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Turn Your Church into a Powerhouse
By Tony Thompson
Churches are a place where people go for comfort and solace all
year round. People go to church when life is treating them good
and when life has been throwing difficult times at them. There is
a church for all kinds of religions and there is one thing that they
have in common and that is the fact that they all need to draw
in more people to their congregations. In this information age
the very best way to do this is to build an attractive website
filled with all kinds of great information.
The website that you choose to build for your church needs to
be well made and designed. It should look professional and
attractive. It should not look like it was simply slapped together,
this is going to turn people away rather than draw them in.
Keep in mind that having the very best website up on the
internet is not all about getting new members of your church, it
is also a wonderful way for you to keep your current members in
the loop. People will be able to go to the site and see all of the
latest news about the church and all of the great activities that
you are planning over the next few months.
Your church website can be your lifeline in the community if you
plan it right.
There are a few things that you need to do in order to have the
very best website set up for your church and they are all equally
important. The best place to start is by talking to a good web
design company.
Websites are no longer the painful and hard to deal with
experience that they used to be. The times of having to pay
through the nose for the creation and the maintenance of your
site are long gone and now you can use some of the fabulous
tricks online to get everything done quickly and easily.
What to watch out for when considering getting volunteers to
design and run your church website
Choosing the right people to set up and maintain your website
is crucial to this entire venture. Those that you choose need to
be skilled at this type of work and they should have a lot of
experience behind them. Talk to them about showing you some
examples of their past work, you should even talk to a couple of
references in order to help you make the best possible decision
for your church website.
Many churches have learned the hard way that volunteers can
lead to more trouble than they are worth. If you cannot find
good quality volunteer help you may want to consider paying for
the services that you are seeking.
Keep in mind that anyone can make a website but it takes
special talent to make one that will impress and it also takes
some pretty serious skill to be able to maintain it. You want to
choose the people who will be able to provide you with regular
updates and new features all of the time. Many churches have
chosen volunteers and regretted it. These people often get
bored or busy and stop doing the work that they promise. The
designs and the maintenance is not usually as good from
volunteers as from a paid company who specializes in this kind
of thing.
When you choose volunteers, what will you do if the person
moves or has a falling out with the church? They could take
everything that they have for your site with them and leave you
in quite a bind.
The bottom line when it comes to getting volunteers to help you
with your church website is that the results can vary drastically.
There is more of a chance that your website will turn out badly
than there is that it will turn out spectacular like you need it to.
You are much better off hiring a professional web design
company right from the get go. They will be able to make sure
that your website is wonderful and filled with just what you
want people to know about your congregation.
What to watch out for when considering click and build web
sites
Click and build services are notorious for the trouble that they
can cause. There are not a whole lot of options and your church
website is going to look like so many other sites on the internet
due to the fact that there are a limited number of templates for
you to choose from. Before you choose to go this route ask for
some references from other churches that have used this
company. Take a look at their websites, all of the pages, and
then contact them as well. Chances are that you will probably
find that most of these church websites look the same. Your
church website should look original and unique. You do not want
your church to look like it is affiliated with other churches and
that is what will happen if you get a church website that looks
just like all of the others.
It is a great idea to get in touch with the click and build company
through their helpdesk. This will allow you to see how long they
take to get back to you and how helpful they are. If they get
back to you quickly and they seem like they are interested and
helpful then they may just be the right company for you. You can
also ask them if they offer any other services to help you
customize your site to your needs. I have never seen one that
could do this but things are changing all of the time online.
Having so few options when building your church website is a
major drawback to click and build sites. You need a site that can
be made exactly to your specifications and the only way to do
that is to hire professional web designers.
If you do decide to choose the click and build strategy all you
have to do is choose the template that suits the feel of the site
that you are looking for best and then drop in the content that
you want to use. It is a quick if unoriginal way to get your church
website up and running.
Just about anyone can use a click and build website but it will
not have all of the great features that come with a custom build
site designed by professionals. And if you do not have people
who will be bale to do the updates for you each week or each
month then you will find yourself stuck with a boring and out of
date website. There is nothing worse than an out of date church
website and with click and build you could find yourself with
exactly that.
Most of the click and build companies and sites out there will
allow you to try out their products and services for 30 days free
of charge. This is a great way for you to find out if this is the
church website solution for you and your congregation. This way
you will be able to see just how hard and troublesome click and
build can really be. It will take you so much more time than if you
just hired a company to design your website professionally once
and for all.
When you hire a web design company for your church web site
everything will be taken care of for you. You will not have to
bother yourself with learning a whole new skill like maintaining
the website. After all you have so many more important things
to do with your time, like help the people in your congregation.
It is so much simpler to get a professional to take care of all the
hassles and the troubles, this way if something does go wrong
with the site they know how to fix the problem right away.
Besides there are some problems with the click and build
solution, if it can be called that. For example if you want to have
a truly unique church website that is unlike anything else on the
internet this is not going to happen. There are only so many
templates out there to choose from so someone somewhere is
going to have a site that is somewhat similar as far as style.
Another thing to watch out for is the helpdesk fees. Some of the
click and build services will charge you per minute for getting
help, this can really add up so watch out! These kinds of
additional add on fees are very common with these types of
services. You do not want to end up paying more to do it
yourself than you would to hire a professional!
Things to know about hiring a professional web design company
to design your church site
This is hands down the best way for you to get a unique and
gorgeous church website. Your site could be the best site ever
to grace the internet but it is going to cost you. Hiring a
professional web design company is the most expensive of all
your options. If you have the cash to put out you may want to
consider going this route but keeping your website maintained
and updated will not be as simple as with the click and build
option. Just remember that as with any other option you need
to get some good references and follow up on them to make
sure that this company is skilled at web design.
A web design company is the best choice when you want to
have a church website with some unique features. These
features may not be available to you when you choose click and
build and you will not be able to get these from novice
volunteers. The only way to have a site that has fancy features
is with a web design company.
Since this is the most expensive of all your options it is that
much more important that you get some good references. You
need to find the best services for the lowest possible prices on
the web design. Your church has many things that they could
use the money for besides the church website so saving where
you can is important.
You can even get the web design company to host and maintain
your site for you all year round. Any updates that you want
added they can take care of for you. This saves you so much
time and energy and this kind of peace of mind is truly priceless.
There is no better way to get your church website done than
with the help of a professional web designer.
About the Author
Tony Thompson is a devoted Christian who for years has helped different church organizations with their ministry website design. He lives in Arizona and runs www.MinistryWebsiteDesign.com - a company specializing in church websites.
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/21170.html
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| Some other articles by Tony Thompson | |
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