In today’s world, it is almost a necessity for every church, business, or organization to have a website of its own. While many church leaders understand the importance of having a website, many don’t know the necessary ingredients to make it effective.  It is not enough to just put up any old website, and expect it to bring people to the church, or minister to those who currently attend.

A common mantra in the internet world today is the phrase “Know, Like, and Trust”. One of the main purposes of a church website is to allow people to know, like, and trust your church. If your website is like an old-fashioned ad in the yellow pages, you aren’t helping people get a good “feel” for your church. What are some ways you could accomplish this…

1. Include a video welcome from the Pastor on the home page of your site.

Few things will keep people engaged on the home page of your church website than video content. Research has shown that people are far less likely to click away from a page if there is video content included.  Video has become the most popular form of internet content in the last couple of years, and there aren’t many churches that take advantage of it.

2. Be sure to have photo galleries of recent church events.

My analytic information has shown that many times photo galleries are the most visited pages on a church website. Pictures run a very close second to video.  For instance, when a Facebook user receives a friend request, the first thing he is likely to do is look at the persons pictures to make sure it is someone they know.  It is no different with a church website.  Let people see the membership and activity of your church through pictures.

3. Include a podcast of recent sermons.

The message is the most important part of  the church service. A podcast is a great way for people to know the atmosphere of your church.  You could feature the most recent podcast on the home page of the site, and then provide an archive page where site visitors can listen to the past sermons.

4. Be sure the site design is clean and professional.

If you are shopping to buy something online, you are less likely to trust the website that looks like it was designed 10 years ago. Web design changes as the searching and navigational habits of people change, and you need to make sure your church site reflects that.  Make sure the site is easy to navigate.  Name individual pages in such a way as to where people know what to expect when they click on them (this is important for the search engines, too!).

5. Start a blog.

One of the things that search engines use in determining site rankings today is the amount of activity your site generates. A blog is a very effective way to keep the content on your church website fresh. It also enables feedback from parishioners if you give them the ability to do so. (Note: In many church settings, it is advisable to review comments before they go live, as you don’t want people to get the wrong impression of your church).

6. Provide a livecast of your services.

For the medium to large size church, livecasting the services over the internet is fantastic way for people to get to know your church. This can be very technical and expensive (video equipment costs, monthly service for livecasting, etc) but if it fits in your church budget, it is a great addition.