Free Personal Web Hosting and Personal Homepages!

Last week I wrote about how important it is for church websites to show up near the top of the search results when people in the community search online for a church.  That’s the first step.  Once a person sees your church’s website, will they want to visit your church?

Unfortunately, most church websites seem to be created to inform the existing members of the church rather than to reach out to people in the community.  With Internet Evangelism Day only 3 days away I thought this would be a good time to remind everyone of some tips to help your website connect better with unbelievers.  This could serve as a good topic of conversation for an IED meeting of your church leaders or web team.

(more…)

If you’re not sure, you’re not alone.  Pastors and church leaders need to know that just because their church has a website doesn’t mean it will be displayed in the search engine results when people in their community search for a church online.

As we near Internet Evangelism Day (April 27), if you pastor a church or administer a church website one of the best things you can do for IED is facilitate a meeting to discuss how to better use your church website to connect with people in your community.  A key part of that is assessing your church website’s visibility in search engines and developing a plan to improve it.

You may be saying to yourself, “Uhhh, that sounds like a good idea, but I don’t really understand search engines, I don’t know how to assess my church website’s visibility in search engines, and I wouldn’t even know where to start to improve it.�

Well you’re in luck.  This article will provide an overview, which you can use to lead that meeting and develop a great plan so your church can reach more people in your community.

(more…)

At first glance the title may seem over-hyped, but I literally quadrupled the number of new visitors to my personal blog, Live Intentionally, using images.  Recent changes in Google have made images a website traffic goldmine, and surprisingly few people are capitalizing on this opportunity.  Here’s how I did it.

(more…)

When someone visits a website for the first time, they make a quick, intuitive decision whether to continue reading the site or move on to another site.  I believe that decision is based on 3 questions the visitor is looking to the website to answer:  “Can I trust you?�  “Am I welcome here?� and “Can you meet my needs?�

Because this is a largely an intuitive decision, images can play a significant role in it.  Today we look at how images can help to positively answer the third question “Can you meet my needs?�

(more…)

Someone clicks through to your website - maybe from a site that links to yours maybe from a search engine.  Within 15-60 seconds that person will decide whether move on to another site or continue looking into what you have to offer.  Either at the forefront or back of their mind, that person is scanning your site for the answer to three questions.  “Can I trust you?�  “Am I welcome here?�  “Can you meet my needs?�

This is an intuitive decision based on information, appearance, and emotion.  The images on your website play a large roll in that decision.  In part 3 of this series, we look at the way the images on your site answer the question…

Am I welcome here?

(more…)

Last week I started a series of blog articles about the importance pictures have in helping new visitors make the gut-level decision to stay on your website more than 15 seconds.  I believe that every person who visits a website for the very first time arrives with the same three questions.  Sometimes a person is consciously looking for the answers, but often the questions lie just under the surface in the subconscious.  Today I’m going to speak to the first question…

Can I trust you?

(more…)

All of us have our own talents, personality traits, mannerisms, and sense of style. This makes us one of a kind, and usually, we like that. So, why not apply that same thought to a website? This week, we’re talking about why it is important for your website to be unique.
(more…)

In the past couple of weeks, we’ve talked about the use of graphics, images and Flash technology to add interest and movement to your site. Today, I’m going to talk a little about how you can use text to spice up your website as well.
(more…)

Living in Florida, I don’t personally adhear to the seasonal nature of spring cleaning.  In fact, with the highs around 70 right now, I’d like to spend a few hours in the garage in the next couple of weeks before it starts to feel like an oven in there again. 

There’s a bike in there that’s broken and either need to be fixed or put out to the curb.  There are some toys that my kids have outgrown and need to be taken to Good Will.  There are tools that were laid on my workbench and need to be put away and reorganized.  There are the boxes that I kept just in case items I bought broke and needed to be returned.  And then there’s lots of dirt and leaves that have blown in over the last several months.

Things have started to pile up and get cluttered.  Sometimes I can’t find things I’m looking for.  It’s starting to become more difficult to find places to put new things.

The same thing can happen with a website over time.  As content gets added, it can become cluttered.  Graphics and media don’t always get put into the right folders and can become difficult to find later on.  Old files that you know you’ll never use again are sitting around gathering electrons.

It’s time for a little spring website cleaning.

(more…)

The Christian Web Trends Blog is intended for all Christians interested in reading and discussion the impact of Internet technology on ministry and not specifically for people who use OurChurch.Com website services.  So, while I do occasionally mention OCC services tangentially as they relate to a topic, I don’t often write blog articles specifically about OCC services because it’s not about OCC.

Today I’m going to make an exception to talk about the new NE1 Website Builder we recently launched, because more than 10,000 Christian organizations have active websites built with our Beacon website builder.  And I believe with all my heart that the more of those organizations that move to NE1 and the sooner they move the better those organizations will be able to communicate and minister to those they serve.

Plus more than half our blog subscribers have a website created with our Beacon website builder and have an interest in NE1.  It’s not often I write something that even half of our readers are interested in.

(more…)