Church Website Help

Site Review: First United Methodist Church: Marietta, GA

The folks at FUMC Marietta emailed and asked if I’d review their site, so I was happy to take a look.  One of their concerns dealt with difficulties that users had in finding information.  I think their overall navigation structure is pretty solid, but some things can stand to be tweaked.  Check out the video below for my full review:

At one point in the video, I mentioned that their page titles could use some improvement. Here is an article I wrote a while back about good page titles. Correcting their canonicalization would also be wise.

I also mentioned that a section about their building would be a good idea.  Mt. Bethel’s “Our Campus” page is solid example.

I suggested that they convert their Facebook Group to a Page, and here’s info about that.

One last link is more information about the link to Details in their footer.  Here is why that should be removed.

Any other thoughts on what could be improved on their site?

Posted in Site Reviews | Tags: facebook, fumc, marietta, review |
2 Comments »

Join us on Facebook

Since our last post was talking about how to use Facebook Pages with your church, I figured it only made sense to create a Facebook page for this site too.

Come join us out there!  Ask questions, get updates from the site, and always be informed on the latest tips and ideas for your church site.

If you prefer, you can also follow us on Twitter, via RSS or get updates through e-mail. We’re trying to make it easy to keep up with the latest site news, so please let us know if you have any other suggestions.

Posted in Site News | Tags: facebook |
No Comments »

Use Pages in Facebook, not Groups

There’s been some debate recently on whether churches and other organizations should use “groups” or “pages” for their church/ministries on Facebook.  The thought is typically that groups are good for short-term activities, while pages are better for long-term usage.  I think that holds true, and I think churches need to be using Pages as much as possible.

Here’s why:

1. You get all of the functionality of groups except privacy. If you are a small group wanting a private place to connect, a group is the way to go.  Otherwise, pages can do pretty much everything else that groups can do.  That makes it a tie (at worst) right away.
2. Facebook seems to care more about pages. They’re always releasing new updates and features for pages, but there’s been nothing new for groups in quite a while.
3. Wall posts on a page show up in the activity stream on the home page of all of your fans.  With groups, people need to visit to see what’s new.  With pages, you can push the info right to them.
4. You can add apps to a page. This is great for importing RSS feeds and things like that.
5. You can get custom URLs for your pages. This might be the best argument for pages.  Once you have over 100 fans, you can get a slick custom address for your page, like facebook.com/yourchurch.
6. Your logo shows up in the search drop-down box instead of the generic blue heads for groups.
7. Pages has an API for external services to use. It’s still a bit bumpy, but you can update your page from cool services like Ping.fm.  You can’t do that with groups.

Many churches already have active groups, and there’s no need to abandon those just yet.  If that’s the case for you, I’d recommend:

• Create your new Page
• Build it out as much as you can.  Add a logo, some wall posts, info, links, etc.
• Invite as many of your friends as would be appropriate for that page.
• Once you have it going, go into your Group and send a message to all members informing them of the new Page.
• At any point, once you have over 100 fans go to the Facebook username page and get a nice URL for the Page.

Once you have most people shifted to the Page, put a notice at the top of the group and point them over there.

That’s my take on this.  Disagree?  Have other ideas about these?  Leave a comment and let us know!

Posted in Social Media | Tags: facebook, groups, pages |
5 Comments »

Site Review: LaGrange Park Baptist Church – Fayetteville, NC

Church: LaGrange Park Baptist Church – Fayetteville, NC
URL: http://lagrangeparkbc.org/

I did this video review live on my LiveStream account a little while ago.  Kind of fun.  I’ll try to give a little more warning before I do a live one next time.  Anyhow, check it out below!

Posted in Site Reviews | Tags: baptist, fayetteville, livestream, review |
4 Comments »

Site Review: Morrisontown UMC – Morristown, NJ

Church: Morristown United Methodist Church – Morristown, NJ
URL: http://www.morristownumc.com

Check out the video review below.  As always, please share your thoughts in the comments or request your own review via our Twitter account.

Posted in Site Reviews | Tags: morristown, nj, review, umc |
3 Comments »

Site Review: Crossroads Christian Church – New Smyrna Beach, FL

Church: Crossroads Christian Church – New Smyrna Beach, FL
URL: http://www.crossroadsnsb.org/

Another video review for you.  I kind of like doing these, so send us your requests via Twitter and we’ll try to showcase your church.

Leave your thoughts about this review in the comment section below.  Thanks!

Posted in Site Reviews | Tags: crossroads christian church, review, website |
10 Comments »

Site Review: New Hope Christian Fellowship Oahu

Church: New Hope Christian Fellowship – Oahu
URL: http://www.enewhope.org/

I’ve decided to take a different approach with this review and do it via video.  Let me know what you think of the technique (do you prefer video or text), as well as the content.

Two quick links for things mentioned in the video: How to fix canonicalization issues and what proper title tags should look like.

If you’d like your site reviewed (free of charge, of course), just send us a message on Twitter (@ChurchWebsite) and we’ll get one posted.

Enjoy!

Posted in Site Reviews | Tags: canonicalization, new hope, oahu, review, title, video |
No Comments »

Ask us on Twitter

Sorry so quiet latest.  Between a variety of other projects I simply haven’t had time to post here in a while.  However, that doesn’t mean I’m gone!

In fact, I’ve been trying to get more proactive on Twitter to assist churches there.  If you have any questions, thoughts or ideas, send us a message there.

@churchwebsite

Thanks!

Mickey

Posted in CWH News | Tags: twitter |
No Comments »

Twitter Tips for Churches

I wrote an article a few days ago for TwiTip, a site full of great Twitter tips.  In it, I show how we:

• Showcase our staff Twitter accounts
• Post a page with a summary of current staff tweets
• Show live chat from events
• Find out who else from your church is on Twitter
• Tweet live from retreats and/or mission trips
• Post weather-related updates
• Post blog entries
• A few other tidbits

Hopefully you find the article useful.  Check it out at TwiTip, or you can see the re-post of it on Anthony Coppedge’s blog here.

What other ways does your church use Twitter?

Posted in Other Tips | Tags: anthony coppedge, mission trips, retreat, twitter |
2 Comments »

Does your church Twitter yet?

Our church has been experimenting with Twitter (I’m @mickmel) for the last year or so, but we haven’t made any hard pushes toward using it.  Anthony Coppedge has just put out an e-book called The Reason Your Church Must Twitter, and now we might be getting somewhere.  Since I got the book, I’ve been talking with various pastors at our church and we’re coming up with some good ideas.  I’ll be sharing some of those in a future post.

The e-book is excellent.  It’s only $5 and is well worth it.  I have no financial interest in you getting the book — I simply think it’s something that every church needs to look at and consider.

Does your church already Twitter?  If so, what kind of cool stuff have you been doing with it?

Posted in Other Tips | Tags: anthony coppedge, twitter |
6 Comments »