A guide to building a church website - page 2

CHURCH WEBSITE ADVICE (by Church123.com)

HOW do I build a website?

There are three main routes and all of them have been used successfully by a number of churches:

• ‘Technical volunteer’.
  This is the cheapest option but also the most likely to fail. Many people think they know how to build a website. Maybe they have self-taught themselves the coding language of the web (HTML) and made their own family website. However coding is only part of the equation. Only use a volunteer if they also have an eye for design, flair with words, enthusiasm and long term commitment. All too often someone will start a website and then get too busy (or bored) to be able to update it, leaving the church with a rapidly ageing site.
• Click & Build.
  These online website building systems allow you to create your own website as easily as using a word processor. You normally can choose your own website style (template) and then add pages with your own text and images. For most churches Click & Build is the most appropriate solution. A simple one-stop solution that provides everything you need. You can try the Evangelical Alliance Website Builder free for 30 days
• Web Design Agency. For the church looking for cutting edge sites with features such as ecommerce and chatrooms this may be the only solution. Web design agencies are often very expensive but can provide a tailored solution for your requirements. If you are considering this route make sure you get several quotes and ask to see examples of previous work.

HOW do I get people to find my site?

When you set up your website register a web address (e.g. www.eauk.org) then put this address on everything your church office sends out. Put the web address on all your stationary, your email signature, your telephone answering machine and somewhere visible outside your church building.
The Evangelical Alliance Website Builder support team can offer advice and register a domain for you.

To capture the people using the Internet to find churches do three important things:

1. Register with FindaChurch.co.uk they provide a useful directory
2. Ensure that you are listed on all the major search engines.
   With the Evangelical Alliance Webbuilder your site is registered with the major search engines.
3. If your church is a member of the Evangelical Alliance you will already be listed on our website (www.eauk.org/churchsearch), just let us know your web address and we will update our records.

HOW do I keep my site interesting?

A stale site can put people off. Following these tips will help maintain interest:

• Update at least once a month, if possible weekly. This will show visitors that you are a thriving and active church. If your site looks dead then visitors will assume the same for your church.
• Include a few appropriately selected photos of interesting events the church has run and include these at the bottom of the events page (past events). Update this section after all major events and write a little about how successful the event was. Don’t include the names of children (or their contact details) as this can present safety problems.
• Include some true-life stories (testimonies) of people in your church. Make sure they cover a span of age groups and are very readable. Update them every few months so people returning to the site have something fresh to read.

How do I find out more?

Simply visit the Evangelical Alliance Website Builder page to find out more about the easy to use online website building system or contact the Evangelical Alliance by emailing webbuilder@eauk.org.

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