First-Time Guest Information Should Be Prominent on Your Church Website

I’m exposing my bias and my philosophy of web ministry, but I believe helping your guests get assimilated into your church may be one of the most important functions of your rockin’ church website [series].

And one of the best ways to determine what type of guest information to offer is simply by asking your recent new members what questions they had before they visited your church. Then use that information to create the appropriate guest information for your website.

Be sure to include samples from two groups of new members:

  1. Those that have been Christians for a long time and may simply have relocated to your town and were looking for another church home; and,
  2. Recent converts, those new to the faith and the “church world.”

Believe it or not … they were probably asking different questions!

Here are some suggestions for guest-specific content:

  • Worship Service Information – For almost every church, the worship service is often the front door for guests. This information includes time(s), location, childcare information, and what to expect – from how to dress to the style of worship.
  • Church Beliefs – Be sure to link to your church’s doctrinal beliefs (in easy to understand language).
  • Childcare – Although this was mentioned earlier, I want to explain it further. This section should not just include the cold facts of locations and times. Parents will be trusting their most treasured loved ones to you and your church staff. You should exude warmth, love and most of all SECURITY and SAFETY in this section. Include information on how you do background checks, safety precautions, and health issues, like not bringing kids that are sick. Photos of smiling workers are great too. (Note: I pray this is actually the case. Please don’t sell something you’re not.)
  • Directions/Maps – It should go without saying that not everyone knows how to get to your church building. Make details easy. Use MapQuest and Google Maps to get actual driving directions and interactive maps links.
  • How to Join – Not everyone knows the inner workings of your church or denomination’s “way of doing things.” Detail out the simple steps to joining the church. Don’t make this ambigious or complicated.
  • How to Get Connected – Make it easy for someone to get connected in your church – from information about a Sunday Guest Luncheon with the pastor to small group information, locations, times and how to get there.

THE KEY: Place first-time guest information PROMINENTLY on your site’s home page. Make it as easy as possible for guests to get this information quickly. When I was redesigning my church’s Website, I wanted to make it near impossible to miss our first-time guest information … it’s a prominent green button on the top of every page that reads: “Guests: Click Here.”

See all the posts in the Building Rockin’ Church Websites series here.

December 4, 2006 · Filed Under Rockin' Web Sites, Web Site Design

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Comments

2 Responses to “First-Time Guest Information Should Be Prominent on Your Church Website”

  1. jcfzdts on December 23rd, 2006 8:52 am

    Hi all!!! Cool site!!!

  2. homwfpo on January 8th, 2007 9:57 pm

    Hi all!!! Cool site!!!

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