Design Your Church Site for a Target Audience

It has been said, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.”

Thus, one of the first steps in building a rockin’ church Web site should be to determine who are your target audience(s) is – the “customers” of your Web site.

Generally speaking, there are two main audiences for most church Web sites:

  • Guests
  • Congregation / Members

At this step, you should ask: “Who is this Web site primarily for?”

Ask your team – Is your church site primarily for internally communicating with members? Or it is primarily for those who have never stepped foot in the church building — your guests?

If done right, your Web site can be used effectively for communicating with both audiences – without the exclusion of either one. But you should determine and prioritize who your primary audience and secondary audience will be.
I recommend that you design your Web site primarily for the ease and use of potential guests, but also in such a way that it can function as an informational tool for your members.

Design with both in mind, but give weight and priority to prospective guests. I guess you could call this “seeker sensitive” church Web site design.

Also, check out how church staffers and Web design firms answer this question in the Building Rockin’ Church Web Sites series here.

November 10, 2006 · Filed Under Rockin' Web Sites, Web Site Design

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2 Responses to “Design Your Church Site for a Target Audience”

  1. Dan Cross on December 20th, 2006 7:31 am

    This is a concept that I buy into whole heartedly, yet I am not sure how to get it across to others. We have identified our target markets for outreach, but our website is still structured to talk about what we feature as a church, not a customer-centered, need/benefit approach. I envision our home page with prominent banners answering compelling questions that we anticipate answer needs our target markets will have, answers that will motivate them to click on the banner & check us out further.

    A. Do you see this as an effective way to structure a website?

    B. If so, how do you communicate this to others so they understand and see the value of it?

  2. Cory Miller on December 20th, 2006 7:43 am

    Dan, first, you guys have got a rockin’ clean site!

    I think the banners are a great idea.

    In answer to B, this is a question of being missional I think. We all have to answer the question, “Is church about me or other?”

    If your church wants to grow, wants to see new people become passionate followers of Christ, then “they” will have to understand how to be a missionary in your culture.

    In my opinion, church websites should be first for guests, then second for the “family.” You can do both without excluding the other, I think. Some sites like Saddleback have separate “guest” and “family” sites.

    If you do that, in all your ads, marketing, evangelism, etc., use the “guest” site.

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