to the Chart

1 .mac allows for storage space online
2. www.box.net has a free version that offers 1 gig of space.
3. Most webhosts and domain registrars will allow you to buy some storage Godaddy is one example

Podcasting
Lots
of churches want to have a podcast. They are relatively simple to
create and easy to maintain. A podcast is basically an audio blog. You
create an audio file, stick it on the web somewhere and then create
file which lets iTunes or another collector of Podcasts know where your
MP3 files are located. I would recommend that you plan to add a
podcast. If it is not hosted on your site, there are many free tools
like, http://www.podomatic.com which will get you setup with a podcast
quickly and easily. Wordpress has a great plugin which allows for easy
podcast integration into your website or blog. Back to the Chart

Password Protection
This
feature will allow you lock down certain pages on your website. I would
not recommend that you store highly sensitive personal or financial
documents on these pages, but you may want to have pages that only
staff or people on the leadership team can access. It is not a must,
but it can be a useful tool for your church. Wordpress allows for the
easy protection of pages or even blog posts on your site. You could
also lock down your pages with Javascript, but this can take a bit of
work to configure. The best thing to do is setup your Wordpress site
and then use the password protection feature on the site. Back to the Chart

Forum
If
you check that you must have a forum, I want to you think again. Forums
seem cool. A place where people can ask questions and share ideas on
certain topics. I'm just going to be straight up with you and say you
don't need a forum. It will just be another thing for you to manage and
maintain. Forums can also be a problem especially when dealing with
spam issue. It would be horrible for a church forum to be filled with
porn. It can happen, believe me. If you must have a forum, I would
recommend that you use something like Google Groups or Yahoo Groups. It
is essentially a forum, but it can be tied in with your email. Groups
can be open meaning anyone can join or groups can be closed meaning you
control the membership. We've used Google groups at our church a bit
for small groups. If you are a member of a group you are a member of
the google Group. Then people can quickly and easily communicate with
the whole group through on simple email. Skip the forum and go with
Google Groups. Back to the Chart

Live Chat
This
feature might catch you off guard at first, but it is one that I am
considering adding to our church website. I'm not really talking about
instant messaging like MSN or Google Talk but adding a program like
Live Person or Bold Chat to your website. So many people are connecting
with our church through the web. I think it could be useful to be there
for them if they have questions. At your church you might have
something like a prayer team. Just imagine a live chat team. 5 people
manning their computers at home ready to talk if people have a question
about the church or a prayer request. I have used Live Person before.
It is a great program and is the one I would recommend. Back to the Chart

Blog
Definitely
not optional. If you are going to have a website you got to have a
blog. You might even want several blogs. One for different departments
within the church. Or maybe a "Pastor's Blog" and "Youth Blog" etc. My
recommendation is to start with one blog and categorize to represent
the different departments within the church. It is better to start
smaller and let things grow than to try and build some huge thing which
you have to maintain. Please trust me on this...I know from personal
experience :) You can setup a free blog at Blogger.com or at
wordpress.com These blogs are hosted by the companies mentioned. In my
opinion wordpress is better. It is more optimized for the search
engines. Blogger may have an easier interface, but I'd use wordpress if
I were you. Back to the Chart

Blog with Comments
Currently
on our church blog we do not have commenting enabled. This is mostly
because I don't want something else to monitor. This feature can be
nice and up to you. Just remember if you allow for content you will
have to monitor them and sometimes people will comment on a blog post
just because they are trying to get you stired up not because they are
really looking for answers but mostly because they are looking for a
fight. Back to the Chart

Photo Gallery
Photos
are an important part of your website. When people come to check out
your site online they want to see photos of your church. Basically
there are two main categories for photo galleries. The ones that are
installed on your server and run by some photo gallery engine and photo
galleries that utilize socail media like, flickr or picasa from Google.
My recommendation would be to go with Flickr or Picasa. Currently I am
using www.box.net to host our photo gallery, but I'm planning to change
to using flickr in the future. Back to the Chart

Why use these social photo tools rather than using a hosted photo gallery?
1.
People can actually find your site when they are searching on Flickr or
one of these other tools. Using the social photo sites is a simple way
to get your stuff on more parts of the web.
2. Easily
updated by several people. With flickr you can simply tag photos with a
unique tag and then they will display on your website. We'll talk more
about how to set this up later when we get into the nuts and bolts of
building your site.

Optimized for the Search Engines
Last
but most certainly not least. Will your site be found by the search
engines? It is an important question and one that you should most
definitely not ignore. In today's world people are looking to Google
for answers to life's questions. I want Google to point these searchers
to your website. If you are considering a host other than the one's
recommended in this book then be sure to do your research on the search
engine capabilities of the content management system. Again when we get
to the bells and whistles in this book we will work on the Optimization
of our church website. Back to the Chart

For our church website which options did we choose for this tutorial.



Easy to Update -- Must Have

Content Management System -- Must Have (we are going to use Ubertor)

Password Protection -- word be nice

Podcast -- would be nice, but we might use the free tool like podomatic.com

Blog -- Must have

Optimization for Search Engines -- Must have.

Photo Gallery -- Must Have (we are going to use Flickr for our gallery)



Those
are the features that we are going to enable for our website. All the
other features in my opinion are just fluff. If you are just starting
out, you don't need to be overwhelmed with a long to do list, so let's
keep it simple for now.

Assignment: If you haven't done it already



Complete the vision and purpose for your website.

Decide which features you must have on your site.



 

Read More]]> What must your Website do?


Now that you are
clear on the purpose and vision of your church website, lets focus our
attention on what features your want to have on your church website. Please bare with me as we go through these foundational stages. It might seem tedious but it is important.


From
my experience: My tendancy is to think, "I want to build a website." so
let's get to building a website. Jumping to the tasking of building
before I consider the vision and lay a foundation has just led to
disappointment. I start building and then discover halfway into the
endeavor that I'm headed in the wrong direction or it will be more work
than I originally thought. Be patient, lay a good foundation and you
will more pleased with the results.



What features do you want to have on your website (click on the links for more info.)




Features of Site
Must Have
Would be Nice
Could live without
Totally Optional


Easily Updated

 XX
 
 
 


Content Management

 XX
 
 
 


FTP Access
 
 XX
 
 


Podcasting
 XX
 
 
 


Password Protection
 
 XX
 
 


Forum
 
 
 
 XX


Live Chat
 
 
 XX
 


Blog

 XX
 
 
 


Blog with Comments

 
 XX
 
 


Photo Gallery
 XX
 
 
 


Optimized for Search

 XX
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 




Take
a few minutes and fill in this table. Don't think about it too much
just mark the columns. What features do YOU want...don't be concerned
with how or how much it will cost at this point just mark the one that
you want and prioritize them. There are a few blanks at the bottom if
you want to add some additional features.

Here
are the definitions of the features and possible ways to realize these
features on your site in a simple cost effective manner.

Easily Updated
What
I am referring to here is that you will not have to be a computer
programmer or know HTML, php, or CSS to build and maintain your
website. Here is the thing, there is probably someone in your knows
HTML or some other language, but in my experience if they build your
site it could end up coming out more complex and be quite difficult for
you to maintain. This may not be the case, but it has been in my life.
If you can create a word document and email photos you should be able
to update your website. Back to the Chart

Content Management System
A
content management system often abbreviated CMS is defined by wikipedia
as "program used to create a framework for the content of a Web site."
A CMS stores your files, organizes and and manages your content and
then presents it in simple way. A CMS uses a backdoor or a control
panel where you can log in and make changes to your website. It is like
logging into your email but you are logging into your website to make
changes. Content Management systems can be very robust, but often the
more features they offer the more confusing they become. Back to the Chart


Here are a few content management systems.



Joomla!

Mambo

Drupal

Wordpress (blogging platform but also a CMS)

Ubertor (what I use for the Bridge Church Site. Designed for real estate websites but is very flexible.)



With
content managment system you don't have to have any software installed
on your computer. If you have internet access you can edit your
website. You don't need Frontpage or Dreamweaver. All you need is a
computer and an internet connection.

Strong Recommendation:
Every small to medium church should use a Content Management system to
manage and present their website. For the rest of this tutorial we will
use Wordpress as the content management system. Back to the Chart

FTP Access & Storage
This
feature gives you the ability to upload any and every type of file that
you want online. FTP could basically be thought of as a hard drive that
exists online. Much like you have a hard drive on your computer, this
is storage on a server somewhere. Most content management systems will
allow you to store files, but the size of file and type of file might
be limited. With FTP you can store whatever file type you want and file
size are not as limited. If you don't have storage online with your
webhost your can find some storage in a few place. Storage can be
useful but is not required. Back to the Chart

1 .mac allows for storage space online
2. www.box.net has a free version that offers 1 gig of space.
3. Most webhosts and domain registrars will allow you to buy some storage Godaddy is one example

Podcasting
Lots
of churches want to have a podcast. They are relatively simple to
create and easy to maintain. A podcast is basically an audio blog. You
create an audio file, stick it on the web somewhere and then create
file which lets iTunes or another collector of Podcasts know where your
MP3 files are located. I would recommend that you plan to add a
podcast. If it is not hosted on your site, there are many free tools
like, http://www.podomatic.com which will get you setup with a podcast
quickly and easily. Wordpress has a great plugin which allows for easy
podcast integration into your website or blog. Back to the Chart

Password Protection
This
feature will allow you lock down certain pages on your website. I would
not recommend that you store highly sensitive personal or financial
documents on these pages, but you may want to have pages that only
staff or people on the leadership team can access. It is not a must,
but it can be a useful tool for your church. Wordpress allows for the
easy protection of pages or even blog posts on your site. You could
also lock down your pages with Javascript, but this can take a bit of
work to configure. The best thing to do is setup your Wordpress site
and then use the password protection feature on the site. Back to the Chart

Forum
If
you check that you must have a forum, I want to you think again. Forums
seem cool. A place where people can ask questions and share ideas on
certain topics. I'm just going to be straight up with you and say you
don't need a forum. It will just be another thing for you to manage and
maintain. Forums can also be a problem especially when dealing with
spam issue. It would be horrible for a church forum to be filled with
porn. It can happen, believe me. If you must have a forum, I would
recommend that you use something like Google Groups or Yahoo Groups. It
is essentially a forum, but it can be tied in with your email. Groups
can be open meaning anyone can join or groups can be closed meaning you
control the membership. We've used Google groups at our church a bit
for small groups. If you are a member of a group you are a member of
the google Group. Then people can quickly and easily communicate with
the whole group through on simple email. Skip the forum and go with
Google Groups. Back to the Chart

Live Chat
This
feature might catch you off guard at first, but it is one that I am
considering adding to our church website. I'm not really talking about
instant messaging like MSN or Google Talk but adding a program like
Live Person or Bold Chat to your website. So many people are connecting
with our church through the web. I think it could be useful to be there
for them if they have questions. At your church you might have
something like a prayer team. Just imagine a live chat team. 5 people
manning their computers at home ready to talk if people have a question
about the church or a prayer request. I have used Live Person before.
It is a great program and is the one I would recommend. Back to the Chart

Blog
Definitely
not optional. If you are going to have a website you got to have a
blog. You might even want several blogs. One for different departments
within the church. Or maybe a "Pastor's Blog" and "Youth Blog" etc. My
recommendation is to start with one blog and categorize to represent
the different departments within the church. It is better to start
smaller and let things grow than to try and build some huge thing which
you have to maintain. Please trust me on this...I know from personal
experience :) You can setup a free blog at Blogger.com or at
wordpress.com These blogs are hosted by the companies mentioned. In my
opinion wordpress is better. It is more optimized for the search
engines. Blogger may have an easier interface, but I'd use wordpress if
I were you. Back to the Chart

Blog with Comments
Currently
on our church blog we do not have commenting enabled. This is mostly
because I don't want something else to monitor. This feature can be
nice and up to you. Just remember if you allow for content you will
have to monitor them and sometimes people will comment on a blog post
just because they are trying to get you stired up not because they are
really looking for answers but mostly because they are looking for a
fight. Back to the Chart

Photo Gallery
Photos
are an important part of your website. When people come to check out
your site online they want to see photos of your church. Basically
there are two main categories for photo galleries. The ones that are
installed on your server and run by some photo gallery engine and photo
galleries that utilize socail media like, flickr or picasa from Google.
My recommendation would be to go with Flickr or Picasa. Currently I am
using www.box.net to host our photo gallery, but I'm planning to change
to using flickr in the future. Back to the Chart

Why use these social photo tools rather than using a hosted photo gallery?
1.
People can actually find your site when they are searching on Flickr or
one of these other tools. Using the social photo sites is a simple way
to get your stuff on more parts of the web.
2. Easily
updated by several people. With flickr you can simply tag photos with a
unique tag and then they will display on your website. We'll talk more
about how to set this up later when we get into the nuts and bolts of
building your site.

Optimized for the Search Engines
Last
but most certainly not least. Will your site be found by the search
engines? It is an important question and one that you should most
definitely not ignore. In today's world people are looking to Google
for answers to life's questions. I want Google to point these searchers
to your website. If you are considering a host other than the one's
recommended in this book then be sure to do your research on the search
engine capabilities of the content management system. Again when we get
to the bells and whistles in this book we will work on the Optimization
of our church website. Back to the Chart

For our church website which options did we choose for this tutorial.



Easy to Update -- Must Have

Content Management System -- Must Have (we are going to use Ubertor)

Password Protection -- word be nice

Podcast -- would be nice, but we might use the free tool like podomatic.com

Blog -- Must have

Optimization for Search Engines -- Must have.

Photo Gallery -- Must Have (we are going to use Flickr for our gallery)



Those
are the features that we are going to enable for our website. All the
other features in my opinion are just fluff. If you are just starting
out, you don't need to be overwhelmed with a long to do list, so let's
keep it simple for now.

Assignment: If you haven't done it already



Complete the vision and purpose for your website.

Decide which features you must have on your site.



 

Read More ]]> http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/9/#comments http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/7/ http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/7/#comments Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:20:48 +0000 Build a Church Website http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/7/ What is the Purpose of Your Church Website? 


The purpose of this section is to get clear in your mind what purpose
you want your church website to fulfill. Your church website is really
an extension of your church. It is more than just a brochure. In some
cases your website will be the front door of your church especially if
you are a church planter or if you don't have a building for your
church. You will find that your website is the primary public why that
your church will be before the public eye.

Your Church Website is a Ministry in Your church
Can you take a minute and make a list of all the ministries in your church?
1. Small Groups
2. Sunday Worship
3. Nursery
4.
5.
6.
7.

Did
you finish your list? Did you add church website to the list? Your
church website can be a very effective way to connect with people who
are looking for a church. Beyond just connecting with people looking
for a church your website can also be a way to keep people within the
church. I want you to see your church website as a ministry of your
church. Please don't consider it an appendage or just optional
administrative task to be completed. It can be a critical part of
seeing your church grow and flourish. The only way to have this vision
is to dedicate the time and care to your site.

Let's craft the vision and purpose for your church website.
How would you complete this sentence? I want to build a church website...
*Because I want one...
*Because it would be really cool to have one
*because someone at the church asked for one.
*because all the other churches around have one.
*because we just need one.

These are not acceptable ways to complete this sentence. Why? Because over time those reasons will all fade.

There are two items that are critical to the success of your website.
1. A perspective that the website is a key part of the strategy for your church.
2. Commitment and Plan to maintaining the website

Anything
less than these two things will make your website seem like a bore and
tedious task. Trust me, I know from personal experience. Building a
site has been a par of my responsibility for 6 years and in that time,
I've been faithful as well as lazy. Each time someone visits the church
because they found our website, I am encouraged to keep working. My
work on the computer typing and search, cropping and uploading, have
purpose when people connect and begin to move closer to God.

What is your vision for your site?
If
it is not to be an strategic part of your ministry with a clear focus
then please quite reading now and forward this book for a friend.

Here is the vision for my church website.
For Bridge People:
Build a presence online that people at the Bridge are proud to show
their friends. I want Bridge people to stay informed about events and
find practical help for challenges in life.
For those Searching: A
place where people can "get to know" the Bridge at the comfort of their
keyboards, but also be invited to be a part of the Bridge. A place
where people can find Christian help for their problems.

Let me highlight a few key words.
Build:
This will take work. We are going to make it easier and affordable but
this will take your time and energy. It will be worth the work!
Two audiences: Bridge people and those outside the Bridge. Remember who you are building this website for.
Place:
Our website is literally a place. People go there, and click and read
and email us. It is a destination. Not just a poster hung online.
Be
invited: My goal if for people to find us online but for them to
ultimately move to being a part of the Bridge. Finding us online is
only part of the concern.

What is the Vision
or Purpose of your church website? Steal mine if you want but be sure
that you are clear on what you want to accomplish with your church
website.

Assignment: Write your church website vision or reword mine.

Read More]]> What is the Purpose of Your Church Website? 


The purpose of this section is to get clear in your mind what purpose
you want your church website to fulfill. Your church website is really
an extension of your church. It is more than just a brochure. In some
cases your website will be the front door of your church especially if
you are a church planter or if you don't have a building for your
church. You will find that your website is the primary public why that
your church will be before the public eye.

Your Church Website is a Ministry in Your church
Can you take a minute and make a list of all the ministries in your church?
1. Small Groups
2. Sunday Worship
3. Nursery
4.
5.
6.
7.

Did
you finish your list? Did you add church website to the list? Your
church website can be a very effective way to connect with people who
are looking for a church. Beyond just connecting with people looking
for a church your website can also be a way to keep people within the
church. I want you to see your church website as a ministry of your
church. Please don't consider it an appendage or just optional
administrative task to be completed. It can be a critical part of
seeing your church grow and flourish. The only way to have this vision
is to dedicate the time and care to your site.

Let's craft the vision and purpose for your church website.
How would you complete this sentence? I want to build a church website...
*Because I want one...
*Because it would be really cool to have one
*because someone at the church asked for one.
*because all the other churches around have one.
*because we just need one.

These are not acceptable ways to complete this sentence. Why? Because over time those reasons will all fade.

There are two items that are critical to the success of your website.
1. A perspective that the website is a key part of the strategy for your church.
2. Commitment and Plan to maintaining the website

Anything
less than these two things will make your website seem like a bore and
tedious task. Trust me, I know from personal experience. Building a
site has been a par of my responsibility for 6 years and in that time,
I've been faithful as well as lazy. Each time someone visits the church
because they found our website, I am encouraged to keep working. My
work on the computer typing and search, cropping and uploading, have
purpose when people connect and begin to move closer to God.

What is your vision for your site?
If
it is not to be an strategic part of your ministry with a clear focus
then please quite reading now and forward this book for a friend.

Here is the vision for my church website.
For Bridge People:
Build a presence online that people at the Bridge are proud to show
their friends. I want Bridge people to stay informed about events and
find practical help for challenges in life.
For those Searching: A
place where people can "get to know" the Bridge at the comfort of their
keyboards, but also be invited to be a part of the Bridge. A place
where people can find Christian help for their problems.

Let me highlight a few key words.
Build:
This will take work. We are going to make it easier and affordable but
this will take your time and energy. It will be worth the work!
Two audiences: Bridge people and those outside the Bridge. Remember who you are building this website for.
Place:
Our website is literally a place. People go there, and click and read
and email us. It is a destination. Not just a poster hung online.
Be
invited: My goal if for people to find us online but for them to
ultimately move to being a part of the Bridge. Finding us online is
only part of the concern.

What is the Vision
or Purpose of your church website? Steal mine if you want but be sure
that you are clear on what you want to accomplish with your church
website.

Assignment: Write your church website vision or reword mine.

Read More ]]> http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/7/#comments http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/1/ http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/1/#comments Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:28:15 +0000 Build a Church Website http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/1/ Managing a church website can be a headache, but every time someone comes to church and I ask, "How did you find out about the Bridge?" and they say... "From the website." It makes your hours of tweaking and writing and cropping worth it. With that said here are 2 things that are absolute musts if you are going to launch a successful church website.


1. The Site Must be Easy to Update.
If you have to know HTML or PHP or even use FTP to update the site, it can be a drag to update. In my experience you need to have a site that is a some content management system of sorts and one that is easy enough for your church secretary to update (if you have a church secretary!) The guy in your church that knows something about computers might be great but if he or she can't set you up with something that is super easy to maintain then I would suggest look further.


2. Someone committed to updating.
You need a living breathing human being to log in and make changes to the website. Yes there are all sorts of dynamic sort of javascript flash based "thing-a-ma-bobs" that can pull in content to your site, but your church is an organism and you should think of your website in the same way. Your church website needs on going care and attention.


There are a lot of other things you want to have to make your website a success, but these TWO in my opinion are absolutely critical. They seem obvious but can be easily overlooked.


Need more help... Get a Free 10 Minute Consultation 


Read More]]> Managing a church website can be a headache, but every time someone comes to church and I ask, "How did you find out about the Bridge?" and they say... "From the website." It makes your hours of tweaking and writing and cropping worth it. With that said here are 2 things that are absolute musts if you are going to launch a successful church website.


1. The Site Must be Easy to Update.
If you have to know HTML or PHP or even use FTP to update the site, it can be a drag to update. In my experience you need to have a site that is a some content management system of sorts and one that is easy enough for your church secretary to update (if you have a church secretary!) The guy in your church that knows something about computers might be great but if he or she can't set you up with something that is super easy to maintain then I would suggest look further.


2. Someone committed to updating.
You need a living breathing human being to log in and make changes to the website. Yes there are all sorts of dynamic sort of javascript flash based "thing-a-ma-bobs" that can pull in content to your site, but your church is an organism and you should think of your website in the same way. Your church website needs on going care and attention.


There are a lot of other things you want to have to make your website a success, but these TWO in my opinion are absolutely critical. They seem obvious but can be easily overlooked.


Need more help... Get a Free 10 Minute Consultation 


Read More ]]> http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/1/#comments http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/3/ http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/3/#comments Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:31:00 +0000 General http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/3/
1. The primary purpose was to email out an invitation to Easter. We sent it to all members of the Bridge and asked them to forward it on to their friends.


2. We gave people the option to subscribe to our daily Easter devotional.


First question... How many people forwarded the invite to their friends?... The stats told us 5 people sent it to their friends. This stat can be somewhat misleading but none the less means that people are inviting their friends.


Second question... How many people came to church from email campaign?... I'm not sure yet, because I haven't seen the connection cards that people filled out.


One other thing that we did was setup our site so that our church was at the top of Google for Easter related search terms in Google. If you typed "easter church service vancouver" we were on the top of the search page and we did have a few people visiting our site for that term and a few visiting the church.


We had about 10 guests on Sunday, which isn't a huge number but for a growing church of 50... 10 is a big number!


That's an update and praying that these people will connect in....


Happy Easter Monday!


Read More]]>
1. The primary purpose was to email out an invitation to Easter. We sent it to all members of the Bridge and asked them to forward it on to their friends.


2. We gave people the option to subscribe to our daily Easter devotional.


First question... How many people forwarded the invite to their friends?... The stats told us 5 people sent it to their friends. This stat can be somewhat misleading but none the less means that people are inviting their friends.


Second question... How many people came to church from email campaign?... I'm not sure yet, because I haven't seen the connection cards that people filled out.


One other thing that we did was setup our site so that our church was at the top of Google for Easter related search terms in Google. If you typed "easter church service vancouver" we were on the top of the search page and we did have a few people visiting our site for that term and a few visiting the church.


We had about 10 guests on Sunday, which isn't a huge number but for a growing church of 50... 10 is a big number!


That's an update and praying that these people will connect in....


Happy Easter Monday!


Read More ]]> http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/3/#comments http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/5/ http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/5/#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:32:00 +0000 General http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/5/ Data and graphs - you got to love data :) Most pastors and church leader types want to know. How many people were there on Sunday? Are people getting plugged into small groups? The denomination might send a report asking how many were baptized last year or how many attended the vacation bible school (assuming that every church has VBS) what's up with that?


I like data as well. Just yesterday I was having a look at some of the analytics data for www.bridgechurch.ca and an interesting piece of data stuck out to me. It was the graph showing the visitor trending. The question it answered is, "Are the people coming to your site 1st time guests or returning visitors?" This data is just for the past month and shows that 84% of the visits on our website is 1st time guests visiting our site.


 





 



What does this mean?


1. I know that we are sending lots of new traffic because our search engine rankings have improved. Actually in the last 4 months our referrals from Google have more than doubled
2. We are not giving people a reason to come back to our site. It is similar to church. First time guests are awesome but what does it take to get them plugged in and to become regular attenders?


So I'm going to try an put together a plan to begin to bring people back to site by providing resources that people need and are useful. Our site is the front door of the church. With our site we are building a relationship with visitors. If we can provide content that causes visitors to come back then we are successfully building a relationship.


If you have a church website and don't have analytics you are missing out on some important date. Just think about it, when visitors come to your church on Sunday morning and fill out a card don't you ask, "How did you find out about us?" Web stats are providing the same information about visitors to your website. How did you find out about us (our website) and stats also tell what visitors are interested in because you can track a visitors behaviour on the website.


Here is a free place where you can get analytics installed on your site. http://www.google.com/analytics


Read More]]> Data and graphs - you got to love data :) Most pastors and church leader types want to know. How many people were there on Sunday? Are people getting plugged into small groups? The denomination might send a report asking how many were baptized last year or how many attended the vacation bible school (assuming that every church has VBS) what's up with that?


I like data as well. Just yesterday I was having a look at some of the analytics data for www.bridgechurch.ca and an interesting piece of data stuck out to me. It was the graph showing the visitor trending. The question it answered is, "Are the people coming to your site 1st time guests or returning visitors?" This data is just for the past month and shows that 84% of the visits on our website is 1st time guests visiting our site.


 





 



What does this mean?


1. I know that we are sending lots of new traffic because our search engine rankings have improved. Actually in the last 4 months our referrals from Google have more than doubled
2. We are not giving people a reason to come back to our site. It is similar to church. First time guests are awesome but what does it take to get them plugged in and to become regular attenders?


So I'm going to try an put together a plan to begin to bring people back to site by providing resources that people need and are useful. Our site is the front door of the church. With our site we are building a relationship with visitors. If we can provide content that causes visitors to come back then we are successfully building a relationship.


If you have a church website and don't have analytics you are missing out on some important date. Just think about it, when visitors come to your church on Sunday morning and fill out a card don't you ask, "How did you find out about us?" Web stats are providing the same information about visitors to your website. How did you find out about us (our website) and stats also tell what visitors are interested in because you can track a visitors behaviour on the website.


Here is a free place where you can get analytics installed on your site. http://www.google.com/analytics


Read More ]]> http://effectivechurchsites.com/ViewBlog/5/#comments