It’s interesting to think about how pastors and leaders in the church are great communicators (they have to be, right?), yet often church communication can get a little muddled. The person giving announcements might say one thing, then the lead pastor delivers another, and the bulletin explains something entirely different. One way to enhance communication to your congregation is through your church website.
In an online world, your digital presence matters. That’s why it’s important to have an effective website that will complement the announcements that are shared on Sunday, direct people to the next event, and communicate to new guests how to find the integral information about your church.
Here are some ways your church communications can be improved through an effective church website:
Sync your offline information with your online content.
What you communicate on Sunday can be reiterated and expounded on your website. Many people will hear an announcement but won’t write down the information or will easily forget because they are there for the worship service. Their concentration is on receiving a message and worshiping the Lord, not so much about when the Men’s Ministry Breakfast is. However, they may want to find out more information during the week or as the event approaches, so syndicating your content on your website is very important because they will look there for the details.
A space to learn more.
Sunday messaging and promotions on social media can only be so lengthy. You can’t spend a lot of time providing all the little details during a Sunday service because the biblical message needs to be shared. People won’t read all of the content on social if the caption is super long or there is a lot of info and text on the graphics. Give your followers the gist of the event or ministry and then direct them to your website where you can elaborate on information. Provide a link to a landing page where they can learn more and also register or get involved.
Host content, information, and updates.
With everything so fast-paced and communications teams needing to update their congregation with the latest information, your church website is a good place to house the info and direct them to a static place for reference to stay up to date. Last year the world shut down in a matter of days, and churches needed to provide notification as to online church, when buildings were closed, and how to stay connected in a new virtual world. Directing people to your church website for important updates like these helps to dispel confusion and keeps everybody informed.
Vary the content and pages based on audience.
Each church has a varying range of commitment from the people attending. Some are first-time guests, some attend every now and then, and some still are committed members who are serving every Sunday. Your website is a good place for each of these categories of attendees to find what they need for the next step in their faith journey. The content on your website should reflect this. Have a detailed page structed for the guest, so they know when and where services are and what to expect on a Sunday. Create a next steps page or section for people who have been attending but want to know how to get further involved. Include membership classes, small groups, and ministries. This communication will help your congregation no matter where they are in the process.
Facilitate event registration and ministry involvement.
Your website is the perfect place to house all of your upcoming events and allow visitors to sign up to participate. This also provides the opportunity for your teams to be able to track how many people will attend and make it easier to follow up after the event. You can also communicate various ways for your members to get involved through volunteering in ministries. Many attendees desire to get more connected but they’re not exactly sure how. You can communicate this easily through your website with information about each ministry your church has and how people can take the next step to serve.
Does your church need a website that can better communicate your message?
Obviously with the world on the web, it’s important to have a church website. But you can utilize your website to truly improve communication with your congregation. Check out the ShareFaith web editor to better connect with your community today.