Your church website doesn't matter that much, right?

Looking at the website of your church [or other house of worship] is a lot like peering into your church's windows or cracking open the front door:
- is there activity and life?
- what are the people doing - worshiping, working, meeting, serving, enjoying fellowship?
​- what type of people go there?
- do they look happy?
- do things seem hectic or more cooperative?
- are there people like me? are they included in things?
- what type of physical space is it - serene, flashy, decorated, plain, elegant, mishmashed? 

Simply from visiting your website, someone forms opinions about what your church is like - correctly or incorrectly, for better or for worse. Just as a live person would do, your website is communicating as your spokesperson in that moment. In fact, for 46% of people, a website's "design look" is a top criterion for determining an organization's credibility.

​But who actually looks at a church website, anyway? ​Well...

When I ask church leaders about their website, sometimes the response I get is something along the lines of, "Oh, I don't think anybody really looks at it." Here's what several large-scale research studies have to say about that:

- In 2012, 46% of churchgoers said that a church's website was important in picking a church to visit - and that was up from 34% in 2009. That same year, 33% of church attendees said that they first learned about their church on the internet. Of course, society has only gotten more connected to and reliant on the internet since 2012, so it's a safe assumption that these statistics have increased since then.

- How many people do you think don't [yet?] attend church regularly, but have visited a church website? According to a 2012 study by Grey Matter Research, in just the 6 months (as of 2012) in the U.S., that number is 10.6 million adults, or 10% of adults who are not regular churchgoers. Most commonly, these website visitors are checking service times, activities/ministries, looking for a map or directions to the church, and consuming streaming audio/video. 

- Among U.S. adults specifically looking for a new church, 37% have looked for information online, as of 2015. And younger generations, as we know, are increasingly connected with technology. In fact, 56% of practicing Christian millennials check out a church's online presence before visiting.

Again, these stats are from several years ago, and internet usage, especially among younger generations, has increased since then. Your church website is very important! ​And your website is just like your church: made both for people who already attend (however frequently), and also for people who might attend (soon or sometime down the line).

Let your website reflect authentically on your church community overall, just as you would with your church building, materials, people, and ministries. Keep it clean and easy-to-navigate, up-to-date, and visitor-friendly. It's one of your main ambassadors/representatives, so help it send the right message.

One last time: your church website is very important!

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- Salty Consulting