Back in September I posted some initial thoughts on the overall poor quality of church websites. Click here to see that post if you missed it.
My rant in that first post covered (1) the use of stock photos of people, (2) outdated calendar entries and items, (3) dead links, (4) "Under Construction" signs for unfinished pages, (5) yellow pages ad web strategy, and (Honorable Mentions) careless spelling and grammar errors. Have you looked around at some church sites since September? Pretty sad, eh?
Let me add a couple of deeper church website frustrations--by deeper I don't mean that they frustrate me deeper, but that they're rooted deeper in the development and operation of church pages, and are a little more difficult to spot.
1) Over design ~ Yes, it is possible (and even likely) that churches who have attempted to avoid the pitfalls I mentioned in the first post have gone too far with what they've included in their sites. This issue is too broad to be succinctly described--but you know when you see it. A good threshold is when a church site starts looking like a video game. That could be an indicator.
2) Basic code issues ~ There are a number of little things that every church site planner/designer/administrator ought to keep in mind. A basic HTML knowledge is all that is needed (you can be a techno-moron like me, armed with an HTML for Dummies book) to get some of these things right. An example? Sure.
Links within your page. A basic flaw is that church's often include links in a way that leads visitors AWAY from their page. There is a link to a resource mid-page, visitor clicks on it and they're off. A few simple letters of code (I'm telling you, buy the book for Dummies) will allow that link to open in a new browser window or tab, leaving your site open for the visitor to continue there. One of the ways church sites combat this, of course, is to offer NO links outside of their own site--which I think is even a greater shame. This is but one example of simple code issues that are being overlooked.
3) Fencing the Site ~ In other words, "restricted" pages. Many (too many for my thinking) church sites now have "Member Only Areas" as a part of their sites. It gives a cool outer feel--"Our site is so hip! You have to join and have the secret password to have all access." Sounds Pharisaic to me. Trust me, it looks Pharisaic to the community at large. "You pagans stay in the outer courts, now. Ya hear?"
Don't get me wrong. I recognize that there are parts of a church website which should be password protected, like a worship team area that contains copyrighted material or a prayer team area that contains personal info not to be broadly shared. But what I am talking about are areas where you have to be "in" to even see what is going on in the life of the congregation. Just today I visited three sites (out of twelve total that I surveyed) where you could not see (1) small group calendars, (2) have access to the pastor's sermons, or (3) take a look at the weekly bulletin. Maybe I'm missing something, but around here those things aren't classified information.
4) Fencing the interactivity potential ~ As I pontificated in the first post, church sites need to be more than a static yellow-pages ad in design and function. There ought to be places for community interaction within the site. Forums and blogs are great tools for this reason. Those avenues need to be as obstacle-free as possible. Now, I admit, this one is hard to get right because of the spam-masters of the universe. We're fighting it right now on our site at CCA. For every genuine comment we get, we have to sift through thirty "buy your viagra at discount prices in Canada" posts. Filter, but don't falter, here. Get after netting the spam, but don't go so far as to make legitimate participation require blood-letting. New technology is... well... that quick and it's old! Keep after it. It is of vital importance that people can interact with ease.
5) Paying for what? ~ Last in this post, I want to speak to the bang-for-your-buck and function-for-your-finance part of you. Many (too many) church leaders are throwing their hands up in the air and turning to church website "specialists" as advertised for their template, or perhaps even worse, looking for a web designer to create the latest and greatest for a mountain of money. I wish I got a nickel for each time I've urged one of my pastor friends DON'T DO IT! Shoot, I wish I had a nickel for every one of them who did and who wound up sorely disappointed later! Let me be as honest as I can be: You can do this yourself, in-house. With tools like Go-Daddy, Blogger (and those close to me CANNOT BELIEVE that I just wrote Blogger), a handful of free internet widgets, and a couple of books for Dummies--you can invest just a few hours and you will be more satisfied than you can imagine to have a good, functioning site for your church.
For now... that is all.
