"I just wanted to say thanks to you fellas for all you do for us. We count you as partners in our ministry! Your work, professionalism, vision, and talents really are a blessing."—Matt Vanderwarker, Bethel Baptist of Hampton Virginia
5 Ways to Make Your Website Visitor Friendly
Let's face it. We live in an information age driven by the web. Surveys show that more than half of all church visitors either found or evaluated a church via the church's website long before they stepped inside the door. Your web site is your 24/7 online ambassador. How effectively does it represent your ministry?
Here are five simple ways you can boost your web site's effectiveness.
1. Have a Visitors' Center Right on Your Home Page
Before you can make your website more effective you need to know your users. Who are they? What are they looking for? How can I help them find that information?
Most of the users of your ministry site will fall into one of two categories:
- Prospective Visitors - they're most likey looking for general information about your ministry and are perhaps thinking of visiting
- Members - they are coming to the site to find more specific information (calendar of events, recent message, etc.).
You want to make it very easy for those potential visitors to find the information they're looking or. You can answer most of their questions by having a page or section just for them. Consider posting an obvious link on the home page named something like "New to Our Church?" or "Visitors' Center." On this dedicated page, you can address such questions as:
- Where do I start?
- How can I connect with people my age?
- What's the worship service like?
- What's available for my children?
- How do I get there?
- What should I wear?
We've seen a few sites implement this idea very effectively:
2. Include an E-newsletter Sign Up on the Home Page.
One of the easiest ways to communicate with your congregation is through the effective use of e-mail. Maybe you already have a structured e-newsletter that you send out on a regular basis? Why not allow site visitors to "opt-in"?
Word the feature something like this: "You can receive our monthly e-newsletter News of Faith that will keep you up to date on the current news of Faith Baptist Church. You will also receive frequent emails from our senior pastor. Join hundreds of our members, friends, and family who stay in touch through our e-newsletter. Sign up here!"
One word of advice, if you make it very easy for visitors to "opt-in" to your e-mail list, make it easy for them to "opt-out" as well.
3. Include a Visit Follow-Up Survey.
If your visitors provide you with an e-mail address on their visitor card, send them a follow-up e-mail thanking them for their visit, and include a link to an online survey. You could also provide a link to this survey in a visitor welcome packet. It's easy to configure a form on your web site that visitors can use to supply confidential feedback.
Don't link to the survey from your main site. You want it to only be accessible to visitors as an avenue for them to share their experience at your church. To prevent abuse of this form, you may want to consider having a password written somewhere on the visitor welcome packet before it will send.
Structure the online form with specific questions to which you would like their response, such as whether they felt warmly greeted, had trouble finding their way around, felt their children were will cared for, etc. You can also include questions regarding their church background to help you understand them better.
We recommend that you allow the visitor to remain anonymous. If the form is not hosted on a secure server, than you don't typically want to ask for personal information; and sometimes they will be more likely to share their thoughts anonymously than they would be to voice them in person.
4. Include an Announcement Window on the Home Page.
Your web site should prominently feature an upcoming event that you want to promote. Whether a missions conference, revival meeting, special sermon series, or Christian school enrollment, there should always be a current calendar highlight featured on the home page. Refreshing your content on a regular basis is also an effective way to increase your ranking in search engines and make your site easier to find.
5. Feature a Photo Gallery.
People love to look at friendly faces. Feature photos of teen activities, church functions and special events on your web site. One of the strengths of the web as a communication tool is the ease with which digital photos and new content can be added. Use it to your maximum advantage. For tips on how to take more effective photos, review our article titled Digital Photos 101.