In an age where seemingly everyone and everything is on the Web, businesses, corporations and various institutions must continually develop new and more innovative ways for the public to notice them via their Web site design. Churches also find themselves in this situation.

Here are 10 of the most critical elements of an effective church Web site. Their implementation will allow you to create and maintain your own church Web site with effective and eye-catching presentation, providing you with another form of advertisement that draws people’s interest.

1.  A good domain name
Try to pick a domain name that is not too long, too short or too complicated. By getting a domain name that is close to the name of your church, you will help your rankings in search engines as people search for your church’s name. Your city could also be placed in your domain name, which would further increase the ease at which people could find you. A good domain name is certainly an important step towards having an effective site that people will visit often. Most importantly, make sure it is a name people will remember!

2.  A concise statement on the home page
You should put your church’s vision or mission statement on the home page of your church. This should grab the reader’s attention and help explain what makes your church distinctive from others. The use of graphics and/or color design can add further visual appeal. A clear, well-written sentence will show your uniqueness and invite the reader to continue to read the rest of the Web site.

3.  Clear navigation menus
No one enjoys going to a Web site that is confusing to navigate through. A very effective way of presenting the various pages of your Web site is to categorize them according to their similarities and relationships to each other. For example, you could create separate pull-down menus for the various ministries in your church, categorized by age (adult, teen, K-6, etc). This will allow people to navigate to where they want to go with ease.   When in doubt, go for simple designs instead of complex. A site map, which is a page that lists links to each page by category, is also a good idea for large sites.

4.  Lots of text and judicious use of pictures
While it is true that a picture can say a thousand words, they can only go so far when you are trying to present a clear and distinct impression of what your church is all about on the Web. Thus, you need to be sure that you have a good balance of text and pictures. Pictures should serve to enhance the understanding of the text you are presenting and not do all the talking for you.

How do you know what to write for your Web site? Put together a simple Web site, describing your church, its staff, missionaries, statements of faith, and ministries.  If you have a Web hosting provider that allows you to see what searches have led people to your pages, you can then “fine-tune” your site around what people are searching for. This process can give tremendous insight into what causes people to visit and come back to your site.

5. Updated content
Consistently updated content is what keeps people coming back to your Web site. Maybe you publish bulletin inserts every week or the church’s latest newsletter.  These types of literature are perfect candidates to be placed on your Web site. Most publishing programs have an “Export to HTML” option, which can help you easily convert your documents to be merged with your Web page template.

6.  Animations and Flash movies kept to a minimum
Not everyone has a high-speed Internet connection or programs that support Flash movies, so you want to keep animations and Flash movies to a minimum. It is a big disappointment if your whole Web site is based on these objects, and the curious visitor cannot access anything. You can use simpler formats without losing visual appeal through creative layout and the use of color graphics and backgrounds. Keep in mind that many search engines still cannot index flash movies, so text placed in them will not help your search rankings.

7.  Reliable hosting provider
Your Web site is only as good as the server that it resides on. If the server breaks down or has a bad Internet connection, your visitors will become frustrated. I would encourage you not to try and host the site on your own computers unless you have a business-grade Internet connection. It is often much less expensive to find a good provider that guarantees 99.9% availability. Such companies can be found for less than $15 per month.  Do not get too frugal; companies that advertise extremely low prices typically will not give you support when things go wrong. Ideally, make sure you can call your hosting provider by telephone.

8.  Prominent display of contact information
You should provide at least one way to be contacted on your Web site. An easy way to achieve this is to place your phone number at the top of your page in the banner. Many sites also have a page specifically designated for contact information. You can display as much contact information on that page as needed, including a question/comment form the visitor can fill out. Their responses will be sent directly to a church e-mail address that someone checks regularly. This a great way to demonstrate hospitality even before they walk through your doors.

9.  Search engine optimized content
You should take full advantage of all known ideas to help your Web site be “seen” by search engines. For example, use descriptive page titles for each Web page you create for your church. You may also want to put your city, county and state in the title on your homepage. This will help those doing searches for a local church to find your site. Most churches have not done this, so just implementing this technique alone could cause your church to come up first in a search engine for your city. I would encourage you to study “search engine optimization” techniques, as they can greatly improve the number of visits per day.

Some other ideas to help get more visitors through search engines include having other Web sites link to your home page, using “meta tags,” and implementing careful repetition of keywords throughout the page. In order to stay on top of optimization, you need to continue to read articles written on the Web.  Programmers are periodically updating the search engines, and some methods that worked a few years ago do not have much effect today. Always keep trying to learn this, and your Web site will stand out in the search engines.

10. Periodic monitoring and adjustments
It is important that you do periodic maintenance checks once you publish a Web site. You may find that certain pages are seemingly bogged down by information, and you need to create another one under the same heading. Or, sometimes links to pages on your Web site stop working due to editing errors. Links to sites over the Internet may not work because pages may have been changed, and you have no control over that.

You should always revisit your site from time to time and try to think of better ways you could present your information. It could be something as simple as wording things better or removing redundant information. No matter what the reason, it is important to do this step in order to ensure that your Web site is kept in its finest condition.

Robert Thoelen, III, is the owner of RTCubed Consulting, LLC, www.rtcubed.com, which provides consulting services to businesses and churches on specialized software and Web design. 

Product Roundup

Church Square
In the past few years, churches and ministries have changed from asking “if” they should have a Web site to “how” they should manage their sites. A good Web site can enhance discipleship, evangelism, church growth, and member fellowship and support. Realizing the potential of a site is no easy task. It is not something that happens on its own but requires attention and disciplined procedures.  Church Square provides services to help churches create and manage Web activities—including church calendars, member directories, e-newsletter mailing lists, e-commerce, donations, messaging, Christian content feeds, chats and other options. 
www.churchsquare.com

NetMinistry Website Platform
The NetMinistry Website Platform provides churches, ministries and Christian businesses with a combination of Web-based content management, relationship management and e-commerce management tools. Included in a base setup fee is the design and development of a custom template, a thorough online Web site consultation and complete access to the NetMinistry Platform. Most organizations contract the organization to provide homepage and secondary page layout services, and then take control using the platform’s control panel to manage all aspects of their Web site. This system, used by more than 1,000 organizations, provides features like real-time payment processing, online learning systems, shopping cart and affiliate program software, article authoring and syndication systems, and much more. One price allows organizations access to the entire platform.
www.netministry.com

OurChurch.Com
OurChurch.Com is a family-owned business that has provided Web site services to Christian churches, schools, ministries, businesses and individuals for nine years. Thousands trust OurChurch.Com for reliable hosting that's affordable and easy-to-use. And, it offers the features they need to create a professional Internet presence. The company offers a full range of Web hosting services from free Web sites to high-capacity hosting accounts for e-commerce and interactive communities. All accounts include OurChurch.Com's easy-to-use Beacon Web builder, so that even novice Internet users can build their own sites. OurChurch.Com provides custom Web site design at attractive prices for Webmasters wanting a unique look or advanced functionality. The company also offers Web site marketing services like online banner advertising, major and Christian search engine registration and search engine optimization with a guarantee of top rankings in major search engines.
www.ourchurch.com

Vieth Consulting
Vieth Consulting offers Web site packages and online services for churches. Web site packages include Web design, Web hosting, e-mail accounts, statistical reporting and a set of tools to easily allow churches to update the content on a Web site. Online services include an online member database, online dues/donations acceptance, e-mail distribution lists, calendar of events, online event registration, message board, classified ad editor, file archive, photo album and more. Priced in a tiered structure for organizations of all sizes, Vieth Consulting can meet the needs of most all churches. 
www.viethconsulting.com

DREAM 3
DREAM3 (Digital Resources Empowering All Missions, Ministries & Members) is a non-profit ministry existing to empower the Christian community’s mission through cutting-edge digital resources. Hundreds of churches and ministries worldwide have used DREAM3’s technology to achieve the six pillars of a successful Web ministry: expand outreach, cross cultures, equip ministries, strengthen prayer, support stewardship and streamline operations. DREAM3 provides a Web-based publishing application that allows even novice users to create and maintain a professional Web ministry, with functions like an interactive calendar, online tithing, broadcast e-mail capability and automated content. 
www.dream3.org