If you are planning to design a web site for a church, this blog post will give you a few tips on how you can go about it efficiently. Such projects are always a great idea to get started on your web design career, even if you are doing it for no charge at all.
1. As with any site you build, get a clear idea of the needs of the site. A stereotyped site is not what the church may want. While some churches could simply want a site to serve as a public face for the church, others may want to use it primarily to stay in touch with members through the entire week. So why not start by putting all the requirements down on paper to help you design the site? The more suggestions the better.
2. Get a good idea of the number of pages you will need to link back to the home page. For instance, you may want one page for every ministry within the congregation. One for married ministry, one for singles, one for teens, one for kids? You get the idea. So tailor the navigational design of the site based on the number of these pages.
3. Get a clear idea of the non specific pages of the ministry that the church would want. Once you have designed the home page and all connected ministry pages, then you could plan on extras such as a church calendar, reading room etc.
4. Next, you need to identify a hosting provider, which fits into the budget of the church, which at times may not be all that generous. Once the host is selected, you can go ahead and register the domain name with them. Select a name that is easy to recall, followed by a .org. The .org signifies that the site points to an organization and not a commercial enterprise.
5. You could also add message boards on the site, to serve as a forum of interaction between members. This can serve as a chat area where members can leave comments about upcoming events and fetes etc.
6. The site could also have a newsletter option button on the home page. When using photographs, try and use the happiest faces you can find! Why not integrate a slide show as well? When using images, try and include diverse faces – people of as many races as available. The home page should also provide quick links to upcoming events.
7. You will need to assign an official site administrator to the church web site, and this is something that the church may already have ready and waiting. One writer, and probably one photographer is all that the church needs to have fresh content on the site pages. More often than not, church members could even volunteer to take on these responsibilities free of charge for the site.
At the end of the day, you will want to make the site simple to navigate and easy to use. Good luck!
