If Jesus Had A Website

It may sound funny, but you probably want to spy on your church's website, especially if you're in charge of it.

“So, I should essentially spy on myself?”, you may be asking.

Not quite, but pretty close.  It's not really you or the content of your website that you want to spy on, but what your site is doing on the internet:

• Are people linking to your website?
• If they are, what are they linking to?
• And, what are they saying about it?
• Is your church being referenced in news or blogs, but not linking to your website?

For a church, this is all important information to have, but how can we go about acquiring it?

Google Alerts

Google Alerts allows you to have the latest new search results for a particular search term sent directly to your e-mail.  For this site, I monitor both “if jesus had a website” and “ifjesushadawebsite.net” as search terms so that I can be notified of new links to the site and any references to the site in any other manner.  For your church website, I'd recommend both the basic unit of your website URL (i.e. “abcd.com”) and the name of your church as search terms.  In addition, if your church goes by any distinctive nicknames, I'd create alerts for them as well.

Google Webmaster Tools

Google Webmaster Tools can not only help your church website's presence in search engines through the use of sitemaps, but over time it will also give you a multitude of stats and information to learn how your site is referenced.  This information includes search terms used that find your site, page access errors or problems, and the types of links on your site and where they go.

While you won't have to monitor these tools a closely as the alerts above, they're good for a periodic check of where you are with your site.

Bloglines Search

For those of you who use Bloglines as a RSS reader, you can also take advantage of the Bloglines Search feature.  It is similar to Google Alerts, but it focuses simply on the content of blogs, and seems to provide more up-to-date results.

A combination of these and other similar tools can really help you understand where your church website situates itself in the great expanse of the world wide web.  With that knowledge, you can determine if you're where you want to be, and if not, a course of action to get there.

Yes, this is a little belated, but a happy Easter to everyone out there.  I hope that you were able to take both time out to thank our Savior for all He did for us on the cross, and spend some time with family on this holiday, as I was able to today.

Sometimes there are just good reasons to stay away from the computer all day…

As a sports fan, one of the blogs I like to read is Uni Watch by Paul Lucas of ESPN.  If you're not familiar with the site, Paul describes it as “The Obsessive Study of Athletics Aesthetics”.  Basically what he and a few interns do is observe and comment on sports uniforms and accessories.  These will be anything from uniform redesigns and logo changes to name misspellings and equipment malfunctions.

The reason that I like it is that it collects the details and minuteness that some people overlook, but seems to stick out like a sore thumb to me.  In fact, part of me thinks that's why I started this site.  I had seen just too many church websites where my reaction was “yes, it's a website, but this, this, this and this could be changed to make it much better”.

What we can learn from many of these uniform examples are ways we can try to spot check our own church websites:

If You Make A Mistake, People Will Notice

Check all your spellings and other details.  Otherwise people my not take you seriously.

If Something's Out Of Place, It Will Distract Some People

It may not seem like much, and it may not bother you, but little things out of place will drive some people crazy.

People Will Notice If Something Is Missing

Just to be safe, I'll clarify that Miguel Tejada's normal number is 10.  If people are expecting to find something (i.e. service times), they'll notice if they can't find them easily.

If You Look Bad, People Will Let You Know

They may not say it to your face, but people will say something to someone if they find something repulsive.  Do what you can to avoid being the butt of some joke.

If Things Don't Work Right, People Will Notice (And May Complain)

Make sure your site is fully functional, since you don't want to get caught with your pants down!

For the second entry in our free website critique series, we're taking a look at Christ the King church in Kingwood, Texas.

Again, I'll be taking the same approach as last time, and I would encourage you to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Appearance

• What's done well?
  • Design – The background and the shadows incorporated into the design really make it pop.  Plus, it really fits the style of the logo, so there a coherency there.
  • Colors – The mix of colors do a great job of making the site appear very lively, but they all work together as well.  Good choices.
  • Eye-Catching Graphics – Many of the images on the site, like the ones on the Help & Healing page are nice and eye-catching.  However, I would check the spacing on the images to make sure text is given ample space.
• What needs work?
  • Pick A Font – Just on the main page, I count at least three different fonts, and that's not including graphics and images.  You really should select just one to help maintain a better consistency in your site.
  • Link Inconsistencies – Some links are underlined, while some aren't.  Some underlined links change colors and lose their underlines when hovered over, and some don't change at all.  While I'm not saying all links should look exactly the same, they should behave in a consistent way so they are easy to identify.
  • Trees? – I guess I don't understand the use of the tree images in the top area of the site.  It really left me scratching my head.  I'd think that images of the congregation or from around the church might be more effective.
  • Flashing – While using Flash and other similar technologies can do great things for a site, I've also been know to advocate that they be used properly.  In this case, I don't think the use of Flash really does anything to enhance the site.  On the main page, with two different sections changing at different rates, I'd say it's more of a distraction.
• Suggestions
  • I'd lose the Flash and reexamine ways to display that content.
  • Find some new images that convey more about the church to use in the top section of the page.
  • Make sure your design template is consistent, and stick to it.

Organization

• What's done well?
  • Menu Structure – I like the breakdown of main topics with sub-topics.  It's clear and easy to follow.
  • Well Organized Pages – Each page is nicely broken down into sub-sections that allow a visitor to quickly scan for the information they need.
  • Upcoming Events – Even though they're in the Flash area, having this information right up front is very logical and useful.
• What needs work?
  • Duplicated Content – How many different places do you need to have the map to your church?
• Suggestions
  • Honestly, there isn't much.  I'd just take a look at the duplicated content and figure out the best place for it.

Utility

• What's done well?
  • Service Times Up Front – Something I always like to see!
  • Sermon Podcasts Available – Having not only the most recent sermon podcast available, but the last ten, is a nice feature for visitors to “try out” a pastor's preaching style or for members to miss a sermon and catch up (especially in the case of a sermon series).
  • A Plethora Of Information – Honestly, there is just a lot a lot of information to wade through in a critique, but for a new visitor that can be a good thing.  It means that if someone's looking for some information, they're likely to find it.  Especially when it's presented in such an organized manner.
• What needs work?
  • Meaningful URLs – Unfortunately, the URLs aren't indicative of what content is at that page, which is bad for search engines.  In addition, if I send a link to a certain page to a friend, they may avoid it in this day and age of phishing because they don't know where the link is taking them.
• Suggestions
  • I know that it's likely a big hassle, but it would do a world of good to clean up the site's URLs.  Not only will the links be more indicative of the content, but they'll also look more professional.

Additionally, I'll add a bonus point for the use of ColdFusion, being a ColdFusion Developer myself.

In the end, Christ the King church has got a very strong base established.  They've done a lot right, but haven't addressed all of the details.  While it may take some time to address these, it will be worth your effort.  They may not seem like much, but they will help your site with the search engines, and they will help give your site more credibility and a more professional appearance.

Well, after a long search, my wife and I have settled on a new home church.  We will now be attending Beverly Heights Church.  We were really drawn by the passionate and insightful preaching of Senior Pastor Rick Wolling and Assistant Pastor Nate Devlin.

I have yet to get involved in any of the ministries, but eventually I'd like to help get involved with their website…not that it needs much help.