Simply put, personas are fake people based on real data. You most likely have several key markets you are targeting at your church. By pulling real data from various sources, you can create a profile to fit those markets. These profiles are powerful because you can create web experiences crafted just for them. In time, these personas become the focus of discussion rather than personal opinions of your internal teams.
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Tag: Content Creation
Licensing Your Content
If you have an active church website, you should have regular updates to news, events, sermons, and perhaps even a blog or two. Posting all of this information is great, and one possible goal is to share this content with others. However, have you considered what copyright restrictions you wish to have on this content? Solve these problems by integrating Creative Commons Licenses into your content strategy document. You can eliminate a lot of confusion and even legal battles if you are proactive on licensing your content.
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Using Search Terms to Guide Content Updates
Depending on the website platform your church utilizes, you can easily capture what users are entering into a search box. This information is an absolute treasure trove of information about what your users want to find on your website. It shows exactly what topics people want to find, the language they are expecting to see, and on what page they were expecting to find it. By using search terms to guide future content updates, you are giving your users what they are already asking for.
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Encouragement to Write
Milestones are artificial measurements meant to give us an appreciation of our journey. In reflection of writing ninety-nine other articles, this one hundredth article is meant to do one thing. Encourage you to write. In this era of digital freedom, people are free to put their ideas out for an astonishingly large audience. Hence I am asking you to begin writing your thoughts, and when you are ready; publish them for the world to see.
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Helping Others Deal With Tragedy
How does the church respond when calamity strikes, be it in their neighborhood, or around the world? When people are grieving, they often turn to the church for support; seeking refuge in God’s love. Is your website readily equipped to offer this comfort and do you have a social media policies to help govern your responses in that space? If there is any doubt, read on.
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Re-Think Content: Conversion Paths
When you talk to someone who has questions about Christianity; you do not spout off the entire Gospel, hoping to convert them right there on the spot. Unfortunately many websites do just this. They do not understand that just like an eCommerce site, you need to build interest, trust, and value before you can ask for any level of commitment from a website user.
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Re-Think Content: Content Gap Analysis
Where do you start when you want to update your website? This series kicks off some big tasks of re-thinking your content, why it exists, how it fits into a navigation structure, who will create the content, who will maintain it, and when those updates will be made. All of these should be done prior to firing up Adobe Photoshop or writing a single line of HTML. Stick with me on this, it will be worth it!
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When to Retire Content
Many of my articles deal with creating new websites or new content for them. Yet there comes a time for content to be suppressed, archived, or even deleted from your site. This is especially true of time-sensitive information and news, as once the relevant dates have passed, its usefulness greatly diminishes. Part of your web content strategy should include what content can be retired, and when.
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Before Going International
The Gospel was given to be spread to all nations; so why not promote your church website internationally. Many churches are growing in popularity because they are sending out their sermons via podcasts, and people all over the globe are listening. However, there are several considerations you need to take into account before you start to expand your horizons.
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Sketching the Big Idea
Website design is obviously a visually oriented craft. So why rely on just words to convey something a picture can do better? Whether you are communicating within your church web team, at a committee meeting, or a presentation to executive leadership; pictures will more easily communicate what your website will look like.
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People Still Print
Believe it or not, people still print website content. Does your church website account for this? If not, there are specific techniques that when applied to targeted areas of your site; will provide your audience easier offline consumption as well as sharing your information with others.
Synonyms on your Church Website
Most modern search engines rank your site according to its content. The content that is most easily parsed is text. The frequency and relevancy of words dictate how it will rank against certain search terms. However, you should not let your church’s theology and terminology get in the way of letting your site bubble to the top of the search pile.