I was speaking with a few church planters not long ago, and the conversation turned to websites. All sorts of opinions were present. There were the guys who had built their first website at 8, there were the folks who were afraid of the internet. And while I know plenty of guys (and gals) who are way more advanced technologically than I am, I ended up being the one offering options.
If you don’t have a website, you might as well not have a phone number or meeting address. Most guests will visit your website before calling or stopping by in person.
Two really great options are Clover and WordPress. Clover is a completely flash program that has super-simple layouts for your church website, reasonably priced, and built specifically for churches. In fact, they just announced three new site designs today. I’ve had several good friends who pastor great churches who have had great success with Clover and have helped set up a site before. Click here for more information.
WordPress is a blogging platform (the one I use) that is becoming the industry standard. You can use the free option (which is good), or you can self-host your site and customize it further (which is better). And did I mention free?
And if you’re thinking of going with WordPress, might I interest you in considering the Standard Theme? That’s what this blog is built on and while I’m not a web ninja or CSS guru, I can tell you that it’s the cleanest coding I’ve seen hands down.
When looking for a home church in town, I was able to listen to sermons on a few church websites. After listening to a great sermon; I attended the church the next Sunday and we joined 4 weeks later.
Dude. That’s awesome. How important was their website design and ease of use? I think your comment proves how important online messages are.
One point is clear – today’s generation use your church website to ELIMINATE churches they will visit or worship with. Stale, old, or neglected website = zero visitors at the door. No service times, map or phone? No visitors.
We use WordPress with a purchased church-intended theme and can’t be happier. Self hosting is the way to go! Most will also install WordPress for you through their OPS/Admin panel. Get yourself a few widgets to add functionality, and then add your content.
DEFINITELY keep the facebook and tweet functionality – this is paramount.
Yes sir! Good input.