# Building a church website



## EKSB SDG (Sep 16, 2013)

I'm looking into making a website for our church. While I don't consider myself especially tech savvy, I am reasonably capable of navigating stuff. Right now, my task is investigating the particulars of creating a website (mechanics, costs, options, etc). Basically I'm looking for information on how to go about doing this, as well as learn from others as to what has worked well (and/or not-so-well). 

I handle our SermonAudio page and would like to integrate that into any website we have. The website would be for outreach, for members of our congregation and the broader visible church. I'd like to have the ability for members to be able to log in on the site to access members-only stuff (like the church directory, annual meeting reports, etc).

Any info would be appreciated.


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## JohnGill (Sep 16, 2013)

First, avoid GoDaddy for hosting. Get a host like HostGator or LiquidWeb.

Second, use Wordpress. I'd get a theme like Striking. It's easy to use and modify and can make your site look professional. Integration with SA and having a members only area is easy to do under Wordpress. I'll post again later tonight or tomorrow with some WP plugins just for that.

Third, if you don't use WordPress or Striking make sure you have a responsive site/mobile ready site. This will make Google happy and keep your site from being penalized in the search results. 

Also, don't spend money on SEO. Do get a church FB page, Google+ page, YouTube account and a Twitter account. You may not use all these, but it will protect your church from impersonators. You can use organic SEO to create "buzz" and have church members like the church's FB page. You should also create an FB Group for the church.

Feel free to contact me via email or messaging here if you want further ideas, help setting it up, etc.


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## Edward (Sep 16, 2013)

Avoid Flash. 

We've had several threads in the past as to what a web site should contain.


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## Tirian (Sep 17, 2013)

If you want something up and running quickly that won't cost too much but will be professional, efficient, structured, unique etc, I can help out. I can also offer excellent hosting at very reasonable rates for churches.

Check out Frankston PC for an idea of what we can do fairly economically.

Matt


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## adamjthompson (Sep 25, 2013)

Hi Bruce,

I own a web design and marketing company and we've helped several ministries and reformed churches with websites. Here is my church's site as an example: Providence Presbyterian Church in Bradenton, FL It was built using a WordPress theme.

I concur with Chris's advice to avoid GoDaddy hosting. I would also avoid Hostgator, though. They used to be great, but they were sold to a conglomerate and we've had troubles with them since. WordPress is great (WordPress.org is better than WordPress.com - allows you much greater control over your site). You would be able to install a plugin that would allow members to log into the site.

Hosting will cost you <$10/month. A domain name will cost $10 per year. Wordpress is free. The main costs associated with websites are hiring professionals to design and develop the site, if you choose to go that route ($500-$3,000ish).

~Adam


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## Poimen (Sep 25, 2013)

JohnGill said:


> avoid GoDaddy for hosting.



Any particular reason?


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## adamjthompson (Sep 26, 2013)

Poimen said:


> JohnGill said:
> 
> 
> > avoid GoDaddy for hosting.
> ...



They use scantily clad women and provocative ads to promote themselves
Actions which should be instantaneous (creating a database, adding an email address, etc.) take up to 24 hours on GoDaddy
Server performance is not consistent
They are the Walmart of hosting - you don't get the same level of expertise and personalized service other hosts will give


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## jwithnell (Sep 26, 2013)

I can recommend Smashing magazine for design and technical web inspiration. The trend right now is toward simple and straight forward without the dimensional and gradient effects that we design types like so much. (We're due for a redesign along these lines, but the underlying look and feel should be pretty easy to maintain.)

You definitely want to build responsive design into your site so it can be viewed on desktop and mobile. I strongly recommend keeping a tablet or phone in front of you as you work so you can see how things display. 

We've generally had good service from Squarespace. You can pick one of their templates, plug in your graphics and text, and be up and going in no time. I was impressed that they had employees running up 6 flights of stairs with gas cans for their generators to keep key components running during Hurricane Sandy. However, you will find them hard to work with if your site is going to be collaborative: if you give another person editing access, you have to open up the entire site even if someone else is only going to be working on one subpage. And while their forms are a breeze to build (for events like VBS registration, etc.) you can't have someone other than the site administrator or "contact" receive info from the forms.

After our landing page, we get a lot of traffic on resources like sermons and articles. Info about our worship and our pastor is also accessed frequently. We had a visitor recently who said he loved the information we gave about our beliefs and what to expect in worship (he didn't know I worked on the web site). Make sure your address and ability to contact the church are on the site. (You'd be amazed how often I find this missing on an organization's site.)

Google maps are a good resource. I don't know if this is always a problem, but I was on a church site the other day that uses MapQuest and they had ads of questionable taste popping up. Someone mentioned this about GoDaddy -- it's something to consider if you are using a free or inexpensive resource that is supported by ads.

I keep a block on my landing screen that can be changed easily for event information or seasonal photos. Events link to individual inside pages that can easily be enabled or disabled. The landing page looks fine without this block. This enables me to keep the site updated and avoid dead links or out-of-date info. Nothing says "dead organization" faster than an out-of-date website.


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## Semper Fidelis (Sep 26, 2013)

Am a big fan of Wordpress for Church websites (the software version and not the Wordpress.com version). Most hosts today allow you to install from the backend. Sermon Audio integration is very easy. Check out how a Wordpress site can look/function at my Church website below.


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## daniel.vos (Oct 4, 2013)

Bruce,

Assuming you decide to use WordPress, SermonAudio.com has a WordPress plugin: WordPress › SermonAudio Widgets « WordPress Plugins

In terms of password protected content:

The Table Project - Live Church Together

Gospel Software :: Church Member Management plus Online Photo Directory

I've also used a few WordPress plugins for members-only stuff as well, but I've found that it can get pretty complicated to setup and maintain.


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## Unoriginalname (Oct 4, 2013)

JohnGill said:


> Do get a church FB page, Google+ page, YouTube account and a Twitter account. You may not use all these, but it will protect your church from impersonators. You can use organic Search Engine Optimization to create "buzz" and have church members like the church's FB page. You should also create an FB Group for the church.



Also depending on the tech savvy your congregants are a church FB page and Google+ can almost serve as a running advertisement for your church as members link to it or interact with content placed on the page. The best part is that they are free.


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## jogri17 (Oct 4, 2013)

If you are looking to invest minimal money and make it easy, I suggest Squarespace.com They do hosting and design. They offer templates all of which are mobile responsive, great customer service, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited uploads for media (pro plan). They also will help you with importing or exporting their stuff to another service if you ever choose to leave. They also have more advanced code features (i.e. html, CSS, etc.) if you want to integrate it with their templates.


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