Many times I have been approached by clients who want a web site but who have not really thought through what they want to say and to who they are saying it. We must define who the site is for, what is its purposes beyond just having an online presence. Having defined the target audience and what the message is, it is important that the content is planned and the structure decided upon before design begins. Although content will change and develop over time, your designer will need some idea of how the site will be structured, your key messages as a starting point.

Suggestions for briefing your web designer:

Focus on the home page. This will carry your key messages, and lead people into the most important areas of the site. Think about what most of your visitors will be looking for and make sure they can find it easily. This is where people may form their first impression of your church so put extra time, thought and work into your homepage.

Decide on your page structure i.e. the pages within the site and how they might logically be broken into sections. Maybe supply a tree diagram such as the example below.




Look at other web sites what works and what doesn't? Maybe give your designer a list of sites that you like along with the reasons you like them. A good designer doesn?t just copy other sites but will take inspiration and can re-interpret ideas that work elsewhere.

Gather your content. You don't need to have written the entire site before you start but it is helpful to begin to outline the copy and content at an early stage. This will probably evolve in parallel with the design as the project progresses. Don?t expect your designer to write the content for you. It's your church and you know what you want to say about it. Try to involve people with good written English and editing skills if you have them in your church.

Find a good photographer. A good library of photographs covering the life of the church is a pretty vital part of any church website project. It will form a major raw material for your designer and pictures will often communicate more than the word themselves. (I have written a brief guide to photography for church websites here.

Be creative. Keep to web standards (your designer can advise you about this) but try to 'think out side the box' and be creative in how we reflect the vibrancy and joy of Christian living and church life online.

Further reading. There is also much good advice and further reading about church website projects provided by the excellent people at Church123.com.