Faith and Web

Got 100 dollars? 7 Experts share budget website marketing tips: Mark Alves just pointed out this great post. It reminds me of last year when our church’s kind-hearted Finance Chair wanted to increase the website budget by just this - $100. My church’s co-webmistress and I said “Why? Our web host isn’t raising its price.” Now it’s time to start kicking myself, and maybe whip out a web begging bowl.

I’ve culled through the article, extracting the tips that strike me as most helpful to congregations. In no particular order, they are:

• Buy a few great books on marketing and the web including Purple Cow, The Cluetrain Manifesto, and Don’t Make Me Think. [I second the vote for Don’t Make Me Think.]
• If you don’t already have a web host, invest $7 a month in Dreamhost. Or bluehost. As Patrick Sexton points out: “If a webhost costs 3.99 per month, there is a reason and the reason is that they do not offer the tools you need.” [Note: a great host for UUs is UUism Networks.]
• Buy a logo from a logo design firm.
• Buy quality links. [I’m not sure how one does this. Something to research.]
• Register your domain name for at least three years.
• Go to a conference. If you can’t afford to register, get a press pass. [My bet is the press pass idea wouldn’t work for many of us webbish types, but consider volunteering, e.g. to help with the website.]
• Buy Aaron Wall’s SEObook at $79.
• Buy some $29 guides from SEOmoz.org, particularly the ones you know the least about.
• Update: Buy other domain names that point to the homepage.  (Hat tip to Lizard Eater, who reminded me about this, and elaborated that it’s good to “find something easier to remember to someone NOT a member of your church”)

Now it’s time to stop kicking myself. Almost to a person the experts consulted for this list pointed out that it’s not so much about spending money. It’s all about content, links and working hard.

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If I were in charge of my denomination, I would make supporting and improving congregational websites one of my top priorities – maybe even one of my top three priorities. I don’t say this because I’m a webmaster. It’s just from paying attention – and not having any particular investment in the old models. Websites have become critical to congregations, and all too frequently I hear the concern of congregations who don’t have people like me to help them.

I’d shift money for marketing and communications from some of the more expensive, traditional venues into distributed websites. The goal would be to develop a simple website-building environment for congregations that wanted such a thing. Of course, I wouldn’t just throw money at new technologies. That’s completely unnecessary. Important doesn’t equal expensive. And this should take very, very little money.

I’d just budget for the following:

• One of the best new media consultants to come in for one day and open the eyes of the leadership. I don’t think the powers-that-be are resisting. It’s just that the picture isn’t that clear to them yet - at least not in my denomination. So this would help them focus on what really matters and how it works. I think they would get incredibly excited, at which point it would have their strong support.
• An excellent project coordinator, to work on this for a year.
• Programming help. The coordinator could use in-house resources, contract out or both.

I don’t have the slightest doubt that congregations are hungry for this. I hear appeals for this kind help repeatedly on Websters, the listserv for church webmasters. And when my denomination’s Information Technology and Electronic Communications Committee (ITEC) did focus groups on what was most wanted, every group – congregational presidents, church administrators, district staff and ministers – asked for website resources.

Nor do I have the slightest doubt that the return on investment would be colossal. It would grow the faith, reaching out in myriad ways that were scarcely possible 10 years ago and unimaginable 20 years ago.

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Thanks to ChurchCommunicationsPro, I just discovered a nifty web tool for finding local churches: Invite Someone to Church.

If you enter 37215, our church comes up in the top three. That would be Google at work, plus search engine optimization.

What this group has done is amazingly simple. Even I, a scripting rookie, could code this. They’re using PHP to enter a Google map search string, adding “church” plus the zip code to end of the string. But here’s the twist: they have signs and bumper stickers and cards with their URL to spread the word.

It sounds like a great idea to me. I’m going to ask our staff to request at least the bumper stickers. I want one for my car.

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