Websites – Diaconate of Church Technologists

How to Improve Church Website SEO Without Technical Skills

Posted on Oct 30, 2024 by Peter Lane

If you’re wondering how to improve church website SEO without technical skills, you’re not alone. Many mainline churches face similar challenges, especially when resources and tech knowledge are limited. For church members managing website updates, small adjustments can make a noticeable difference in how well the site ranks on search engines.

Here, I’ll walk you through straightforward actions that can be done by anyone on the parish team, plus some technical actions that may require support. These steps focus on improving your church website SEO without technical skills, making the process accessible for all levels.

Tips for Improving Church Website SEO Without Technical Skills

Parish Team Tasks

These actions are perfect for church team members, even those who don’t have a tech background. They don’t require complex knowledge, but implementing them will enhance the church website’s visibility and local relevance.

Claim and Manage Your Google Business Profile
One of the best ways to boost local SEO is by ensuring your church has a verified Google Business Profile. This profile helps local visitors find the church more easily when they search online.
To make the most of it:
- Ensure all contact details are correct and current, including the address, phone number, and opening hours.
- Use high-quality images of the church, activities, and events.
- Encourage congregation members to leave positive reviews on Google. Reviews help build trust and influence your search ranking, especially in local results.
Ensure NAP Consistency Across Directories
Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) details are vital. Check that the parish’s information matches exactly across all online directories, like Yellow Pages and other local listings. This consistency helps search engines trust the site’s information, which boosts local rankings.
Content Updates for Events and News
Regular content updates help improve church website SEO without technical skills, as search engines favour active sites with fresh content. Even if regular content isn’t your preferred style, consider trialling this strategy for a few months to see the impact. Two easy ways to keep content current are:
- Event Pages: Ensure event pages are regularly updated with accurate dates, times, and descriptions to attract local traffic and highlight the church’s role in the community.
- Blog or News Updates: If your church has a blog or news page, post short updates on church activities or reflections on faith. Aim for 300–500 words to keep things manageable, and include phrases like “Auckland Methodist Church” to improve local relevance.
Social Media Sharing and Local Backlinking
Social media shares and local backlinks are effective, easy ways to increase a site’s authority:
- Social Media Sharing: Share new blog posts, event pages, or announcements on social platforms to improve visibility. Each share boosts the chances of others linking back to the website, which is a major SEO benefit.
- Local Backlinks: Contact local organisations (like community centres and charities) and ask if they’d be willing to add a link to your website. Local backlinks strengthen your church website’s credibility and authority, helping it rank higher.
Local Keywords in Main Pages
For main pages, adding phrases that reflect your church’s location (such as “Methodist Church Timbuctoo” or “Timbuctoo worship services”) can help you improve church website SEO without technical skills. These local keywords improve your visibility in local search results, so try incorporating them naturally on main pages like the home page or about page.

Technical Actions
(For a Web Specialist to Handle)

These back-end tasks may require some technical expertise but offer significant SEO advantages.

Double-Check Mobile Friendliness and SSL
Mobile-friendliness and site security (SSL) are two critical aspects for SEO. If both were set up initially, ask a specialist to verify that they are still correctly configured to support smooth, secure access across all devices.
Improve Page Load Speed
A slow website can hurt SEO and frustrate visitors. To increase speed, consider compressing images, implementing lazy loading, and minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML. Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) can also help speed up the site for users.
Add Schema Markup
Schema markup, also known as structured data, helps search engines categorise site content. Adding schema specific to church-related terms (like LocalBusiness or Event schema) helps search engines display relevant information from your site in search results.
Set Up Google Search Console
Google Search Console allows you to monitor the website’s performance, such as indexing status and page errors. Keeping track of these issues ensures your site is running smoothly and helps resolve any potential problems that could impact SEO.
Optimise Titles, Headings, and Internal Links
Titles, headings, and internal links signal to search engines what each page is about. Ensuring each page has a unique title tag and meta description, alongside relevant H1, H2, and H3 headings, will help search engines better understand your site content and improve SEO rankings.

Final Tips on How to Improve Church Website SEO Without Technical Skills

Knowing how to improve church website SEO without technical skills is a huge advantage—by following these simple steps, your church can boost visibility without needing a tech expert. Consistent, small changes can make a big impact over time, helping your church reach a broader audience and connect more meaningfully with your community.

Unlocking the Mysteries of Website Analytics

Posted on Sep 30, 2024 by Peter Lane

A Simple Guide for Church Websites

For church committees today, the internet has become a crucial tool for reaching congregants and visitors alike. From sharing service times to posting community updates, websites are often the front doors of churches. However, there’s a common question among church leaders: “What good are website analytics for my church?”

Website analytics can seem intimidating, especially for those with a non-technical background. But understanding a few simple metrics can offer real insights into how your church website is serving its audience. Whether your website is updated often or not, analytics can help you make sure your site is fulfilling its purpose.

Why Website Analytics Matter

Let’s start with the basics. Website analytics are tools that provide data on how visitors interact with your site. This could mean tracking how many people visit your homepage, how long they spend reading a blog post, or which pages they click on before leaving the site. For static church websites that focus on delivering information like service times and event details, analytics can show whether visitors are finding what they need quickly and easily. For semi-dynamic sites that include weekly or monthly updates—perhaps a new sermon or community event—analytics can help you see how well your new content is being received.

Understanding user behaviour can give you insight that let you improve the experience for those visiting your site. After all, a website that doesn’t serve its audience well could be doing more harm than good.

Key Metrics for Informational Church Websites

So, what should you actually be looking at when reviewing your website analytics? Here are some key metrics that matter most for church websites:

1. Bounce Rate

Bounce rate for the website as a whole, measures the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing just one page. You will also see Bounce Rate reported for individual pages, being the percentage of visitor who leave the page without engaging with it. For a static site, a high bounce rate might not be a bad thing. It could simply mean that visitors found the service times, directions, or other key information they needed on the first page they visited. On the other hand, for semi-dynamic sites that regularly publish updates or new blog posts, a lower bounce rate might indicate that visitors are sticking around to explore the latest content.

2. Engagement Time

Engagement time tracks how long users spend on your site. For a static church site, this metric is less about how long visitors stay and more about whether they spend enough time to find crucial information like location and service times. For dynamic sites, engagement time becomes more significant. If you’re posting new content each month, you want to see whether people are spending time engaging with it.

3. Navigation Patterns

This metric shows how users move through your site—what they click on and where they go next. Whether your site is static or semi-dynamic, navigation patterns are vital. Do users easily find your contact details or upcoming events? Are they stuck on the wrong page, unable to locate important information? If the data shows confusion in navigation, it might be time to rethink how your pages are structured.

4. Device & Browser Information

Do most of your visitors use mobile phones, tablets, or desktop computers? Do they access your site via Chrome, Safari, or Edge? Knowing what devices and browsers people use helps ensure your site runs smoothly across all platforms. If a large portion of your visitors is using mobile phones, for example, it’s crucial to check that your site is mobile-friendly—especially after updates or changes.

Setting Objectives for Your Church Website

Before diving into the details of website analytics, it’s essential to know what you want your website to achieve. Your website goals define its purpose—objectives measure your progress, like reducing bounce rates or increasing return visits. For a static informational website, one objective might be to reduce bounce rates on key pages. For a more dynamic site, an objective could be to increase return visitors after posting new updates or blogs.

But remember, tracking metrics is only part of the process. You need to act on what the data shows. If your bounce rate is higher than you’d like, consider reworking your site’s layout or making key information more accessible. If engagement time on dynamic content is low, try adding more visually engaging elements or personal stories. Website optimization is an ongoing journey – try something new, evaluate the results, and adjust. The “try, try, try again” approach is not only valid but often necessary. It’s through trial and refinement that you’ll see real improvements over time.

Reading the Data: What’s Relevant for Your Church

When reviewing analytics, it’s important to understand the difference between what’s relevant for a static website and what matters for a semi-dynamic one.

For static websites, focus on whether visitors are finding the right information—like service times or location—quickly. If most users are bouncing after just one page, that’s not necessarily bad as long as they’ve found what they need. But if you see high bounce rates on less essential pages, like your About Us section, it may indicate that users are leaving without finding the key info.

For dynamic websites, the story is slightly different. You’ll want to track how users interact with new content. Are they engaging with it? Do they stick around longer when new posts or updates go live? If not, you may need to rethink how you present fresh content, perhaps making it more prominent on the homepage or highlighting it in newsletters.

Benchmarking and Industry Comparisons

When it comes to church websites, there’s often a lack of relevant industry benchmarks, especially for static sites. However, this doesn’t mean you’re flying blind. Over time, you can build your own benchmarks by tracking your site’s performance. Look at data trends over months or even years to establish what ‘normal’ looks like for your site.

For more dynamic sites, you may want to pay attention to broader trends in church websites or community-focused sites. While the numbers might vary, seeing how other sites engage their visitors could offer inspiration for improving your own content and user experience.

Takeaways: Static vs Dynamic Site Strategies

In summary, both static and dynamic church websites benefit from tracking key analytics to serve your audience better.

By paying attention to these key metrics, your church committee can ensure that the website continues to serve its congregation well—whether by providing vital information or creating engaging content for regular visitors.

Sidebar: Website Option for The Methodist Church of NZ Parishes

Posted on Apr 2, 2024 by Peter Lane

This article was originally a Sidebar published by Touchstone, the newspaper of The Methodist Church of NZ in conjunction with our article, What to Think about Before Building your Website.

An Alternative Option for Methodist Parishes

For Methodist Parishes (and Co-operation or Union parishes with a Methodist component), an option is available to have a subsite created on the main Church website (www.methodist.org.nz). This service is currently free for both setup and recurring charges.

Being a subsite of the main website means the URL for the site will be in the format

https://name.methodist.org.nz

For example:-

The design and theme are preset (blue and orange) with limited flexibility, although parishes have the ability to add branding logos and other custom material. Special requirements may be negotiated with the Connexion but could involve additional costs. Once you have done the planning, subsites can be ready for your content in as little as 48-hours.

The website is based on the Silverstripe CMS (an alternative solution to the better known WordPress). It is reasonably easy to use, especially once the site has been setup. The Connexional offer includes initial support and training and d | c | t is working toward providing training as well. Taking up this option allows you to minimise the amount of planning you need to do – the decisions around theme are largely decided for you, for example. But is is still important to think through the process in this article. Site Structure, in particular will need to be set by a parish and advised to the Connexional webmaster at signup to this scheme.

The content still relies on Parish brainwork and contributions! You will be given your own login and access to be able to create and manage your own content. As well, you are able to send your content to webmaster@methodist.org.nz and it will be loaded for you.

Email any queries to Melissa on webmaster@methodist.org.nz; please include your phone number and parish name.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30 years of experience with Technology systems. We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles. These can be submitted either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz. We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we use technology in churches, located at dct.org.nz

What to Think about Before Building your Website

Posted on Apr 2, 2024 by Peter Lane

So, you have finally decided to bite the bullet and build a Parish website! Or perhaps it is more like a grudging realisation that there is no use trying anymore to tweak the 20-year monster that used to be a pretty neat website; until it got too hard to manage, the only lady who understood it moved away and it has sat gathering electronic cobwebs and happily spreading dis-information to the few people who happen across it when they have a search go wrong. Either way, Congratulations!

First Steps

Contrary to popular practice, the first thing to do is not to run out and throw something together, (or even worse, run out and pay someone to throw something together!) A parish website is usually a long-term, strategic communication tool (or at least, it should be if it is to create more value than it costs. There are some cases when a website does not need to be a long-term investment, such as a website for an event or conference, but even so, they still need to create more value than they cost.)

The first thing to realise is that value is not the same as money. Value can be created several ways and not all of them can be neatly evaluated with a $ amount. It doesn’t matter if your objective is building community, reaching people outside of your immediate church community, improving communications, mitigating administrative overhead or all of the above. If you don’t have a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve, then it will be difficult to achieve it. One of my first Website articles for Touchstone explores this concept in more detail. (Parish Websites: What, Why and Wherefore, Feb-2018).

Practical Considerations

Web Hosting

Web hosting refers to the how you get a computer to make your website available to other computers on the internet. In the “old days”, this was potentially as simple as loading the right software on an old computer, connecting it to your network and throwing it all under the desk until something went wrong. While in principle this could still happen, it is not recommended as the required software a bit geeky, and the consequences of getting it wrong include the potential for major security breaches. Much better to rent a computer with the software already setup, sitting in an optimally air-conditioned datacentre with massive internet connectivity, all ready to make your website do its thing well.

The key things to look for with a web host service are;

Location: the physical location of the server should be close to where you expect your audience will be. If your webserver is in the UK and your audience in NZ, it will take longer for the information to flow back and forth between the two locations. There is also more opportunity for something to go wrong.
CMS Platform Compatibility: Ensure that the web hosting service supports the content management system (CMS) platform you plan to use for building your church website. (See next section).
Reliability and Uptime: Choose a web host known for its reliability and uptime. Your church website should be accessible to visitors at all times without experiencing frequent downtime. Look for a web host with a track record of high uptime percentages, ideally 99.9% or above.
Scalability: Consider the scalability of the web hosting service. As your church website grows in traffic and content, you may need additional resources such as bandwidth and storage. Ensure that the web host offers scalable hosting plans or options to upgrade seamlessly as your needs evolve.
Security Features: Prioritize the security features provided by the web hosting service. Security is crucial for protecting sensitive information and maintaining the integrity of your church website. Look for features such as SSL certificates, regular backups, malware scanning, and firewall protection, but ensure you only pay the level of security appropriate for your requirements – not all of us are banks!
Customer Support: Evaluate the quality of customer support offered by the web hosting provider. Responsive and knowledgeable customer support can be invaluable when troubleshooting issues or seeking assistance with website management.
Cost and Value: Consider the cost of the web hosting service relative to the features and resources provided. While affordability is important, prioritize value over price alone. Invest in a hosting plan that meets your church website’s needs and offers sufficient resources for growth without compromising on quality or security.
User-Friendly Control Panel: Choose a web host with a user-friendly control panel interface. A intuitive control panel makes it easier to manage your website, configure settings, and perform routine tasks such as installing updates and managing email accounts.

CMS Platform

A content management system (CMS) platform is essential for building and managing your church website. Popular CMS platforms include WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. WordPress, in particular, is user-friendly and offers a wide range of plugins and themes tailored for church websites. The CMS for the Methodist Church of NZ parish websites is Silverstripe. If you don’t have any idea about this, write out your requirements and get advice from an independent advisor.

Structure

Consider the structure and organization of your website. What pages will you need? Common pages for church websites include Home, About Us, Ministries, Events, Sermons, Contact Us, and Donate. Think about how you want to arrange these pages and what content will go on each page. Also think about the hosting and security requirement required by each part of the website – obviously, a Donate page will require a site with more security than one with no money functions.

Design and Theme

Choose a design and theme that reflects the identity and values of your church. Look for themes specifically designed for churches, which often include features like event calendars, sermon archives, and donation integrations. Ensure the theme is mobile-responsive, meaning it looks good and functions well on smartphones and tablets.

Content Creation

Invest time and effort into creating compelling and informative content for your website. This includes writing clear and engaging copy, selecting high-quality images, and creating multimedia content such as videos and podcasts. Your content should reflect the mission and values of your church while also providing valuable information to visitors. Think about how you will continue this effort into the future, both from the aspect of keeping content accurate as well as from a strategy to promote engagement by publishing new content regularly, if that is part of your requirements.

SEO Optimization

Optimize your website content for search engines to improve its visibility and reach online. (SEO = Search Engine Optimisation). Use relevant keywords related to your church and community throughout your website content. Include meta tags, titles, and descriptions that accurately describe your pages. Consider creating a blog section to regularly publish relevant and engaging content that can attract organic traffic.

Training and Support

Ensure that members of your church team are trained to manage and update the website regularly. Many CMS platforms offer tutorials and support resources to help users navigate and utilize their features effectively. Consider enrolling in training courses or hiring a web developer to provide guidance and support as needed.

Launch and Promotion

Once your website is ready, launch it with a bang! Announce the launch to your congregation and community through social media, email newsletters, and church announcements. Encourage members to explore the website and provide feedback for improvements. Continue to promote your website through regular updates, events, and engaging content.

The Methodist Church of NZ (and most other mainstream demoninations) have a directory page on their website listing all known parish websites. The Methodist page is at methodist.org.nz/methodist-websites. When your website is up and running, make sure you register it with the relevant denominations so we can all take inspiration from your work!

In conclusion, building your first church website is an exciting journey that requires careful planning, creativity, and dedication. By following these steps and leveraging the right tools and resources, you can create a dynamic and impactful online presence for your church community. Remember, your website is more than just a digital platform; it is a powerful tool for sharing your message, connecting with others, and making a positive difference in the world.

More information for Parishes connected to The Methodist Church of NZ

How to Create Graphics for Websites & Social Media

Posted on Apr 3, 2022 by Peter Lane

Buidling the word website (with cranes).
Creating Graphics for websites and Social Media

Among other things, a global pandemic can change the way we communicate. The Covid pandemic is no exception. Now, it is more important than ever that we know how to create effective graphics for websites and social media.

Before Covid, we went to meetings – now we Zoom. Before, we printed pew bulletins – now we have an email list and Facebook groups. Before, we did audio recordings – now we Livestream on YouTube. Before, we had church notice boards, now we use websites.

Ok, so I’ve allowed myself a smidgeon of hyperbole here. While all of these were around to a certain extent before the pandemic to a greater or lesser extent, but there is no denying that communication technologies have made substantial inroads into the mind of our society in the last 2 years and we have all come to terms with dealing with “new-to-us” technology and processes in our daily lives. Wherever you are in your communications journey, it is fair to say that a 1950’s line drawing that has been circulating in a giveaway clip-art collection for the last 50-years stuck next to some typescript probably isn’t going to cut it anymore, not at least for anything with a digital presence.

As webmasters and Social Media authors for churches on a budget, one of the new essential skills we have been expected to acquire is the ability to quickly create good quality graphics for our websites and social media endeavours. The effectiveness of digital communication is increasingly being driven by the graphics used rather than the content. In fact, in saying that, I am at risk of showing my age – arguably today’s media is being measured by millenniums and younger by its use of video, even more than by graphic elements. Coupled with a drive to produce content responsively quickly and (of course) cheaply, a number of graphics authoring tools have appeared and established themselves in the market. Some of these tools are now also branching into basic video creation as well. So, how do we create graphics for websites and social media? (Not to mention, cheaply)!

Advantages of Graphics

These tools are quick to learn and easy to use, come with copy-right cleared templates and images to get you started quickly and produce output in sizes and colour palettes optimised for various websites and social media platforms. There are some very good image production programs around now, but they are expensive, are complex and difficult to use (so you have to be trained to use them well) and can take hours to produce one image even if you know what you are doing. Fundamentally these tools I’m sharing today are about saving time.

One of the main time-consuming tasks for any comprehensive social media strategy, even if you have an image to start with, is changing the size of the image to suit the different requirements of different media platforms. A Facebook post is optimised for images of 1200 x 630 pixels, but on LinkedIn, a post is optimised for an image of 1200 x 1200 pixels, and different requirements for other platforms. Most platforms will do their best to adjust for non-optimal images, but you may lose information or legibility in the process. The upshot is if you are using any sort of multi-platform media strategy, you spend half your time adjusting the sizes of your images for different platforms.

Finally, a few last notable features. Most of these tools are built for collaboration, so you can invite others to contribute to your artistry. Whether this is a couple of arty friends to get down and dirty with you in the design process, or just sharing the final version with Parish Council for approval, this is a key capability for many people. Also, have links to internet just-in-time printing services, so you can order tee-shirts, coffee mugs, carry-bags and many more merchandise items to be printed with your design (for an additional cost, of course). But an easy way to organise youth group tee-shirts, posters and similar items.

Graphics Programs

So here are descriptions of 3 examples of this type of solution. There are many, many more but I’ve chosen these as being reasonably representative of the ones I’ve come across.

Canva – In graphic design circles, Canva is generally considered the gold standard for others to aspire to. It is reasonably priced and has a great selection of images to choose from. Perhaps the best feature for the readers of this article, it has a non-profit program accessible to NZ Charities, offering free use of their Pro paid version if you register your organisation with them. I use Canva a fair bit for website work – some of which is on the NZ Lay Preachers website (nzlpa.wordpress.com) e.g. the “Don’t Miss Out” badge on the front page at the moment. Canva is particularly good at taking a graphic and then allowing you to quickly go through the process of re-sizing and adjusting for different Social Media platforms.

Visme – this is the tool I’ve used least of these three. It has a growing presence in relevant discussion groups and is a leader in that it is promoting itself directly as a video tool with graphics capability rather than the other way round. While Visme feels a little different to use than the other options, it is by no means difficult – especially if you come to it with no history of the alternatives. They have a good selection of useful articles in their knowledgebase, including the most comprehensive listing of what image sizes you need to use for which social media platform I have ever come across.

Snappa – I have used Snappa largely for YouTube work (video thumbnails, channel headers etc) because it has some very intentional features to support YouTubes requirements. Otherwise, it is quite similar to Canva. One area I haven’t had a chance to use much as yet is the capability to automate your social media posts (paid version only). Once you complete your graphic, you can ask Snappa to post to each platform you use at a specific time and date.

Comparison Summary

	Canva	Visme	Snappa
Website	https://www.canva.com/	https://visme.co	https://snappa.com/
Preset Social Media dimensions for posts and images	Yes	Is aware – templates are pre-sized correctly	Yes
Free Version limitations	5GB storage; selected templates	100GB storage; selected templates; Visme logo on outputs	Limited to 3 downloads per month
Cheapest pay-monthly plan	NZ$19.99 per mth	~NZ$17.90 per mth; (USD12.25)	~NZ$14.60 per mth; (USD10.00)
Video capability	Yes	Short videos & Animations
Non-profit program	Pro Free for NPs listed on NZ Charities Commission Register	25% discount; no info on eligibility
Remove Image Background tool	On paid plans	No	Yes
Free copyright-cleared stock photos	Yes	Yes	Yes
Automated Social Media posting	On paid plans	Immediate Post only, on paid plans	On paid plans

I hope this article helps you find a way to quickly create graphics for websites and social media. I encourage you to share your results as a comment to this blog for the inspiration of us all.

Peter Lane is Principal Consultant at System Design & Communication Services and has over 30-years’ experience with Technology systems. We invite your questions, suggestions and ideas for articles. Submit these either through the editor or by email to dct@dct.org.nz. We also operate a website focused on building a community of people interested in improving how we can use technology in churches, located at www.dct.org.nz.

Parish Websites: Content Management Systems

Posted on Nov 4, 2018 by Peter Lane

Earlier in the year, I wrote a column on Parish Websites and promised I would write some follow-up articles.

As discussed in the previous column, Websites are fundamentally a collection of documents on a server running a program to use a set of defined technology protocols to make the documents available for display on a remote, but network-connected computer. The motivation behind the original technology was to create an easier way to share academic research within the academic community and focused on text documents. Over time, the enabling technologies have been expanded and evolved so that now, website technologies are what drive everything from online banking and online shopping to social media to remote control of your house’s air-conditioning and lighting. Today, a “standard”, bread and butter website would use server-based software called a Content Management System (CMS) and build the site out of a collection of components that contain content and display that content in different ways.

When Tim Berners-Lee developed the Web in 1989, he envisaged a system where authoring content was very simple and could be done but virtually anyone with access to a computer and a text editor. The content was simply typed in and formatting was applied using Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). The result may not look particularly flashy by today’s standards; however, was quite adequate for the original purpose of sharing academic research. In principle, one can still produce websites in this way, but the Digital Natives who have grown up with the web will probably tell us the result is not worth the effort. This may be ok for some purposes, but if part of the reason for a website is engaging with and being attractive to the site’s audience, then it’s probably not a good idea. The reality is, to use modern display methods and techniques with text files is virtually impossible; and where it is possible requires the author to have a lot of technical knowledge. Thus, Content Management Systems were born.

CMS have a broader context than just websites but for this column, we will ignore that and are really only thinking about Web CMS. Web content includes text and embedded graphics, photos, video, audio, maps, other media and program code (e.g., for applications) that displays content or interacts with the user. The primary advantages CMS provide for websites are;

Reduced need to code from scratch
Easy to create a unified and consistent look and feel
Version control
Edit permission management (control of who can edit / delete what content)
Preloaded content can be automatically published and/or taken down to a schedule

It’s not all roses though. The key disadvantages of CMS are;

Limited or no ability to create functionality not envisioned in the CMS (e.g., layouts, web apps, etc.). Basically translated, this means that imagination is always better than computers.
Increased need for special expertise and training for content authors.

Choosing which CMS to use (or which web service to use) can make a huge difference to how easy your website becomes to maintain a website. Things to be considered include;

Features – does the system let you do the things that are important to your site. An important feature to look for is whether there is separation between how your website looks (style) and the content that delivers your message. Usually, you want content providers to just worry about content, and the looks get set by a template or specific
Flexibility – supports features like templates and add-ins that make it easy to change a whole website or add a new feature. Having said this, too much flexibility actually adds complexity and potentially makes things harder.
Support – how easy is it to get technical assistance, trained and experienced contractors and things like templates and add-ins?
Price – yes, money matters. However, there are a lot of free and/or cheap products available.

Choosing a CMS

In the real world, there are hundreds of CMS to choose from. Here is my take on a few important ones.

WordPress is the most popular web CMS in the world, usually reported as being used by about 30% of active websites worldwide. In the past, I hated WordPress with a passion – I thought it was too hard to use and it had an abysmal user interface. However, the releases over the last 10 or so years have made major improvements and I’m quite happy with it now. Being popular means that there is a wealth of resources available to support WordPress use, though this wealth adds some complexity. Try and minimise the number of add-ins you require.

Methodist.org.nz is powered by Acclipse. There are not a lot of good things to say about Acclipse. Another Methodist website, kiwiconnexion.nz is powered by Mahara. Mahara extends the concept of a CMS by adding specific features relevant to education providers and is actually a class of software known as Learning Management Systems (LMS).

At the end of the day, though, it is not usually the technical bits of a website that make it good or bad. What matters is the impact the site’s content has on the community it is intended for. But that is a column for another issue.

Church Websites: Part One

Posted on Feb 4, 2018 by Peter Lane

What, Why & Wherefore

How can churches use websites effectively?

In November last year, I ran a survey on Church Technology topics and received about 80 responses over a period of a couple of weeks. As you can see from the graph, it seems like some of you want to find out about websites, so here we go.

What are websites?

Websites are fundamentally a collection of documents on a server running a program to use a set of defined technology protocols to make the documents available for display on a remote, but network connected, computer. The motivation behind the original technology was to create an easier way to share academic research within the academic community and focused on text documents. Over time, the enabling technologies have been expanded and evolved so that now, website technologies are what drives everything from online banking and online shopping to social media to remote control of your house air-conditioning and lighting. Today, a “standard”, bread and butter website would use server-based software called a Content Management System (CMS) and build the site out of a collection of components that contain content and display that content in different ways.

Church websites

So, why have a church/parish/congregation website? Like many things in the communications field, the first question is, “What are you trying to achieve? What is that makes this a desirable objective for us to accomplish?” Given that there is no truly free way to develop a website – at the very least someone will spend time, and time has a value, even if we don’t end up paying money for it. We need to make sure that the resources we spend make us a return of the type we are looking for. In my experience, there are three general types of things churches try to achieve in their websites, in combination or by themselves. But whatever type suits your situation, remember, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well!”

“Brochureware” site – I call this type “brochureware” because it is an online clone of the printed brochure some congregations have their greeters hand to new arrivals. The objective is to give a summary of the congregation’s “Vital statistics” – the phone numbers, addresses (email, postal, physical), what groups meet and key contact people. Often, congregations will try to go beyond the purely administrative information and try to paint a picture of the type of community the congregation is to help strangers viewing the website try to assess how well they would “fit” in that community. The “Find a Church” feature on the methodist.org.nz website is well-suited to hosting sites of this type. (Alec Utting is the webmaster for this site and would be happy to talk to you about getting your Parish page up to scratch.) Given the research that indicates that something like 70% of people who walk through your door for the first time has already checked you out with Google, I think this type of site is a no-brainer.
Internal Admin site – This type of site is focused on communications between the parish and its members. It provides access to things like rosters, prayer requests, meeting agendas and minutes etc. The nature of the material means that usually some form of access control is required so that confidential information doesn’t get viewed by people who aren’t supposed to. Often this type of site adds community building features to help facilitate and foster the relationship between there members. Personally, my feeling is that unless you have very specific requirements, it would be easier and cheaper to set up a closed group on facebook or a similar platform.
Community site – This type of site reaches beyond one’s own members and tries to engage the people in one’s community. To do this well is very resource intensive (in comparison to the other types), but has the most potential for working for good within one’s community, building a presence for the congregation and building a real role for the church within its community.

I’ve run out of space. Obviously, I will have to write some follow-up articles in future issues.