This page is fairly non-technical which should help any church considering
running (or revamping) a website assess their options. We believe that
all churches that want to impact their surrounding area should have a
website. However, please take heed of this warning:
Having a bad website reflects badly on your church. A bad church
website may stop people from ever visiting the church and may reinforce
the stereotype that the church is out of touch and irrelevant. If you
are going to have a website you must resolve to have a good one! A
church website is an on-going commitment, not a one off project to
enable you to tick a box saying ‘website done’.
The good news is that having a good church website can help improve
your contact with the community, bring new people into the church, and
ensure everyone is informed about your great activities. Over 50% of
UK households have Internet access. As the number of people using the
Internet grows, so does the potential fruit of having a church website.
Historically running a website was often horrendously expensive, technically
difficult and demanded the skills that your church probably didn't have.
These days it is easy for your church to have a website, but still tricky
to have a good one. Follow the advice below and you will soon be reaping
the rewards:
Three possible ways to make your church website:
1. Get helpful volunteers to set it up and run it
2. Use a "click ‘n’ build" system
3. Pay for a web design agency to create your church website
All are perfectly valid solutions and we know churches successful in
each of the above. To help you decide, we have broken out the pros and
cons for each method:
Volunteers
PROS
CONS
Before accepting an offer of help always ask to see examples
of previous sites the person has set up and run. If you don’t
know much about web sites get the opinion of a few people who do.
Very cheap. If you have committed people in the church who know
what they are doing and possess both technical and design skills
(as well as a high level of commitment and plenty of time) you
may have a good option.
In our experience this has very variable results. Whilst there
are a lot of people who are able to make a website, few do it well.
We advise caution before going down this route. Teenagers and students
may seem a prime candidate to give the website task to, but in
reality they soon get busy doing other things and the site may
end up horribly out of date.
No technical support if the person becomes unavailable or leaves
the church.
"Click 'n' Build" websites
PROS
CONS
If possible try a free trial and ask for references. The references
should include church web addresses. Visit the sites and see what
you think. Use the church’s contact page to ask them what
they really think of the system.
Good systems should provide a full helpdesk including email and
phone support. If they have a helpdesk try giving them a call
and asking some questions to see if they are both knowledgeable
and helpful.
Some systems have the option of custom built templates giving
you the advantages of a web design agency without the high outlay.
In the last few years these systems have improved tremendously.
They enable a non-technical administrator to set up and run the
church website, normally requiring no training. Simply choose a
suitable template (the look and feel of the site) and add content
as easily as using a word processor.
As the design is predefined they enable you to focus on the message
and not worry about anything technical.
Your site won’t ever need to be out of date as you can update
it free of charge as often as you wish. See how easy they can be,
try a 30 day free trial by clicking here.
With most systems you can change your template without losing
your content – enabling you to have a new site design with
only a few mouse clicks!
Most systems have a set range of templates which means if you
have a very precise design in mind you may be stuck.
Watch out for hidden costs especially on support calls. Some may
charge over £1 a minute! (Note Church123’s helpdesk
is free.)
Unless you want your website to do something out of the ordinary,
this is pretty much the ideal solution for churches.
Web design agency
PROS
CONS
Could be fantastic… could be overly expensive. You are
likely to get better results than using volunteers but you may
not find it as flexible or cost effective as the "Click 'n'
Build" option.
As with the other options always get a number of references.
If you have a vision for a website that has a high specification
and functions that are particular to your church then this may
be the only route open to you.
People who design websites day in day out should be able to make
a successful website.
Can be very expensive. Always shop around for multiple quotes
and ask to see several previous works – no two web design
agencies are the same.
Find one you feel understands your church and gives comprehensible
answers to your questions. As well as the design costs there are
usually additional costs including: hosting, email and updating.
Remember you may wish to redesign your site in 4 years time so
calculate how much it would cost for that period.
If you haven’t tried one yet we recommend you give a "click ‘n’ build" system
a try. It won’t cost anything for the no obligation 30 day free
trial, but may solve a lot of your problems all in one go.
