The Truth About Church Websites and Effective Online Outreach
30. Jul, 2009 
2 Comments
- Drew has a passion to help churches use technology to do outreach, build community and advance the Gospel.
- 2,600 churches use Monk Development technology.
I’ll post Drew’s notes on this when I get them, they will be more accurate than mine! 
Are church websites effective tools for outreach and evangelism?
- John 17:18… as you have sent them into the world so I have sent them into the world.
- Facebook is now the “5th largest nation in the world.”
- The world is online so we need to be.
- 64% of wired Americans have used the internet for spiritual or religious purposes. – Pew Research Study
- 0.17% (1 person) said they were not a Christian and influenced to go to the church as a result of visiting the church website.
- 60 million Americans say they use the Internet to make big decisions.
- 6% of churches have Gospel presentation on their websites.
- At present, church websites are ineffective tools of evangelism.
- One possible reason… if you’re not a Christian, you’re not going to go to a church website to learn about God.
How are people finding the church website?
- On average, 25% are on a search looking for it.
- 43% are direct.
- 30% are clicking on a referral.
- What does search hits mean? Non-Christians are finding your site.
- Direct traffic typically means its people in your church, who know.
- The search represents the content of your site and how well it’s laid out.
- The higher the direct traffic, the higher the community involvement
- Referral means your online presence elsewhere.
During usability studies, 88% of web users went to a search engine first to accomplish a task.
Traditional church marketing has its message and you hope it connects with the person’s situation… online searches allow us the opportunity to be a “just in time” church based on what people are searching for.
- Life change – reach people when they need the church the most. (depression, marriage, health, death, illness, transition).
- Think about your town and how you can optimize the life changes people face in your community.
- People stay on a page for about 45 seconds… what are you going to do with that time?
- What are you going to do with the traffic that comes to your web? (Wherever it comes from!)
- Church websites are an effective tool for reaching Christians.
- 16% of people say that the church website is the first time they heard about the church
- #1 area people went on websites for information for new people… how are you thinking for that population?
- Many churches are creating websites for internal purposes, but what are you doing to connect people on the outside.
There’s three populations of people who visit your church website: visitors, beginners (3-6 months), and regulars (6+ months).
- 30% of people who were new to the church said the website is where they learn about the church.
- 77% said the church website was very important in making the decision of whether they were going to visit your church or not.
- A church’s website is people’s first filter to find a church.
- Spend your homepage connecting with first-time visitors and new people to your church.
Triperspectival Design
- Normative
- Existential
- Situational
- What do you want to communicate about your vision?
- What behaviors do you want the visitors to imitate?
- 82% of beginners say the website was important in their participation in the church community.
- 45% said it was important for their spiritual growth.
- 73% said the website was helpful in their evangelism efforts.
- 76% of regulars said the web was still important in their involvement in their church community.
- 47% said it was an active part of their spiritual growth and discipleship.
- 52% of regulars said it was important in sharing their faith.
- 82% of regulars visit the church website at least once a week.
Web Development – Developing a Church Web Strategy
- Internet Presence Management – how and what is your presence online? We have to develop a strategy and lead our people that way, or people will be all over the place. Where are your people online? What are they using? Is all your info on Facebook? Google Groups, etc? Think about the principal issues and how you’re going to accomplish them.
- Website Development - what behaviors do you want from people?
- Community Development - how are you going to engage your community? How do you create space for community online and use Facebook missionally?
- Church Management - online donations, event registration, etc.
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Man you must type lightning fast!
No kidding!!! Thanks for the EXCELLENT notes, Tim.