|
 Why Have a Website? -- The primary reason for having a website is that
everybody expects you to have a website. People are more often using search engines instead of phone books and over a billion
people will be using the internet by the end of 2005.
Like Building a House -- Architects, contractors, builders are some of
the parallels involved with building a house or a website. Ultimately, a house is to be lived in and so are the best of websites.
Getting Started begins with bringing the right people together,
building a team, key decision making and establishing priorities.
From Simple to Complex -- Starting out small and simple can be a
good idea. Content management solutions become especially important when a site takes on larger dimensions. Dynamically alive is
what it is all about.
CEO Optimized vs User Oriented -- All too many church and ministry
websites are optimized to impress the visitor with the beauty and elegance of the site design, all too often over loaded with the
latest technologies. A more user oriented approach should be considered.
Do We Need a Domain? -- Hosting your site with TAGnet is economical. You
can always move up to a domain some time later, or enjoy the broader benefits of a domain from the outset.
A Simple Updates Story -- This is the story told by Janine Lim
about her church's website, the first eChurch Award winner to use Simple Updates.
Free Church Websites -- About the collaboration between AdventSource
and SimpleUpdates to provide free websites to Seventh-day Adventist churches.
Website Ownership -- The first story is about a free hosted website
months after the webmaster moved to a distant location. The site was over a year out of date and the search engines had no problem
finding it.
Evangelistic Emphasis -- What are churches for? What are church websites
for? Surprisingly, only a small minority of church sites offer any explanation of the gospel.
Why do Church Websites go Bad? -- Church websites, much like a mass transit
system, need to get past a point of critical mass. Members are much more likely to help keep a website up-to-date when they
themselves find it useful and informative. There are successful examples offered from the Meet The Webmasters of the eChurch
awards.
Promoting Your Church Website -- Bill Aumack's newsletter offers lots
of great ideas on how to promote your website off the web as well as getting it listed in the directories and search engines. |
For pastors, church
board members, ministry directors and other leaders and administrators interested in getting a website started or influencing the
improvement of an existing site. New webmasters will also find useful information here.