The internet will often be the starting point for people wanting to find a church. Historically this won't have been the case, but in today's generation the web is the main source of information.

With this type of challenge what can a church do to engage with their local community and leave a lasting impression? Here are our 6 top tips on how churches can do this:

1. Have a website that works on mobile devices

With 70% of adults accessing the internet ‘on the go’ using a mobile phone or smartphone in 2016 (Office for National Statistics)  it is essential for any website to be mobile-friendly. This has to be a top priority for churches if they wish to engage with their community especially as Google moves towards a mobile-only indexing world (in response to the majority of their traffic coming from mobile devices).

2. Have a well designed website that makes good use of images and typography

It is a well known fact that people don’t actually read websites, they scan. Therefore it is essential that a website:

• is designed properly so that it includes well structured messages,
• uses bold text as appropriate, and
• has complementary strong imagery.

This is why using a professional web designer is important because designers know how to manage copy. It is their job to ensure that messages can be easily absorbed as the page is scanned. Having a well designed and easy to read church website gives a strong impression to a web visitor that you want to engage them, and can be the difference between them staying or leaving immediately.

The main message of the website must be impactful and easy to read, allowing it to be absorbed subconsciously whilst the eye scans the rest of the page. Using an appropriate image enhances the message, and having readable web fonts that work well on all devices is a must. Using no more that 4 fonts on a site and professional typography ensures that the copy does not subconsciously cause the eye to jar.

3. Have a website that makes an emotional connection

The church website must make an emotional connection with your web visitor. The church has been at the forefront of uniting and serving communities for centuries and despite the changes in social interaction the church does not have to be left behind. With loneliness being seen as epidemic in today's society it is the church that can transform communities through the Gospel and fellowship.

How then can a church website make that initial emotional connection? Well the secret is in imagery. You will know this from looking at charitable websites where children are often featured to draw a person into the site. We would recommend:

• having photos of members of the congregation engaged in an activity that reflects the life of the church,
• using photos of people that are happy and relate to your community's demographic,
• taking photos of people that are facing the camera to make an immediate impact on the web visitor,
• showing different activities undertaken by the church pictorially so that the web visitor will be able to make a connection with the church more easily, and
• not using stock photos (from online sources) if possible.

Harbour Church, Portsmouth have used photos to make their website friendly, accessible, and have included a feed from their Instagram account to keep their imagery current. The Instagram feed immediately gives an idea of what the church is about, the demographic, and that it is a fun place to get involved in. Sharing this on the website keeps the site current as the images are updated showing different aspects of church life.

4. Let web visitors know how they will benefit from coming to church

This might seem a strange thing to include. However, in today's society most people are ignorant of the Gospel, and have set ideas as to what church is like based on the media. Therefore the website needs to have images and copy that explains how the Gospel and the church can transform lives. The local church should be the focal part of any community. It is a place where deep friendships can be made, where people can be loved and accepted, and hope offered, so let web visitors know what church is really like and just how exciting the Christian life can be.

5. Include ways in which web visitors can become involved

Once the web visitor can see how they can benefit from church it is just a simple step to get them involved. Things that can help:

• calls to action that link to a contact form,
• a phone number that is usually answered and/or has an answerphone
• the church's address, with a map to help people know where to find the building or church office
• times of services
• information on what's on, where it is held, and how to get involved, and
• links to social media

By linking to social media the web visitor can further experience different aspects of the church, and get a chance to comment and share on what is going on.

6. Have a blog to keep your community up to date with what is happening at the church

A blog is the ideal way to share more about the church life and allow for comments. But what sort of thing could you include? Here are a few suggestions:

• talk about upcoming events, baptisms, weddings, and church activities,
• include testimonies and photos of how lives have been transformed,
• use the blog as an online "parish magazine" where your community can go to find out more about what is happening in the church, and again what benefit can be gained from attending.

The blog is a great place to include items for all demographics, including men. Men's breakfasts, alpha, weekly football, street pastors, messy church, youth clubs, toddlers groups, and services etc. can all be talked about on the blog.

Photos make the blog alive and by encouraging comments Google will want to visit the site more as content is being uniquely generated.

Conclusion

It has been suggested in the media that the church is a dying institution with no relevance to today's society. At the Church Pages Initiative we can see why this comment might be made, but disagree with it entirely. There are thousands of Christians faithfully serving the Lord and their community, and the church is the only hope for this nation. A good website can not only make a church culturally relevant, but can reshape the way that church is viewed by this ever increasing technology driven society.