Managing Web Site Content

Dividing responsibility not only lightens your load, it enhances your site.

Involving other people in the creation and maintenance of the site helps diversify the site and keep it fresh. 

The investment of other staff and church members encourages its effective use in your ministries. People not only become more comfortable with the Web site, but they begin to believe in it as an effective tool for communication and ministry. 

As this occurs, you will find that the benefits of the site naturally multiply as growing numbers of people in the congregation and community become more familiar with your site.

Read more-car issues with tyler hoover

Some ideas to get you rolling…

Remember - look for talent, gifts, and servants.

First, Web savvy folks are certainly helpful, but anyone can learn.

Find someone who can write and utilize that gift accordingly. 

Allow them to build a page dedicated to describing your church to visitors. Establish an online newsletter written and updated weekly.

Allow a member of your staff or a trusted teacher to write devotionals that can be posted online. You could even build a team to rotate this responsibility throughout the year.

Allow each member of your staff to supervise his/her area of the site, keeping it updated with important information.

Find people gifted with administrative skills who can: manage an online calendar, add members' birthdays and significant events, maintain an online church directory, and update an announcement and news page.

Find someone plugged into the world and the Web to manage a list of Internet links relevant to members, visitors, and others who might view your site.

Engage a gifted communicator to monitor the feedback portion of your site.

Locate members passionate about prayer to manage a prayer board, listing requests and answered prayers.

Web Site Promotion

The question begging to be answered is: "What good does it do us to have a Web site if nobody visits it?" It's the same question applied to anything a church or ministry does: "What good does it do for us to have a building (ministry, event, concert, etc.) if nobody comes?" 

You can adapt the same principles you use to bring people into your building to bring people to your Web site. Following are several suggestions for promoting your Web site.

What's the best way to get people to attend your church? Invite them. The same is true of your Web site. 

Create excitement among key leaders and others in the church or ministry by offering them a "sneak peek" into all that you will offer. Then, ask them to talk about it with their friends, neighbors, Sunday School class, family… you get the picture. 

Create reasons for people to visit your site and thus build excitement.

Establish your site as an integral part of your overall communication. If you print a newsletter, include it on the site, but with added information.

 Encourage people to visit the site for more in-depth information or to register for events promoted in the newsletter. 

Consider posting your weekly bulletin before the weekend. Add announcements that come up during the week to your site.

Consider developing a Web site ministry team or integrating Web promotion into existing teams. 

This group could take charge of promotion as well as site maintenance.

Upon the launch of your site, develop a printed piece such as a brochure, bulletin insert, or section of the newsletter dedicated to explaining its purpose and how to use it.

Make sure your Web address appears on your letterhead, business cards, correspondence - everywhere your street address or phone number appear.

If you have an outside sign with recurring messages, promote your site to passersby with "Visit our Web site"

Check with your city's chamber of commerce, visitor's bureau or city hall to determine if they have a Web site promoting your area and if so ask if they would provide a link to your site. 

You should offer to do the same on your site. If they don't have a site, find out how you can promote your site otherwise within official publications.

If you have a church site, the support and attention given to it "from the pulpit" will be important, especially in smaller churches. 

Mention the site frequently in some way during the regular announcement time.

Determine if you have the advertising budget to purchase ads in local newspapers, on radio or television. 

keep knowing-car issues with tyler hoover

If so, create professional, relevant advertising that promotes your site

Above all, be constantly innovative and proactive in promoting your site. Plan. Keep the content fresh. Seek the ideas of others.