The Internet Evangelism Coalition isn’t mincing any words or HTML code about what really makes a church Web site user-friendly for outsiders. The IEC posted a church site design checklist to help assess a congregation’s virtual impact on a community.

Church leaders should know that most visitors are first hitting the church Web site. What first impression do they find? IEC experts have created a scoring system for church sites based on three main areas: usability, welcoming aspects, and whether the site can be found from major search engines. IEC says their aim with the tool is to help church leaders think through the primary issues related to reaching their community via the World Wide Web. The  diagnostic relates only to the Web site as a tool to reach outsiders, not for inside discipleship or congregational communication.

Since it was recently redesigned with outreach in mind, I checked the readability of my own church’s site to see if it measured up to IED's recommendations. It did. I think they may have had this diagnostic tool before them as a blueprint in redesigning the previously cluttered and complicated site. Now it presents a streamlined, visual and interactive communication piece that caters to guests and visitors.

How do you accomplish that on a Web site? One way is to choose graphics that represent  your church with new people in mind. The IEC tool asks about pictures on your site. Do you include photos of people or just buildings? Secondly, do the photos picture real congregation members? Do they represent a cross-section of gender, ethnicity and age? Real people from diverse backgrounds are the most welcoming images for the diverse collection of real people who will surf your site. 

Another way to create a welcoming Web site is to write text that uses common language instead of Christianese or churchy-sounding jargon. Descriptions of ministers should include normal, human aspects of their personality and interests rather than solely spiritual descriptions. According to IED, people want real, everyday information and stories about people’s lives. A listing of ministerial qualifications and appointments, or a bubbly description about how a staff member’s favorite pastime is exegesis, may make visitors feel as though they won’t fit into your church unless they imitate Billy Graham.

IED encourages churches to take a good, hard look at their Web site with growth and outreach in mind. Not only is your Web site worth this sort of analysis, so is your building, programs and communications pieces. In short, everything about your church. Keeping the church accessible to outsiders while also building a Christian community requires a vision to reach the lost that saturates every aspect of a church. Most visitors will first see this vision on your Web site. So the question is: How does yours look?

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