Creating a Church Web site Tutorial
Chap. 2: Determining Your Audience

Before your church can develop a Web site, you need to decide who your audience is. Who are you trying to reach with this site? For most churches, the answer will be that you are trying to reach people who may be interested in attending worship so that they can be introduced to the transformative, healing power
of God through Christ. More and more people use the Web today to do research on everything from vacations to gardening products to colleges. It is no different with churches. Chances are good that if someone is looking for a church in your community, they will turn to the Web.

Prospective visitors, however, do not have to be your only audience. Much of what you put online may also be of interest to current members — things like newsletters, prayer concerns, sermons, or online Bible studies. Such items are also a way for members who have moved or are away for the season to stay in touch with the church.

Another potential audience is people in the community, who may be interested in holding weddings at the church, renting the church hall, attending AA meetings or going to the church fair.

Who you can reach with your site is limited only by the time commitment people in your church are willing to put in to the project.

Assuming that prospective visitors are at least one of your audiences, let’s look at the bare minimum for what your site should include…

Next: Chapter 3: Basic Content