Christmas is indisputably one of the most popular times for church attendance (closest competitor being Easter). Is your church ready for some holiday visitors? If your church website is still outdated, then the answer to that question is “no”.
Putting up the decorations, setting out the advent wreath and prepping for Christmas Eve service are all important steps the church must take in December. But everything that happens in the church is lost to those who can’t find directions, don’t know service times, haven’t heard of the church, etc.
Have the church website administrator update these key features:
- Directions – Don’t just list the address. Include a link to Google maps with the address pre-programmed.
- Service times – The usual services need to be listed, as well as a banner or announcement piece about any special holiday services.
- About Us – List beliefs, mission, values and denomination to help people better gauge the fit for them in your church. You may also want to pop in a typical service structure for the same reason.
- Contact form – Visitors may have some questions before attending and phones aren’t as popular a communication method these days. Have your contact form, as well as someone to respond, ready to go so that questions can get asked and answered.
- Ministries – They may only come for the service, but while perusing your website, one of the ministry groups may catch their eye, because they want to know what the church has to offer for them. List each with a short summary on a “Ministries” page and include links to more informative pages.
- Staff – The name and picture of your pastor will welcome visitors and let them know who to look for when they arrive at the church.
Each of these items should be on its own page, clearly labeled in the menu. However, directions and the contact form specifically are good ones to put in the footer. That way, they are on every page, and people know to look in the footer of a website for key information.
This is the best time to refresh your church website.