One other factor that is likely to have an impact on the longevity of your website is technology. While we usually have some level of control over design, usability and utility, technology is an outside influence that is typically beyond our control. However, we can anticipate changes in technology and adapt to them appropriately.

One example of changing technology that influences our websites longevity is the ongoing “browser wars”. Recently, all three of the major browsers (Internet Explorer(IE), Firefox and Opera) received major upgrades, most notably IE. In this upgrade to version 7, Microsoft modified their implementation of web standards and CSS, which has led to a more uniform appearance between the three browsers. However, many webmasters who had designed their sites specifically to IE6 were forced to make quick changes to keep pace.

In hopes of avoiding a situation like this, most webmasters were quick to download evaluation or Beta copies of the latest upgrades in order to see how their work appeared in advance. This allowed them to pro-actively make the adjustments to their sites in order to support both versions of the browser in order to ensure a seamless transition to the upgraded technology.

This proactive approach is the one we typically want to take with our websites. We want to work to keep pace with the current technology, and take advantage of the new features that it presents us with. In the end, we wind up with a professionally run website that should function properly with the new wave of technological advances at least until the next wave comes along. It also reflects positively upon our church and commitment, which is a great message to convey as well.

Well, that wraps up this series on site longevity…I hope you collected a few pointers or got some new ideas to take into consideration the next time you sit down to revamp your church’s website!

We've already identified design and useability as important factors in site longevity, but one of the other major areas we can look at to help increase the longevity of our sites is it's utility. Whereas useability refers to the ease of use, utility refers to what is available to use. It's also a factor that has two extremes that we need to be aware of when we put together or revamp a site.

The first extreme of utility is absence, meaning that there is nothing on the site that is useful to a visitor. While there are not many sites that fall into this category, there are some. For example, there are sites that put together sets of popular search keywords and then place tons of advertisements on the page. The idea of these pages is to deceive people to visit their pages in hopes that enough will click on the ads for them to make money. For the average visitor, these pages provide no utility at all.

In a church website example, a site that comes awfully close to absence is a page that just gives a picture of the church, a little blurb about the church, maybe a photo and paragraph about the pastor, and an address and phone number. While this kind of page does provide basic information about the church, it's overall utility to the average visitor is very low. It's likely that a visitor would not come back to the church's website because they can see that there isn't much of a chance of new information being available if they do return.

However, at the other extreme of utility is inundation, meaning that there are too many tools available for a user or community of users to make use of. Again, there are not many sites that fall into this category, but one example of a page that comes close is Netvibes. Nothing against Netvibes, since I make use of it as my browser's start page, but there are so many different modules available that many have little utility, are never found by users who may utilize them amongs all the features available, or they quickly become outdated as the Netvibes infrastructure gets upgraded.

Applying this to church websites, an inundation of utility may be as simple as adding forums to a church website. Now, in many cases, the addition of forums may be a great opportunity for communication and outreach, but in the case of a small church (around 30-50 members, and let's assume only 50-60% use the internet regularly) forums are likely to be vastly underutilized as there are just not the numbers of users available to maintain a healthy set of forums.

The overall lesson is that utilization is a balancing act. We want to avoid having a site that is devoid of useable features, while at the same time avoid providing too many features that go to waste. If we can find that midpoint that best fits our church website and situation, then we only have to worry about redoing the site as the church situation changes (growth, decline, technology usage, etc.), and that will help to increase our site's longevity.

While site design does play an role in the longevity of a site, it is often not the determining factor. However, one of the key factors is often a site's usability, or the ease in which a user can use your site. The simple reason for this is that people are lazy. While that may seem like a derogatory statement, the underlying truth is that people want to do things as simply and easily as possible.

For example, let's take a look at a site like Digg. In the past, when you found an interesting site, you'd have to e-mail or IM the link to your friends and explain to them why you thought it was worth the visit/read. Now, you can simply click on a "Digg This" button and have it added to your profile, so anyone who knows about your profile can see what you're recommending. In the past, it could also be difficult to find up-to-date information on the internet that was interesting. You'd have to sift through Google results or rely on the main media websites like CNN or ESPN. Today, you can just hit up the main Digg page that lists all of the "hot" stories in the Diggscape. In essence, Digg has created a very active site and dedicated user base thanks to it's ability to make sharing preferences easier.

Now, you're probably not planning on making your church's website into the next Digg, but there is a clear lesson to be learned here: People tend not to use things that are unclear or difficult. So when we look at our sites, we want to make sure it is easily usable for the average user. Are navigation menus clearly organized? Is key information in a logical place? Do the features you may have added to the site, such as maps, Flash animations and podcasts, make the site easier to use, or are they too complicated to be useful for the average visitor? If you have dynamic content, is it easy enough for the church staff to use? Make sure to take your audience into consideration here as well, as the usability for a site may be different for a group of teenagers than it is for a group of 40-somethings.

If we take these usability factors into consideration when we put our church websites together, then it is less likely that we will have to do major reworkings on the site in the near future, thus lengthening the site's redesign cycle.

With the start of a new year for IJHAW, I've recently been thinking more about some of the keys to site longevity. This idea is important when it comes to church websites because most churches can't afford to have a webmaster on staff full-time to constantly be making updates to the sites, so we must focus on making our sites viable in the long term. The question then becomes, "How do we do so?"

There tend to be four of factors that play into extending site longevity: design, usability, utility, and technology. Over the course of this series, we will be exploring ways to improve our sites for the future in these key areas.

When it comes to the design of your site, the one thing that can force a redesign quicker than anything else is an appearance that does not have universal appeal; the dreaded "I don't like how it looks". While it is appropriate to design towards a particulary audience in some cases (Youth Groups, Women's Ministry, etc.), the majority of the time we want to put together a neutral design that appeals to the masses. A neutral design also tends to extend site longevity because there will be less of a need to keep up with the Jonses'. So, if you've got a new design idea, make sure to pass it by a few different people of different backgrounds and ages to make sure it will fly, or else you'll find yourself at the drawing board again sooner than you'd like.

With your design, you also want to consider the following factors:

• Readability - How easy is it to read the text on your site? High contrast is desired, especially in case a colorblind person were to reach your site. Poor readability can quickly cause people to stop visiting your site.

• Attention - What areas draw your attention the most when someone visits your site? Are those the places where the most important information is? They probably should be. Otherwise, your site won't be a effective as your church may like.

• Speed - Does your design load up quickly, or does it require a lot of images and scripts to get the look you desire? Remember, people are impatient, so quicker is usually better and increases lifespan, even if it may not be as visually engaging (as del.icio.us has helped prove).

There are other aspects of your design that will play roles in the longevity of your site design, but these will probably be the main factors that every church webmaster should investigate. Take the time to evaluate these for yourself, or ask others their opinions on it (and be specific about the feedback you'd like, as people may not give you much more than "it's OK") to get a better feeling for the current state of your site, and where it needs to go. If you can improve the longevity of your design, you'll also take some work off of yourself in the future (something I'm sure we can all appreciate).