The Face of Your Church « Advertise by Crowdsource

13Mar/100

The Face of Your Church

If you were selling your house, your agent would go to great lengths to make sure it looked amazing from the outside. Its curb appeal is important for an obvious reason. When a potential buyer rounds the corner and sees your house, what will be their first impression? Will they be looking at a dull building with hanging gutters, brown spots in the otherwise sparse landscape, and dingy windows? A poor first impression based on the outside of your house would be hard to overcome even if the inside was a granite filled paradise.

Church Fountain Much like a customer feels a certain emotion when they see a house, a Best Buy, or a restaurant menu for the first time, it also applies to the face of your Church. Stop and think what's the face of your Church. Do you think it's your steeple, the side of your building that faces the street, your green grass, or lovely water fountain? If your Church has great curb appeal then you'll be positioned well for people driving by, but don't overlook what has been increasingly becoming an even bigger face of your Church: Your website.

My recent move has prompted me to begin the search for a new Church. Like any other quest I Google "Churches." For myself, and thousands of Americans like me, websites are the primary way to gather information. A website shows the true image of your Church or business. If it's lame, your business is lame. If it's funny, I'll assume you're Church has a casual and humorous atmosphere. If the homepage has a 1980s style mugshot of your 83 yr old pastor, I'll probably look elsewhere, first.

When I find a Church website that looks like this, it confuses me. My eyes don't know where to stop. I don't want to be on this website, but I persist only because I want to find a Church. Imagine someone who's not already a Christian but decides to investigate this "Heaven is a free gift" idea. If his search goes anything like mine, he'll probably move from website to website, becoming more frustrated until he finally gives up.

Print out your homepage and circle everything on it that a first time visitor doesn't need to know before his first visit. It's probably adding to the clutter and should be placed on an inside page. Then consider the flow a first time visitor should experience. Speaking strictly from a visitor standpoint I simply and quickly want to know what your Church stands for, the overall feel, & why I would want to visit. And speaking in vain, when I see a site that's designed well, I want that Church to work out. A Church website with an amazing design tells me they give their best to God, they have a thriving congregation who invests time in their appearance, and they will be attracting other like minded individuals for the same reason (Of course their doctrine must be legit). Don't take Christ out of your website but don't be afraid to get a professional designer to add some color to your homepage and remove the 90's clipart. Whether you accept it or not, your website is your sales brochure seen by potential "clients." Wouldn't you want that face to be your best?

Prova was originally created to help Churches with this very aspect of design. "Helping" includes working with Churches for free. Although we can't eliminate the prize amount offered to the best designer, we can remove our listing fees. If I can help you with anything, including offering advice on your website, please ask.