Many churches don't have a church website yet. Perhaps it's because they've done "fine" without it—or maybe they think their community is small and close-knit enough that information can be posted on a bulletin board or announced on Sundays.
It doesn't matter your headcount or budget––at some point, a church website is essential if you want to be found online and engaging with our tech-driven societies. This is true even if you find yourself increasingly asking questions like, "What if nobody will use it?" (Side note: Even older generations are using the internet more than you might expect!)
We talk to lots of church administrators and communicators who just aren't sure if they're "big enough" for a church website. And those conversations typically focus around these 4 tell-tale signs that they're actually ready to take the leap:
#1. You want your church to grow
An online presence can seriously add some oomph to your church pews—there are many people out there who would really like your church, they just haven't found you... yet. With your church website, you can help those people connect with you. Odds are, many of them are already looking!
Nowadays, when someone is looking for an answer to their question (any question!), they will more than likely turn to their favorite search engine to find it. For example, let's say a person new to town is looking to join a church family. They may turn to Google and type in, "Lutheran Churches in St. Louis, MO," and hopefully find you.
If you have a church website, they can browse your site and learn how your church vision and mission aligns with their journey. Of course, it should provide basic information, like church service times, location, phone number, etc. You can take it several steps further and offer a "New Visitors" page or let them sign up for your newsletter to get in the loop. Not to mention, your website is a fantastic way to show just how awesome your church is by featuring photos of events, sign-ups for volunteer opportunities, a prayer wall, and many other ways to welcome new members. The sky's the limit.
#2. You want to tell people about things your church is doing.
Your church is hopefully very involved in and around the community—volunteer projects, mission trips, back-to-school events, holiday gatherings, fundraising opportunities... the list goes on and on! You're proud that your church family is so active and you want to shout it from the rooftops. While you might not be able to climb to your church bell tower with a megaphone, you can make easy-to-access announcements on your website. Spread the word—and the URL!
If you're also trying to increase those awesome activities and events, your church website will give you ample opportunities to reach out to similar churches, groups, and organizations.
#3. You're interested in outreach opportunities
With a church website, you'll be able to tap into a whole wide world of outreach opportunities. It can be a powerful tool to promote your church's outreach programs, from community trash clean-ups, to book discussions, food collections, and free car washes! When it comes to how people behave online, it's only natural that you bring your promotions and outreach events to the world wide web to make it easier for people and groups to find and connect with you.
#4. If people in your church want you to get one
Maybe your members want you to have a church website (or just a better one) and they've been sliding some not-so-subtle hints your way (like asking for handouts via email or requesting bulletin announcements in a newsletter.) Is your staff is beginning to wonder if their job would be easier if you had an actual website rather than working things through email and Facebook (hint: it totally would be? Maybe the topic has even slipped into a few meetings.
If you're not sure what's important to your congregation when it comes to your church website, don't hesitate to conduct a little survey. Ask them questions like:
- Would you find a site helpful?
- Do you ever feel like you receive too many Facebook notifications from our page?
- Are you using Facebook?
- How often do you check email on your phone?
Use this information to best gauge the needs of your congregation and meet their needs with your site.
But what if our church doesn't have a lot of money?
We know custom websites can cost a good chunk of change. If it's not realistic for your church to budget for a complex site, you don't have to. There are several free and inexpensive options out there. If your church staff can support an open source website tool, that might be a good starting solution. Wordpress, Weebly, and Wix have awesome free and low-cost options to fit any tight budget, though most of these aren't great in the long term or for quickly growing churches.
One of my favorite "tight budget" suggestions to churches with a tight budget is Clover. Just like we do, they specialize in building websites specifically for churches and they are the cheapest option that I've found so far!
