I’m New! The Study Results

In our church website analytics study of more than 50 church websites, we discovered that the most accessed content on church websites other than the homepage falls into a grouping we are calling “I’m New”. These are pages related to people attending for the first time, those who are looking for service times or locations, those looking for other information about the church and its beliefs and doctrine, or those who have no knowledge of Jesus Christ.

The most important church website content

For our survey respondents, a quarter indicated that I’m New church website content was the most important to them of all the content on their church website. The only content considered more important was Sermon downloads. Other church website content in the study included, media, events, ministry, and group related sections. In our study, visitors to I’m New content view each page on average for one minute, and about half the time, they leave (bounce) immediately.

Ready to Engage Church Website New Visitors

A clear I’m New section sends a signal to the user that this church has thought about and prepared for their needs whether they know or don’t know what they are looking for. This church realizes that the person who clicks on I’m New wants information right then because they want to engage the church on some level. “I need this, where can I find it?” If the process of finding out information is difficult, someone is likely to leave and may end up not engaging that church again. This is something that falls under basic web usability 101.

Church Staff, Locations, Times, and other Visitor Information

A third of our surveyed church members said they accessed church staff, contact, or other visitor information at least once a month, and almost half sought out information about their pastors, elders, and other leadership at least once a month. It makes sense, if you’re looking for a church, or even curious about the church period, you may want to know about who is in charge, and also how to contact them.

Our church website analytics study also indicated that over three-quarters of our respondents access service information such as times, locations, and directions at least once a month. Half of those checked out church service information weekly. Could you imagine trying to find out where a church met, or what time it met, and not being able to easily find that information with one click? This is information people are trying to access all the time, whether members of the church, or not!

Church Website Content: What do you believe? What’s your story?

Almost half of all visitors are browsing through their church’s beliefs/mission/values at least once a month. The same amount looked up information about their church’s history or story at least once a month, and half of those look up this information every couple weeks.

Newcomers want to know about your church before they visit

Having the church’s beliefs, mission, and values readily accessible is critical because newcomers, whether they are saved or not, will want to know not only what that church believes, but also how that church carries out what they believe. Believers who just arrived in town will especially want to know about your beliefs to determine whether they should even visit your church in the first place.

Knowing what they are getting into

Nowadays, when people look for churches, they turn to the Internet to find out as much as they can about a church before committing to getting up earlier, packaging the children into the family minivan, risking getting lost, and walking into a strange, new environment. People want to be comfortable with what they can find about that church before they even enter the parking lot. Imagine the consternation of a family with multiple young children that arrives at a church only to find no nursery care is available!

Helping Newcomers Find What They’re Looking For

Newcomers that visit your website have questions, they want to know about how your church operates and its culture, whether the beliefs of that church seem right, whether they can trust the leadership’s stance, and for the unsaved, whether a conversation is even addressing them in a way they can understand. Let your church be the one that answers the visitor who says “I need help/compassion/someone to talk to”. Of special note, more than 90% of churches in our study did not have an easily accessible and understandable gospel message tailored to an unsaved person. Talk about missed opportunities!

One Final Tip- Make I’m New Content Easy to Find on Your Church Website

Having I’m New information that is not easy to find defeats the purpose of having an I’m New section. Park Community Church (www.parkcommunitychurch.org) does a great job of telling a new visitor clearly that yes, Park knows that the new person is important to them, and they also make it clear where to click so that the newcomer can get more of the answers they’re looking for.

Get Started!

Throughout this article we’ve talked about some of the things that your church communications and leadership team can start thinking about implementing. Creating an I’m New section that is easy to identify, and communicates clearly does not necessarily have to be expensive, the important thing is to get those conversations going on improving the content that is most accessed on your website, and getting your website prepared to answer those unspoken questions that people want answered. With some of these ideas outlined above, we hope your church website will be able to communicate more of what people need to know- before they leave it!

This is the full list of the ten different directory types that churches in our Church Website Analytics and Ministry Survey Study were listed on.  Churches that are listed on directories get more new visitors than churches who do not.  See Get More Visitors to Your Church Website With Directory Referrals. For Free! for an article introduction to this list of directories that churches are signed up for.

• Church Association, Denomination Directories – Require churches to ascribe to certain theological and doctrinal stances or association membership.  Some of the largest directories! Think Willow Creek or Southern Baptist Convention.
• Social Local Sites- Ratings, reviews, forums, messaging and feedback mechanisms, and a searchable user-powered database allow users to get a good feel for the listings they are browsing. Yelp.
• Local Search Engines- Google Local or Yahoo Local, will show up in search results.
• Local Metro Directories- Focus on local businesses, institutions, and culture. Nashvillelife.com
• Chambers of Commerce- Local and Nationwide Chambers. Trade Chambers.
• Internet Yellow Pages- Maps, directions, and searchable listings.
• Business Directories- Business listing services. Hotfog.com
• Ministry Partner Sites- Websites that belong to ministries who serve a function in missions or the community. www.angelfoodministries.com
• Local Church Directories- Usually location specific.  Connects people locally with churches.  Example:  www.sandiegochurches.org
• Nationwide Church Directories- Check out www.churchcloud.com.  Church Cloud includes Church contact information, denominations, worship style, attire, service details, leadership, ministries, and an embedded Google Maps function.  As a bonus feature, Church Cloud allows you to upload sermons, and events, to the directory, and even helps you publish these on your own church website.

Get your church website more new visitors by using some of the free church website directory ideas listed above!

Get More Visitors to Your Church Website with Directory Referrals. For Free! explores the three types of church website source traffic, direct traffic, referral traffic, and search traffic.

Get More Church Website New Visitors Through Directory Referrals

The article also discusses how to get more new visitors by getting your church signed up (free!) on varying different types of directories that will be included below.

While the article does not discuss the long term positive effects of directory links on search engine optimization (SEO), future articles released here at Church Website Guide will go into the efficacy and relevancy of SEO for church websites in effective online ministry!

Directories Are Highest Source Of Church Website Referral Traffic

The article also reveals some telling results from our church website analytics and ministry survey study- Directory referrals were the highest source of referral traffic for church websites, higher even than social media outlets like blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. Churches need to get on board with free directory submissions (and the occasional paid directory submission) even as they are making their efforts in social media and search!

List of Directories that were a Source of Referrals for Church Websites in Church Website Analytics and Ministry Survey Study 2009 (Partial)

• Church Association, Denomination Directories – Require churches to ascribe to certain theological and doctrinal stances or association membership.  Some of the largest directories! Think Willow Creek or Southern Baptist Convention.
• Social Local Sites- Ratings, reviews, forums, messaging and feedback mechanisms, and a searchable user-powered database allow users to get a good feel for the listings they are browsing. Yelp.

See the  remaining 8 directory types that were a source of referrals for church websites from Church Website Guide’s Church Website Analytics and Ministry Survey Study 2009 in the Full List Of Directories That Were A Source Of Referrals For Church Websites.

Get your church website more new visitors by using some of the free church website directory ideas listed above!

Your Church Website is Vital for New Visitors

Before you read this article, open your church’s website and take a few moments to examine it. What are the visual and content elements that jump out? For whom are these elements designed? Is it primarily a resource for people who already attend your church? Are the largest elements the recent sermon series, events or ministries to serve? Is your church website a place to welcome new people, or does it appear to be a site for regular attendees? Your church website sends a critical message to visitors and impacts whether they will ever visit your church community.

“When we moved, a church’s website had to be our first filter to find a church. A lot of churches had crummy websites and regardless of how great a church they may be, we passed them by,” stated Ryan Heinese, as his family searched for a church when they moved to a new city. This is part of a growing trend where people no longer chose a church based on its convenient location; often they began their search online, browsing multiple church websites before picking a place to worship. According to our research, (read last month’s column: The Truth about Church Websites and Social Networking article to learn about this church website market research) 16% of all people surveyed said the church website was the first place they learned about their church prior to attending. In fact, when you filter the results for people who have attended their church for less than three months, over 30% said it was where they first learned about the church. The church website is a strategic part of welcoming new people to your community. Just how important is it? When asked, “How important was the website in a person’s decision to attend the church” 77% of people who have attended the church under three months said it was important. Online visitors visit a church website and what they find there impacts their decision as to whether or not they will attend.

Visitors will be influenced by the look and feel of the website

Doctrinal statements, opportunities to connect and visitor information, people are checking out church websites for more information about the church.  In our Church website analytics research, we categorized the content visited into I’m New Information (e.g. location, directions, service times), Media (further broken down to Sermons, Articles and other content), Groups (e.g. specific church ministries), Events, Evangelism and several other categories. We discovered that the top content category people visited online was I’m New Information (excluding the home page). Yet, many websites do a poor job of connecting to new visitors and presenting the information visitors seek. Here is an example of a church that has a visitor-friendly design:

College Park (http://www.yourchurch.com) designed their website with new visitors in mind. Visitors to the home page immediately are presented with a ‘Welcome to College Park’ and a button to select “I’m New” which takes visitors to a page with common questions and desired information such as maps & directions. Visitors will see that College Park considers new visitors important and has spent time preparing the appropriate information for them. College Park is a good example of how to design for new visitors.

How should you design a church website for new visitors? We suggest churches use a design process to present the churches vision, impact the visitor toward sharing this vision, and encourage behaviors that the church desires. These behaviors could include:

• Low-Value: Subscribe to RSS, podcast or engage the church Twitter account.
• Medium-Value: Sign-up for an email, join a Facebook group or complete a web form.
• High-Value: Show up to a service, home group or other relational meeting.

The church website strategy should move new visitors into relationships and involvement

Visitors will see the way you have designed for them and the ease with which they can access information. In today’s increasingly online world this is a critical part of any church’s plan to attract new visitors. Interestingly enough, these visitors will be Christians who seek a new church or plan to return to attending a church. In a future article we will write about how church websites are not a place non-Christians visit for the purpose of learning about Christianity. What we do know is that websites are effective in helping Christians find a new church. Ultimately your website should be designed for these new visitors as a strategic part of your mission.

The first article, which has some church website user survey results and church web analytics research, is titled The Truth About Church Websites and Social Networking, and was written by Drew Goodmanson, pastor of Kaleo Church in San Diego, and the CEO of Monk Development, designer of a premier church content management system, Ekklesia360.

An excerpt from this introductory church website and social networking  article published by Christian Computing Magazine is included below.

‘We have all heard about the importance of a church website, the growth of social networking and the need for pastors to blog.  But how effective are these strategies for outreach, making disciples and gathering people?  In spring 2009, Monk Development began a study that over one hundred churches participated in representing 30,000+ members.  This study includes over 1,200 survey responses and nearly fifty years worth of combined Google Analytics data to help us understand what happens on a church website and the experience of online visitors. All of this market research seeks to answer the question, “What are churches doing on the Internet that are best practices for effective online ministry?”’

We are also including an exceprt of an introduction to private church community networks and Christian social networking sites as below:

“Last, we studied the effectiveness of private church community networks and Christian social networking sites for the purpose of building community and discipleship. We are gathering data on usage, experiences, satisfaction, behavior, preferences, perceptions, and demographics. We are going beyond traditional metrics in order determine how these tools promote activities that are central to being Christian and being the church.”

And finally, here is some of the selected Church Website Guide church website survey and web analytics data that was published:
General Internet Use of Respondents
• 88.0% use the Internet daily.
• 32.8% visit social networking sites daily, 18.3% 2-6 times a week and 8.8% weekly.
• 5.6% visit their church website daily.
• 5.9% visit another church or ministry website daily.

Respondents’ Relationship to Church Website
• 17.1% said the website was the first place they learned about their current church prior to attending.
• 12.2% said they found the church website through a search engine.
• 36.1% of respondents said the website played an important role in their decision to attend the church.

Drew Goodmanson, chief executive of Monk Development and co-founder/pastor at Kaleo Church writes an article titled “Website Wisdom:  New Research, Cooperative Reveal Best Practices for Churches“.   Speaking from the research that we’ve started releasing on Church Website Guide this year, Drew discusses best practices for church websites in attracting new visitors, connecting people, and equipping church leaders.

Here is an excerpt:

“Research conducted earlier this year, which surveyed hundreds of churches representing more than 70,000 members combined, attempted to drill deeper into two fundamental questions as the Internet grows in its influence and importance in our culture and beyond:

1) Do church websites strategically help attract new visitors, connect people, and equip leaders?
2) And if so, what are the best practices for a church’s web strategy?

Three significant discoveries, as well as several best practices, emerged from this work. This information can help large churches (congregations such as Willow Creek Community Church participated in the research) as well as small ones (church plants with fewer than 50 people also participated). These practices also are useful for most any situation, regardless of whether a church is using a volunteer, a church website design firm, or a staff member to design its site.”

Read more about this church website research article on Your Church’s website here, read what Drew has to say about it, or download the pdf direct.