Setting Goals for Your Church Web Site

Now that you’ve figured out who your target audience is, you’ll want to answer this question: “What do you want to accomplish with your Web site?”

Yeah, I’m talking to you, dear pastor, or church volunteer … this is a foundational question for church Web site design (and well, ministry planning too!).

What’s the goal behind it all? What intended effect are you trying to enact? And how do you want it to be used for the glory of God?
Too often, church Web sites are thrown up on the Internet adorned with some fancy, non-essential-but-”Hey, that’s just cool” gizmo, or bell and whistle pony show … with no objective in sight.

The goal is in effect for those kinds of sites is: “We’ve got a Web site! Wow! Check us out! Ain’t we special!” [Think irritating and loud music with animated dancing crosses in the background.]

Here are some quotes people could use when justifying the creation of useless, non-goal-achieving, un-rockin’ church Web sites, designed for one person (the person making the site):

  • “I learned this neat, little AJAX trick on the Internet and wanted to show it off.”
  • “I had an enormous amount of time and energy to tinker around and thought the church Web site was a good place to play in my Internet sandbox. By the way, did you see that fancy-smanchy tool I put on the site, but nobody could use because it required knowing three languages?”
  • “Nobody else was going to do it. So I filled a big, huge, gaping void. I’m important.”
  • “I had free reign because nobody else has a clue about Web stuff.”
  • “I paid for it. Therefore I own it. It’s mine, all mine. And I have absolute dominion for its direction, so don’t think you can give input. (Basically, because I have all the passwords and my name’s on the hosting and domain name, I OWN EVERYTHING — insert Dr. Evil moo-ha-ha laugh here).”
  • “I’m a computer programmer and know how to write code. Therefore, I will produce a text-heavy and obnoxious site that only 1% of the population would be interested in looking at. And that really includes my programming buddies and my wife.”

(OK, admittedly, I went overboard on these comments. I apologize. But I just couldn’t push delete.)

Most of these could have worthy motives and goals on which to build an actual rockin’ site that accomplishes your church’s mission and goals. But mostly, I think they are the basis for church Web sites that look like my 16-month-old niece (who is beautiful and extremelly talented I might add) produced.

Now … don’t get me wrong. If those reasons above are used in the cause of accomplishing a purpose and a specific goal … I mean that they actually do something positive for your church … then put that loud, blaring music on there. Let that church volunteer use his super-Javascript-modified-hyperextension-markup-markdown-hackjaw-code on the site. Slap on a couple of dancing reindeer and a ridiculously annoying font for that matter while you’re at it …

… as long as it helps you accomplish a goal, an objective, i.e., your church’s mission in the world!

Here are some sample goals I think are worthy of a church Web site:

  • To make it as easy as possible for prospective guests to discover your church and attend
  • To better communicate the church’s activities with the congregation
  • To provide a resource for members to invite their friends, family and coworkers to your church and its activities
  • To minister to those on the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
  • To provide devotional, Bible resources and tools for your members
  • To share the Gospel with your site’s guests

Have goals. Make your web site do something for your church. Force it to accomplish something worthy for the Kingdom. Make technology (specifically, your Web site) a slave to those goals, objectives and strategies your church has for reaching a lost and dying world.

… a worthy goal indeed. And aimed in the right direction.

[ See previous posts in the Building Rockin’ Church Sites here. ]

November 11, 2006 · Filed Under Church Marketing

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