You asked, and we are answering! In this episode, Jeanette and Bryan answer some of the burning questions you have asked recently about church websites.
Jeanette:
You asked and we are answering. Today we are answering the burning questions you our amazing listeners and viewers have been asking about websites from design to functionality, images, video and member access. We'll share our best advice and strategies to help you improve your church website. So sit back, grab a cup of coffee and let's do this.
Bryan:
Hey there, church communicator. Welcome to the Church Juice Podcast where we are energizing church communications, one 20-minute episode at a time. I'm Bryan Haley, the host here, Church Juice and I'm joined as always by my awesome co-host, Jeanette Yates. Hey, Jeanette, that was an awesome intro.
Jeanette:
Hello. Thank you. I'm trying to get more energized.
Bryan:
All right.
Jeanette:
That's the name of the game.
Bryan:
It is early. We record these pretty early in the morning. I mean, so I understand the caffeine need you have. So today we are talking, really, we're answering questions that we have received over the last few weeks. Recently, I led a webinar about church websites and so a lot of these questions come from that. But you all send in some really great questions about church communications, a wide spectrum of those types of questions.
And so today we are spending a few minutes just answering some questions that you have asked. One thing that I will say is if you do have questions still, which I'm sure you do because every church is unique, feel free to email us. You can email or send in your questions anytime and I'll be happy to answer them and maybe we'll feature them on a future episode, too.
Jeanette:
Yes, I'm really excited about this episode. I'm just saying this may be our most exciting one yet because we got all these questions in and we're just like, let's do this. Let's just answer them. You love talking about websites. I love trying to get better at websites. But I do know some things that helped me when I was working for my church and worked on websites. So I'm excited to dive in and learn from you but also share some things that worked for me.
Bryan:
Loves a dive in. And by no means am I a website expert but over the years I've learned the importance of websites. And so it's a fun thing to talk about because they're also always changing, right?
Jeanette:
Yes.
Bryan:
Design changes, even the technology changes. So one of the first questions that we're going to talk about and answer and discuss today came as a result of something I said in the webinar recently. So I made a comment about how your website, when you have a members only or a login section of your website, that can be really deterring to someone who's visiting. If I go to your website for the first time and I see that you have an entire section of your website that I have to log in for, first of all, I feel like you're not being transparent like there's something there.
But also I feel like an outsider, right? Because I don't know what's going on. And maybe that's something that I would find useful but I have no idea. So as a response to that statement that I said, one of the questions is, what is an alternative option you have for not having a members only page or a members only access to a directory? So a lot of churches, church websites, usually what they use those member sections of the website for is that directory or church directory. Sometimes it's like minutes or other documents or things like that. But how do you get people to access a directory if there isn't going to be a login area of your website?
Jeanette:
So first of all, whoever submitted this question, you are not alone, okay? Almost every church I've ever worked for, they're like, "We have to have the directory." And so I hear what you're saying. And my first thing is, "Okay, well, what if we had a members only access on our website but it just wasn't in the main header menu." So it wasn't like, plan your visit, new here members only or whatever. And so I'm thinking, could you put it down at the footer and just have one of the ... You know how in a footer, there's just the little hyperlink and it says members only.
And then, of course, you have to do the communication work of saying, to access our member directory, go to our website and scroll all the way down, it'll be at the bottom. It's called directory or whatever. You know, have to do the communication piece but at least it's not popping right up as soon as someone gets to your website. So I think that's one alternative that's good and kind of bridges that gap versus not having anything versus having it right at the top.
And again, that's part of the job of a church communicator, is to make sure that they know where to get it. Another thing is to have it be something that you, again, coach them in an email or two or five periodically, here's the link to the member directory. Bookmark on your website, dah, dah, dah, dah or bookmark it on your browser. That's how you're going to access it. Another issue that I'm thinking, though, is the people that really want a directory, are they-
Bryan:
Are they accessing it from the website?
Jeanette:
Yeah. Are they accessing it from the website?
Bryan:
That's a good question.
Jeanette:
So that might be another bit of research you can do before you decide what you need on your website.
Bryan:
Yeah. I would say that usually there are two reasons for any sort of login. It's the directory because obviously that's private personal information. And the other one that's common, I think, is giving history or the kind of donation things. So with a lot of databases or your church management systems, those two things are probably built in. So to go along with what you said, I think absolutely it could be if your website is your central hub of communication and you have a place where you send people to sign up for events and all of those different things, then yeah, I think it could absolutely be part of that.
And I will say that not everyone agrees with me either, right? Even one of the websites I was on this morning for something else and noticed that New Spring Church, one of their three icons on their homepage is a login page. I have no idea why. Maybe it tailors the content that you get or ... I have no idea. And that's a pretty large church.
Jeanette:
Yeah. You have to know who you're trying to reach. And also, we're going to talk about this in a minute, know what your website is for. So in their case, their website might be more for their members than for their non-members.
Bryan:
Right. So I think there are options. I think I would look into your database, your church management system and see how you could incorporate that a little bit differently. Next question, why don't you ask it?
Jeanette:
Oh, great because I want you to answer it. So this question is about livestream and we've done many episodes on livestream in general and technique and strategies and all this kind of stuff. But this is specific to website. It says, how highly should a church profile the Sunday livestream service on their site? So we were talking about what to have or not to have in that main menu. Where should the livestream be?
Bryan:
Yeah. I think this is a really good question because during COVID obviously, livestream was such a important part. There was no in-person option for most churches. But I would say that the priority that you place on your livestream in your website really depends on your strategy itself, first of all. So I would start with saying that, if you don't put a whole lot of effort into your livestream, then I probably wouldn't highlight it as much high up as a priority on my website because all it is someone's iPhone set up in the back of the sanctuary and we post it to Facebook or Zoom or whatever.
So if you're not putting a whole lot of energy and effort into incorporating the live stream as a hybrid online option for people to worship together, then it shouldn't be as high of a priority on your website and where you place it and things like that. So maybe it's only then for your members or whatever. But I would say that your livestream should be part of the next step for your guests. So often people will come to your website, whether they come there through Google or from social media or whatever, they'll come to your website for the first time looking to figure out when services are, where you're actually located, kind of check you out, kind of explore.
And so part of that will probably be watching a service live or watching a recording of a previous service. And so part of those next steps that you want people to take when they first visit your website is to watch a service, a live stream recording. So I would say that maybe even not on your homepage, maybe it is the page that you create for your visitors for their next step. But it really kind of depends on your strategy there and what you are trying to do with your live stream and with your website guests, what their next steps are.
Jeanette:
Yes, our favorite answer. It depends.
Bryan:
I know. Sometimes I feel like that's a cop out but really it is like most things are so contextual that it varies. I said the other day, I'm not a big fan of policies because there's so many just little situations and circumstances and whatever.
Jeanette:
Well, in all communication, church communication or any kind of communication it comes down to who are you trying to communicate to? Who is your audience, who are you talking to? And then, what do you need them to know?
Bryan:
Yeah, absolutely.
Jeanette:
And so, it depends.
Bryan:
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, depending on what your priority is, I think, depends where you put your live stream. So speaking of next steps, the next question that we got, that we're answering, is what are the kinds of things we want our website visitors to do as a next step? I'll throw it to you for this one.
Jeanette:
Oh, now I was saying at the beginning, Bryan is more of the website expert but I'm just going to say next steps is kind of my jam, okay?
Bryan:
Yeah.
Jeanette:
So this is one of the things I talk about all of the time in my day job and is something at my church that I volunteer as part of a team of getting people to do, take that next step. So this is my wheelhouse. So when people come to your website, you want that website visitor to turn into a first time guest, right? And so now, again, depending on your demographic, what's going on in your area, all that kind of stuff, what that next step needs to be, it may not be immediately, come to my website and then the next Sunday you're sitting in the pew, right?
There may have to be a step in between. But let's just say for the sake of argument, we want that next step to be, to plan a visit. In which case, that's what you tell them to do. Plan a visit, click this button and then that button then walks them through, here's what you need to know to plan a visit. Here's when it happens, here's all of this. So you kind of go through and the next step is like, connect with us. We're going to connect with you and make sure that you're all ready to plan a visit. So that's one next step.
Now, another next step might be to just, like you just mentioned, maybe the next step is welcome here. Here's a sneak peak at what it's like to worship with us. Here's a sneak peak at what ... And I don't want to be like, maybe you don't want to focus on worship. But maybe your church is really involved in a outreach or mission in your area and you want to let people in on that. Like, here's what we're doing in our community right now. Watch this short video or check this out on social. Whatever that next step is, you're going to have to tell them to do it.
You can't just assume that if you have a button, they're going to click it or you have a menu drop down, they're going to do it. You have to tell them specifically. So yes, one of the things is your next step can be plan a visit. One of the things is connect with us for more information or watch this live stream, watch our last worship service or join us for this thing that we do in the community. Whatever it is, you have to be specific what you want them to do, how you want them to do it. And then what's going to happen if you are asking for contact information, what are you going to do with it? That would be my last little thing.
Bryan:
That's a good point.
Jeanette:
All soapbox, sorry.
Bryan:
No, I think that's really good. One thing that I see a lot of, not just churches, obviously that's what we're focusing on. But this is true of businesses and websites in general, as well, but in churches we tend to throw a little bit too much or sometimes a lot too much at people all at once. So people don't know where to go or what to do. So the more that you can simplify, explain what you want people to do, give them the option to do it, give one, maybe two, like these are the things that we want you to do right now and continually guide them into deeper relationship with your church.
Think about it, you're coming to a church website for the very first time. What questions are you asking? You want to know the very basic information, first of all. You want to check out what they're doing. People have their own kind of convictions and passions and things that they get excited about, so how can you cater to those needs that people have and how can you invite them into the story of what God is doing through them and what God is doing through your church?
Jeanette:
That's right.
Bryan:
As a next step to practically answer this, I would say that you want to take people probably from the homepage to a page dedicated for visitors to learn the very basic information. Then you want to give them the option to either learn more about something or like you said, I think it's great to have a video or whatever, talking about something outside of worship, too. You put so much emphasis on Sunday and obviously that is important, but people are also connected and passionate about things besides what the sermon looks like or sounds like or content.
They also care about other things. So highlighting those is great. So give them an option to learn more. Give them an option to visit virtually or to plan a visit to come online or in person and then tell them what you're going to do with that. Like you said, how are you going to follow up with that and explain that and actually follow through on it? I think those are kind of the things that you want to drive people into deeper engagement, deeper relationship with your church from the very beginning, very first time they hear about your church.
You got to think through those very basic elements and what you want people to do and drive them to that. All right, so that brings us to our next question, which is a total tangent into a different topic about websites and the content that we provide. So one of the questions that I've received recently is from a church actually in the San Francisco area of California.
But I've heard this question in Canada. I've heard it in other parts of the US, as well. The question comes up about what do we put on our website when it comes to social justice issues or when it comes to human rights issues, those kinds of things. So how much of a priority do we put on things like LGBT issues or abortion rights or those kinds of things? How do we answer those questions that people ask? Are they asking them? And how much of a priority do we put on our website? So that's a big question, there you go.
Jeanette:
It is a big question. And first of all, I just want to say, take a deep breath. This is something that is hard. It's okay to pause and think about what you want to put on your website before you're throwing stuff out there. And so I think it's okay to take a pause. I think it is, Bryan, you mentioned this in asking the question is like, what questions are people asking? This is, in general, what questions are people asking? And then you need to provide those answers.
And so the person that submitted this question said, this is something that we hear a lot, so we do feel like people are asking this. And so you know, you have an about us page on your website. If you don't, you should. Maybe in your church you have an about us page that's more like about your staff but then you also have a what we believe page. Those are pretty great places to have information like this. And also I would think that what we want to do is be clear enough that we can start the conversation.
And one of the things, Bryan, you and I were talking about before we press record today, is it really all ... Our favorite answer. It depends. But what is the mission of your church? That is something that you want to make very clear on your website, not just on the about us or what we believe page, but everywhere. And what is your mission and how do these issues drive your mission? And that's where we want to have that information on our website. So if you want to go a little bit more into that and how you might do that on your website.
Bryan:
I would answer this question the same way. Yes, it depends on your church's mission. Do the answer to these questions drive your mission forward? Are they a distraction from your mission? What is your church's mission? And how do these issues that are very real and people are asking them all over the place but how does that fit into the story and the mission of your church and what God is doing through your church?
Jeanette:
That's right.
Bryan:
Yeah. So the mission is important. I would say that it also depends on how much of a priority your church places on these issues. If you are a social justice driven church where you focus on welcoming and being inclusive and you pride yourself in that, then talking about these types of issues should be part of a higher priority on your website. But that also means that it drives your mission. If you are answering these because this is an issue in our denomination and so we feel like we need to answer that, well, that's not as high of a priority.
That may be something that somebody asks later on. Maybe they ask right away but it may be something that you can actually have a conversation with them about once they kind of get to know your church a little bit earlier because they care more about something else or because your church cares about something else. So I think that there are a few ways that you can do it. And you can't say that you should always talk about these issues on the homepage or you should never talk about it on the homepage because it could be a very important part of your church congregation and community. Whereas in other contexts, it may not be. It may be a smaller issue or something that doesn't drive your mission quite as much.
Jeanette:
And I think the most important thing is that you want to be able to create that conversation. So if this is something that you are sharing on your website, in those sections, have a place where there is the opportunity for, if you want to talk more about this, if you want to understand more about why this is here on our belief page, why this is what we believe, then please reach out. Here is how you can do that. We'd love to have a conversation with you. I think that's a really great first impression to make.
Bryan:
Yeah, absolutely. So let's do this last question real briefly because I think it's a really good question but it's also an easy answer for us. So are testimonies on your website, are they better as photo video, brief statements? How do you put or incorporate testimonies into your website?
Jeanette:
I love this question. First of all, I would say if you don't have video right now and you want to get a testimonial on your website, I would stick with go with photo and then you can always change it later. So number one, go with what you have. Don't try to get something together. And if you don't have the knowledge or the skills or the comfort level in creating video, don't worry about it. Just use a photo. I know I did that with a website I did for a church.
We used photos, I asked permission from the people, they gave me their favorite photos, so they looked amazing in their photos. And I just clipped a little statement that they had made, that they had given me. I think I'd even asked if you're like, well, I don't even know. I mean, our people just, they just love it but I don't have a quote. Well just ask them, why do you love coming to this church? Why do you love this church family? Why are you still here 50 years later? All this kind of stuff. And they'll tell you and then you can use that. So that's one thing. I would keep it brief.
Another idea I just had when I was talking because it's like, do we have a section, whatever? I think it would be kind of neat to have it in several different places. So on that homepage where you're inviting people to learn more about who you are, what your church community is doing, then have testimonials related to that. And then on your mission page, you have testimonials related to whatever that biggest mission is. On your youth page or on your children's page, you have parents talking about how much their children love the children's program or what they did in VBS that was-
Bryan:
For volunteers.
Jeanette:
Yeah, same thing. So you have different places on your website that have different types of testimonials. And so I think that's important, too, and really, really helpful for people to be like that also will answer some of those questions that they have in their head. Like what does this church care about? What should I expect for my children? What kind of programs do they have for my teens? Those questions are not only answered by your words but also the words of your congregation, which is really cool.
Bryan:
I don't think that there is a either or in this question. It's phrased that way but the answer is, yes, both. And because if you are getting video that's easy to turn into a blog article, that's content, that's more written content or pull quotes from, for those call outs, for those things on different pages. If you have photos, you can go to those people and like you said, just ask why they keep coming back? What do they love about your church?
So there is so much room for content and for us to share the story of your church and of people in your church. The more that you can share that, the better. I don't know that you need a page dedicated specifically to these stories but share them all over the place. Share them where it makes sense. Like you were talking about, the different ministries and pages and share it in different ways, too.
Jeanette:
Yeah, that's a good point.
Bryan:
Consume content differently. Well, thank you for taking time out of your busy day to listen to the Church Juice Podcast. That was a great conversation we had and we had so many more questions but, of course, we just ran out of time. We know that you are busy and so we really appreciate you taking time to listen today. But listening is really just the start. So to take today's topic to the next level and to hear from other church communicators, head to the Church Juice Insiders Facebook Group. You can find a link to our group along with today's show notes at churchjuice.com/podcast.
Jeanette:
The Church Juice Podcast is a listener supported production of Reframe Ministries, a family of programs designed to help you see your whole life reframed by God's gospel story. Church Juice is produced by Bryan Haley, with post production by Minimal Media Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For more information on Church Juice, visit churchjuice.com. For information on Reframe Ministries in our family of programs, visit reframeministries.org.