Spruce Up Your Church Website for the New Year

Happy New Year 2016! As another year begins, take a moment to review your church or ministry website. It's a great idea to look at your website with fresh eyes, thinking of how a new visitor to your church might view it. We offer just a few essential items to make sure to include on your front page:

1. Map and Directions: This is one of the most important pieces of information a new visitor needs, so it's best placed on your front page—or make sure you have a clear link on the front that takes visitors to that information. If you have a website with Online Church Solutions, you already have access to a Top Slidedown Panel. This feature clicks from the top of every page on your website, automatically creating a Map from your map location, a Contact section for phone, email and physical address, plus a third section that can be used for Service Times, a brief Welcome, or whatever information you'd like people to easily access.
   
   
2. Update Contact Info: Nothing is more frustrating to a visitor than to use a contact method or information and it doesn't work. Take a moment to review your website with regarding phone numbers, email addresses, and even old information (End of Summer Picnic?). Click on links within your website to make sure they do what they're supposed to do, and send a test email through your Contact or other forms to make sure a visitor contact is being received by the right email address in your church.
   
   
3. Consider a "What to Expect" Page: If your church doesn't already have one, a "What to Expect" page can be a helpful way for visitors to your church feel comfortable about attending your services. Explaining dress attire, style of worship or even where to park gives people the confidence to attend your service without feeling awkward. Need some inspiration? Check out this Visitor Page from one of our churches, Greenwood Baptist Church in South Carolina.