Who is your church website for?

One of the most agreed upon core questions of the communication world is “who is your audience.” That question should be central to every strategy and communication medium we develop (and this counts for church or not). So, when it comes to your website who have you decided it is for? Because I think we are missing the main audiences that a church website should before - more specifically we haven’t thought about:

• Who will use it the most.
• Why they will be coming to use it.
• And what features or processes we should have in place to help them have a satisfactory and helpful experience with our website.

Most church websites look like they are for the elders or deacon board of the church. The site is mainly the “who we are / what we believe” static statements and pages. Can I be honest and let you know that neither first timers or your members really care too much about that information. Of course it needs to be there, and of course it is good to have up on the site.

But most church websites I’ve come across not only have that information up front, but they have organized the site the way that elders / deacon boards / staff are used to looking at the information. It is setup like a budget spreadsheet / ministry index - instead of a site for who your real audience is and what they are needing when they come to your site.

Disclaimer: I am obviously not at your church, I don’t know your specific community and going through a process of identifying your real website audience and what they need through it is essential for you to do.

With that out of the way let me tell you who your websites primary audiences probably are, and what they are looking for when when them come by:

The Primary Home Manager is the #1 audience for your church website. This is a fancy term for the people in your church who are the ones that help to manage the life of their home / family. More accurately, and simply, your website’s primary audience are the mothers of your community. They are the ones that need information to get everyone where they need to be, they need to know schedules and updates, they need registration forms, they need to know how and where to pay, they are the source of family information and time management - your site is for them.

• Is your website mom friendly?
• Have you ever brought mothers from your church together and asked them what they like, dislike, and would like to see in your site?
• Ask the mothers of your church, what keeps you (or would keep you) coming back to our church website.

The Church Shopper is the #2 audience for your church website. You do realize that calling these people first timers no longer applies because a majority of people will check your website before they ever step foot in your building, right? That means that your church website needs to accurately reflect who you are, what the experience is like, and the life change that is occurring. If you are a church that is more contemporary with an average age of 40 then don’t have a flash website with some sort of edgy intro. It isn’t accurate to who you are and people coming will feel like there has been a bait and switch. In the same respect get your weekend teaching on line, whether in audio, video or both formats. Let them be able to become as familiar with your weekend and community experience as possible. Testimonies of life change, updates on ministries, events and service reports. This is why having a church blog, and having it displayed as or on the home page is a win all around.

Teenagers and Young Adults are the #3 audience for your church website. These groups both are growing up where the web is much more than just a digital brochure, it is a place to meet, connect and add value to their community and relationships. You don’t need to “wow” them, but if you provide a place for them to interact they will.

Again, I don’t know your community, but I am willing to bet that your church website is more facilitated towards the preferences of your leadership and staff than it is of the people who visit it and need it most often. On the flip side I would love to hear the processes by which you have focused your website, and the learnings you’ve had in making it as effective as possible!

-- Tony Steward www.tonystewardblog.com

Comments

[Tony Whittaker]

Spot on comments! I tried to convey a similar message in our short golf parable:
InternetEvangelismDay.com/golf

and at our church website design self-assessment tool, we suggest that, hey, a church site should be tested by non-Christians:
InternetEvangelismDay.com/design

Blessings

Tony

[Tony Steward]

Thanks Tony. What have been some of the results as non-christians have evaluated different church websites?

[Dawn Nicole Baldwin]

Great thoughts, Tony. The website truly is a window into the heart of the church, and you are so right about the importance of it reflecting the DNA, culture & experience. I also agree that understanding the audience each church wants to reach and gearing the experience around that makes a huge difference.

Here's a couple more questions we take into consideration as well when framing the architecture & experience that might be useful:

> What might our audience be looking for & what do they truly need? Where do our strengths as a church intersect with those needs?

> What is the vision of the church over the next few years & how can the online experience be designed to support that? (and ensure what is built online won't be outgrown right away)

> How do we want to change the relationship with our audience through our website? [Do we want to inform? Educate? Equip? In what ways?]

Thanks again for speaking on this. It's important stuff

[Dawn Nicole Baldwin]

Great thoughts, Tony. The website truly is a window into the heart of the church, and you are so right about the importance of it reflecting the DNA, culture & experience. I also agree that understanding the audience each church wants to reach and gearing the experience around that makes a huge difference.

Here's a couple more questions we take into consideration as well when framing the architecture & experience that might be useful:

> What might our audience be looking for & what do they truly need? Where do our strengths as a church intersect with those needs?

> What is the vision of the church over the next few years & how can the online experience be designed to support that? (and ensure what is built online won't be outgrown right away)

> How do we want to change the relationship with our audience through our website? [Do we want to inform? Educate? Equip? In what ways?]

Thanks again for speaking on this. It's important stuff

[Mark Howell]

Good stuff Tony! "Who is your customer?" is a question that doesn't get asked enough.

mark

[Steve K]

I'm not sure most churches know who they want to visit their web site, nor who actually does.

We're geeks and we read this stuff and it is totally on the mark, but how do we get the word out to the people in charge of church web sites? Who will evangelize to the churches and what do we have to back it up?