| So, you have managed to persuade the Church Meeting/Council to let you design
a web site for your Church. They have,
of course, allocated little or no budget
but have given you a brief that could
only have been designed by a committee.
You sit down in front of your computer
with your copy of Frontpage (I would
personally recommend www.namo.com rather than Frontpage, its cheaper and
a better product in my opinion) open
in front of you and you are not sure
where to begin.
Tip 1. Avoid MOST Templates
Templates are both a blessing and a curse. For those of us who struggle with design they offer a way of getting a professional looking web site. There are even some templates that are produced for churches. However be very careful because most of the time these designs are made to make a profit for the designer and not to produce a good website. It's always a case of "all that glisters is not gold" for web sites. Take a look at this site for more tips on this subject.
The very best approach is to have one designed professionaly but if templates is the only option go for ones produced specifically for a church (so you don't end up looking like the local plumber! - nothing against plumbers by the way but you need to distinguish yourself from everyone else). Look for clean and simple design not fancy and flashing. Never, ever use the templates that came with your software (this applies especially to Frontpage).
We have a selection of free church templates for anyone who is interested. They are denominationally based which gives you a valid reason to use a template.
Tip 2. Do not over complicate
things.
Of course you want your site to look
good but often the simplest sites look
the best. Does anyone worry that Amazon.com
looks a little ordinary? Does anyone
bother that Google is very plain and
simple? No! Because these sites offer
good content and this is what people
want to see, not fancy flash enabled
multimedia monsters. Don't be afraid
to be simple, simple is best.
Tip 3. No flashing/revolving/dancing/moving
stuff on the front page.
Just because you have seen it can
be done doesn't mean it is a good idea!
Anything that moves on a web page distracts
from the content of the page. Why do
adverts flash and move? Because they
want you to notice them but if you see
something flashing at you for too long
it will drive you potty. I would avoid
it anywhere on a site but especially
on the front page which should be the
main gateway into your site.
Tip 4. Content is King.
People want to get at your content.
Your job is to help them. Anything you
do that stops someone getting your content
is a bad thing. Navigation that is confusing,
navigation you have to roll over to
understand, content that is burried
is not good. There are few things in
life that people will bother to dig
for, unless you have treasure buried
in your pages you can forget it. And
remember even treasure needs a map or
nobody will know it is there! Put nothing
in the way of your content.
Tip 5. You are not a business.
This is where it gets tough. Church
web sites are similar to business web
sites but they are also very different.
We have to build a site that encourages
people to explore. Users are generally
not buying a product but looking for
something deeper. Find ways of encouraging
them to seek more deeply about life
do not try to sell them on something,
it won't work. I am told from various
sources that traditional advertising
methods do not work on the Internet.
Extra Free Tip for the Colour Coordinating Challenged amongst us
There are several tools that can help you develop a good colour scheme for your site. I
can recommend the one shown below as a good all rounder at a reasonable price. I haven't used it on this site yet but will for the redesign.
Color Wheel Pro - a program that allows you to see color theory in action: you can create harmonious color schemes and preview them on real-world examples.
If you would like professional help
with designing/hosting etc your web
site then please feel free to contact
me at chris@browncow.co.uk
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