Creating a Great Website

Your Parish web site can be the most public portrayal of itself that your parish can experience.
Potentially, millions of people could enter into your virtual sanctuary, meet your members, sample your ministries and learn what your congregation believes. ...Your web site needs to “tell your story”

Steps to take

1. Beginning the process
2. Determining the type of web presence
3. Planning the site's identity
4. Creating the content

Beginning the process

* Constructing the site
* Hosting your site
* Advertising your address

Determining the type of web presence

What is……?

* Your Audience
* Your Scope
* The Aim
* The Emphasis
* Who will Produce it
* Who will Maintain it

Planning the site's identity

* What look and mood will the site convey?
* What components should be in the site?
* How will the navigation of the site work?

Creating the content

* Will your site address both members and visitors?
* Your website should address both groups. How much of each is up to you. But if you wish to grow, every page should focus on welcoming visitors while providing foe the needs of the members.
* Since you are likely to have non-member visitors, try to refrain from using extensive ”episcopalese”
* Remember that the terminology you may use in your congregation may not be universal so visitors may need an explanation of the meaning of ”Eucharist."
* Be sure that you content follows the same pattern as your navigation
* Make sure navigational titles and page titles are one in the same so as to not confuse newcomers
* Write clearly so that those reading your content can make a visual picture of your congregation.
* This allows for both members and non-members to feel as if they are part of the congregations events even outside the physical building.
* Link your content to other portions of your site that are relevant.
* if you offer a pastor's greeting, try to link the applicable words in his speech to other portions of your site such as "we are host to couples ministries, singles ministries, and a food pantry”
* with each of those links pointing to the correct page that contains more information.
* Keep in mind that the visitors, members or not, will be reading your content on a computer monitor which is not the same as being able to lay down a brochure and come back to it later.
* Viewers may also be using a variety of browsers as well.
* Be sure that your site is not too content heavy leaving your guests to feel overwhelmed by the amount of reading available.
A certain amount of white space is desirable to allow readers to focus on the text provided rather than be distracted by other text surrounding pertinent information.
* This self-presentation should be a representation of the entire congregation.
* The content must be as prayerfully and spiritually discerned as the creation of a congregation's statement of faith.
The effort must be shared by as many members as planning your worship service or newsletter is.
* The task must be as reasoned and serious as that of calling the next rector.
In fact, your present parish profile may be a good place to begin…

Advertising Your Web site

* Now that you have created your site, you just can let it sit in isolation.
* Your site needs to be marketed, so that the folks you want to reach can find you.

Use of Key Words and Descriptions

Most of your visitors will reach you through one of the many search engines.
Seekers will enter “keywords” into the search engine box
Results will show up on the Search Results Page
You want you site to appear in the first 5 responses “Above the Fold".

Maintaining your site

* Never assume that you web consultant or even a friendly member of your community is going to keep up the content of your website on a long term basis.
* You need to have a committee of folks that will assisting with updating your content
* You can also can find a website that has components that though the use of a Content Management System that allows for easier updating through word processing.

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