Most people in your area are going to look at your church web site before they choose to visit your congregation.  So it is important that your web site be the best it can be.  By this I mean your web site should speak to your target audience, not to your already members or already religiously affiliated people.   

How do you create a web site that speaks to your target audience?
First, try looking at your website with fresh eyes.  Imagine that you are a totally unchurched person, someone who has never been to a church and knows next to nothing about Christianity except for cultural myths.  How does your website communicate with an unchurched person?  With whom is your web site communicating?  With whom are you trying to connect?  Is your site focused on attracting people to your worship service or programs?  How could you tweak your website to better communicate with those who would never come to your church on their own? 

Ask an unchurched friend or family member, or even a complete stranger, to look at your web site and give you feedback on the questions above.

A website is not a magic bullet that will attract people to your church, but it is often the first impression people considering visiting will see.  

Try to update your web site to include pictures of your congregation having fun.  Include audio of your sermon.  Information about your congregation needs to be simple and easy to find.  Have a clear way for people to Contact you.  Have clear Directions, including an interactive Google map.  Include a FAQ section where you address questions that unchurched people may ask.  For an example of a simple yet effective web site, check out www.word-of-grace.org

You can create and maintain a very effective and professional looking web site yourself using any number of available web site creators.  I prefer Weebly.com because their sites are easy to create and maintain yourself and are very reasonably priced from free to just a few dollars a month.  Don't break your budget with an expensive web site, check out Weebly and others like it and create your own web site that reflects well upon your congregation and mission in your community.



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