If you read my article on pre-planning your church website, you know how simple it is to get your church website up and running. But once your website is up, you may find yourself wondering how often you should update it. I have put together some general guidelines in determining how often your church website should have new content on it, but there's a pivotal question you need to ask yourself before I can get to those guidelines:
What is the overall goal of your church website?
When you created your website, was your main goal to create a digital business card of your church? Or, was your goal to let church members have a place to go where they can easily download and listen to your sermons? Did you want to create a whole online ministry to reach both church members and people all over the world via the Internet? Maybe you want to do more than one of these things, or maybe you want to incorporate all of this into your website. Either way, by answering the question "What is the goal of my church website?" you will be able to better gauge how often it should be updated.
Now that you know what the goal of your website is, you can see the different scenarios of how often to update it:
My website is a digital business card
If your website is a digital business card, you will only need to update it as often as your contact information changes. This includes changed church address, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. You'll want to make sure your contact information is always updated so people can contact you.
My website is a place where people can come to listen to and download my past Sunday sermons
If you want a download center of your sermons, your website will need to be updated every Sunday, or after every time you record a sermon, to include your most recent sermons. Luckily, website plugins such as MessageShare simplify this process.
My website is an online ministry to reach both people inside and outside the church
If the goal of your website is to have an online ministry to enrich church members' knowledge of God and to reach the lost, you'll want to update your website several times a week. You might be scratching your head thinking of how you can create content several times a week, so here are some ideas: Create a pastor blog where the pastor blogs about things God is revealing to him, post Bible studies to go hand-in-hand with what church members are learning, post Youtube videos like testimonials and Christian music videos, the possibilities are endless.
My website is a combination of all of the above things
If your website is a combination of a digital business card, a sermon download center, and an online ministry, you will want to update your website as often as possible, or three to five times a week. Again, by creating a pastor's blog or even individual ministry blogs, you will easily have more than enough content every week.
So what are you waiting for? Start that church website, figure out your website's goal, and see people find your church, hear the Word of God through your sermons, and even be saved as a result of your website's content!
Replies
Great information Valia!!! Thanks for posting!