Being professional
People like websites that are professional looking. You can get away with a little of an amateur look but people will judge your church/organisation/ministry but the way the website looks. If you want new members then they are unlikely to be attracted by something that looks like the cat scratched it together in it’s litter tray. Of course they are also not going to be attracted by something that looks like its been done by a marketing company but that’s a post for another day.
When I say that it needs to look professional I don’t mean it has to look like you paid for it but that it needs to look like you know a little of what you are doing.
Professional sites should:
- Be neat and attractive
- Not have too much going on
- Not use centred text save in extreme circumstances
- Should have colour that match
- Have easy to find contact details
- Should be on point and not off point
However there is also professional behaviour required in running the website. For instance, you should not complain about the amount of spam you get on your website and you should always seek to answer emails within 24 to 48 hours.
I’ve had cause to email nearly all of the main denominations in the UK from time to time and they seldom answer emails at all. I think in this modern age this is REALLY bad. It’s almost as bad as when you email someone and they respond saying that you should telephone them sometime. I emailed because that is the form of contact I want to make, if I wanted to telephone I would have done that instead. Email is the preferred form of communication for many professionals these days (you get a record of the communication and you can give considered responses) so to ask someone who emails to call you is to my mind just bad manners. Of course sometimes it is appropriate but in most cases answer by email.
