The best, most consistent way to attract and retain new ministry members is with a beautiful and easy to use website. Over 70% of church visitors say they look up a potential church home online first. That means, if you are not accurately representing your ministry, mission and values– you could be losing interested visitors on a daily basis.
But there are some things you can do now to help improve your current ministry site.
1. Show Your Ministry’s Personality
Pictures, even cell phone pictures from events and services go a long way towards accurately representing your congregation. It also helps online visitors get a sense of the church personality, and whether or not they would be comfortable visiting.
2. Welcome New Visitors
Nearly every Sunday service you will see a minister encouraging members to welcome visitors. This is a great practice for your website as well. Have a message on your home page that will lead to a info page for visitors. This can be FAQ’s, mission & values, or just what new visitors can expect their first time.
3. Keep Info Up to Date
Whether it’s an event that has passed or a Happy Easter message in September, very little will get someone off your site faster than outdated information. Do your best to keep the calendar on your site fresh.
4. Connect with Social Media
The ability to connect and share videos, messages and events to social media sites is paramount. Your site should make it easy for visitors to click and share directly to facebook, twitter and more With so many people navigating the web just on their phones, anything that takes more than a click or two usually just doesn’t happen.
5. Make Basic Info Easy to Find
There are a few things every new visitor will look for when navigating to your site. Information like Service Times, Contact Info, Address and Phone Numbers should be visible on every page.
We will continue to give you tips and tricks to improve your ministry site, so check back for the next installment.