Website Essentials: the key ingredients and getting started

Website Essentials:Key ingredients and getting started

Lawrence [email protected]@urc.org.uk

Rebecca [email protected]@gmail.com

http://ichurch.urc.org.uk

The history of the world wide web in three minutes!

Macintosh 128 vector: http://vector.me/browse/214898/apple_macintosh_128k

Web 1.0 (1991-2003)

Web 2.0 (2004 onwards)

Web 3.0 (as we speak)

Key Ingredients

What ingredients make a good website?

Design

Usability and functionality

Understanding your audience

Visual appeal

Less is more

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Content

• Understanding your audience

• Open to conversation

• Tone

• Less is more

• SEO

DESIGN

Design

“Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.”

– Steve Jobs

Source: http://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-experience.html

1. Usability and functionality

Source: http://standrewsmonkseaton.urc.org.uk

Source: http://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/

Understanding your audience

Site owner

• Who are we building the site for?

• What do we think the site is for?

• What do we want to tell them?

Site user

• Who is actually using the site?

• What are they using the site for?

• What do they want to find out?

Source: http://www.urc.org.uk/

Visual appeal

• Make use of white space to draw the eye

• Avoid unneccesary gimmicks and widgets

• Use colours & typography wisely: either harmonise or contrast

• Prefer clarity over cleverness

• Make the layout and the look logical

• Consistent: build your own box

Source: https://hillsong.com/en/

Source: http://www.hiswordoftruth.com/

Less is more

Search Engine Optimisation

Intro to SEO: http://youtu.be/hF515-0Tduk

Content

Understanding your audience

• Use language that resonates with them

• Make your content relevant to them

• Targeting to ensure maximum receptivity and engagement

Their top 5 priorities (probably):

• “Where do you meet?”

• “When do you meet?”

• “What happens to my kids?”

• “Are you weird?”

• “What are you really like?”

Source: http://www.churchinsight.com/Articles/356675/5_Things_stopping_visitors_coming.aspx

Source: http://www.churchofengland.org/our-faith.aspx

Conversation

Source: http://fleet.urc.org.uk/?p=7329&cpage=1#comment-166

Tone

• Don’t be afraid!

• Writing for the web is a different genre

• Make space for conversation

• Prefer shorter words and shorter sentences

Source: http://wallaseyvillage.urc.org.uk/new-visitor/

Less is more

• Keep content relevant

• Avoid bloat

• Archive things that are out of date

• Conversation space vs. library

• “Be church, online” – create spaces for God

Source: http://fleetwood.urc.org.uk

SEO

• Be authentic

• Search engines now read ‘human speak’

• If your content is engaging, and is active (egpeople are clicking on things) search engines will recognise this and rank your site higher

Source: http://windermere.urc.org.uk/conferences-and-meetings/

Getting Started

Free Options

Pay Options

• iChurch

• Church Edit

• Church123

• Church Insight

• Local companies

• Large commercial companies

Choosing a Package:

1. A domain name (eg http://yourchurch.com)

2. A web host

3. A website platform and template (ie the programme you use to build the site and the site template you use to display the site)

4. Support

Website Essentials:

1. Easy to maintain and update2. Easy to navigate3. Provides a good user experience4. Responsive (can be displayed on different sized

devices)5. Customisable6. Interactive7. Search Engine friendly8. Attractive

Website Essentials(Lawrence Moore and Rebecca Gudgeon)

http://www.slideshare.net/TheWindermereCentre/website-essentials-the-key-ingredients-and-getting-started-presentation-for-cnmac13

http://ichurch.urc.org.uk