Creating a Church Web Site Tutorial
Chapter 3: Basic Content
At a minimum,
your site should provide prospective visitors with the basic
information they would need in order to visit. That includes:
- Church
name and street address, including the city or town and
the state;
- Worship schedule, with information on
child care and church
school availability;
- Contact information, including telephone
numbers and email address;
- A message of welcome.
This may all seem
very obvious, but is sometimes so basic that it gets overlooked.
Remember that if you want
people to visit
your church you have to at least give them the Where and When. Also, you should not assume that they know
they are
welcome
to come visit your worship service — make it
clear that you would love to have them! A welcome message
doesn’t
have to be long or complicated — sometimes just
words like "All Are Welcome" or "Come
Visit Us" is
enough.
For some examples of sites that are especially welcoming to
newcomers, check out:
 North
Church, Amherst
Our Top Ten List of reasons why newcomers should NOT visit
North Church
First
Congregational Church of Reading
Another good question to answer is How? Include directions
to your church, including information on where to park and
what entrance to use. Some of our old New England churches,
with all those doors and additions, can be pretty confusing!
If you would like to add a map to your set of directions, you
can put a link to a customized map at MapQuest. Visit MapQuest.com and click the link that says "MapQuest for your site" for
instructions.
Now that you’ve answered the Where, When and How questions
for newcomers, you have a larger question to answer: Why? To
do that, you need to go beyond the basics.
Next: Chapter 4: Beyond the basics: What is realistic?
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