The Diocese of Canterbury Developing Church Websites 26 April 2016

The Diocese of Canterbury What are you looking for today?

The Diocese of Canterbury Who are local church websites for?  Just looking: those who are not yet Christians  Interested: Christians who don’t yet come to your church  Family: existing church members

The Diocese of Canterbury Meeting the needs of different groups  Just looking: - Is this a church for me? - What do Christians believe? - Location of church, contact details, service times and types, weddings, baptisms and funeral information  Interested: - Churchmanship - Service times - Location

The Diocese of Canterbury  Family: - News - Service times, events - Training - Prayer for day, sermon podcasts...

The Diocese of Canterbury What makes a good church website?

The Diocese of Canterbury What makes a good church website?

The Diocese of Canterbury What makes a good church website?

The Diocese of Canterbury What makes a good church website?

The Diocese of Canterbury …and a bad one?

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…and a bad one?

The Diocese of Canterbury Keep it attractive  Use photos of real people and real events (get permission)  Include photos and names of ministry team/other key people  Include a heartfelt welcome  Don’t dominate the site with information about your buildings or requests for money  Update the site regularly

The Diocese of Canterbury Keep it simple  Make it easy to find information quickly: 3 clicks and a search box  Avoid great lumps of text  Link to a map and postcode info  Think about accessibility: Guidance available from the Government:  Avoid animations and large resolution pictures  Pages need to be compatible with different computers and mobile devices

The Diocese of Canterbury The homepage  A strong image that captures the culture and feel of your church  Welcome  Location  Type of church – include CofE and Diocesan logos  Sunday service times/description  Links to pages with lower priority information

The Diocese of Canterbury Pages you might include  Information for visitors  Weddings, baptisms and funerals  News and events  Contact (include hall hire if relevant)  What we believe/do – check out CofE pages for inspiration  Church life: outreach, mission projects, families, schools…  Worship, sermon podcasts  Links to other sites (CofE, Diocese etc…)

The Diocese of Canterbury Some website building services  WordPress  ChurchInsight  Church Edit  Church  Wix  Tumblr  Blogger

The Diocese of Canterbury A Church Near You   Free  Every church already has a page – it just needs an editor  Quick start guide:

The Diocese of Canterbury A Church Near You A Church Near You contains information about parish churches and the services and events that take place there. It's FREE for visitors and parishes. It's a great help to visitors to have accurate information about the churches they might want to visit. Many parishes that have added information to A Church Near You have noticed an increase in visitor numbers.

The Diocese of Canterbury To consider  Who is going to update and edit the site?  How will you ensure a smooth handover if that person moves on?  How well does your website convey the culture of your church?  Looks aren’t everything – clear, useful information rules  Simple = good  Would creating a Facebook page be the easiest solution?

The Diocese of Canterbury For more support: Marilyn Shrimpton / Anna Drew /