Leadership – Church Web Strategies

Avoiding Unintended Metrics

If you cannot measure it, you cannot change it. Many of you know this and try to measure as many aspects of your website as possible. These analytics provide you with an overwhelming amount of information. Yet, I caution you about what numbers you try to change. In some cases, there are unintended consequences to your metrics. Here are some tips on how to avoid or at least be prepared for them.

What Coaches Can Teach Church Communications

Sports and competition teach us many life lessons. They are often learned because of a good coach. We receive both encouragement and admonishment from them. Coaches see the potential we have and know how to get us to reach it. Years of expertise give them keen insights. But anyone with a good coach knows, they help us with life as well as our sport. Here are a few lessons coaches have taught me, and how church communications can also benefit.

Creating A Successful Digital Ministry Onboarding Plan

Not having a plan for integrating new team members is a recipe for losing money. The longer it takes someone to start doing their job, the less impact they have. Unfortunately, many groups do not plan for this until the task is upon them. This sends a message that your people’s time and efforts do not matter. Keep reading for some common new hire pitfalls you should avoid.
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Cultivating your Web Team’s Culture

What culture does your web team have? If you are a team of one, that is an easy question. But it is more difficult if an entire communications team supports your church. If you are the leader, you have a heavy burden on your shoulders. You dictate what the culture is for your team. Here are a few insights on how you can positively impact your mission.
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Getting Maximum ROI on Interns

The summer is winding down and college students are getting ready to head back to school. Some lucky ones had an opportunity to work as interns during their break from classes. If you have an internship program, I have some ideas how to get the most from it. If you do not, I will give you encouragement to start one.
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How to Retain Volunteers

Growing your church’s volunteer force is important. You need them for many reasons. Your ministries can often do more with more people. Plus, serving on a team is the easiest way to feel like part of the church community. This article will examine several ways to recruit and grow volunteers over time.
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Cautiously Cultivating a Personal Brand

Have you ever heard of Billy Graham? Does the name Rick Warren ring any bells? These men and many others have contributed greatly to the kingdom. They also invested in creating a personal brand as well. If done properly, it is not a narcissistic or prideful thing to do. It gives you focus as well as a bit of fame. That fame, when stewarded well, can be a powerful force for change. This is a quick guide to creating an online personal brand while remembering that it is not all about us.
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The Dangers of Scope Change

Often the only constant on your web team is change. Unfortunately those changes have the possibility of completely derailing a project. Changes to a website project’s scope cause adjustments in timeframes, effort, cost, and research. Most companies utilize project managers to mitigate these risks. However, small church web teams often do not have this luxury. This article will explore what scope changes are, how they occur, and how you can mitigate the impacts to your timelines and quality.
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CWS Podcast – Ep. 40: Defining Webiste Victory

This is a shorter but still very important podcast episode that talks about success and failure. Basically, if you are not defining webiste victory, you will never know if you achieved it. As I mentioned in last week’s episode, your church website should evolve via small projects. Each project is part of a strategic roadmap to get you to a new level of success. But each project needs clear goals and definition of what is considered a “win”. If not, you will not know if you succeeded, and more importantly, when you failed.
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Website Failure: Building Hope

Launching a new website can be fun and exciting, filled with wild expectations of a flourishing church ministry. Then reality hits you when church attendance remains the same, and website traffic numbers are floundering. Here I will offer suggestions on how to maintain hope and deal with the obstacles of growing your church’s Internet presence.