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Website Essentials:Key ingredients and getting started
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• Archive things that are out of date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
