Great Church Plants Have Great Websites

By Emma Voon

Have you ever experienced a bad church greeter? You know, someone whose job it is to welcome you to the church, but instead they have no passion for what they do and are just going through the motions? Or maybe they were unclear about where to go or what to do next? How did you feel? 

Most of the time, we leave an encounter like that wondering if this church is the right place for us or not. A recent article said that a new visitor makes decisions about your church within the first 10 seconds. That means, these first impressions are having a huge influence in the return rate of your church plant. 

But what about the experience before they even visit your church plant?

Most people will visit your website before they visit your church. Meaning, before they have ever heard the worship or the sermon, many people have already made a decision about whether to visit your church plant or not simply by what they experience on your website. And, just like having a bad greeter in place on Sunday, many pastors have unintentionally put out a website that is turning people away from the church, not drawing them in. 

First impressions only happen once. Here’s how to make sure you put your best foot forward.

Great Church Plants Have Great Websites

As the world moves to a more digital landscape, the most successful and fruitful churches and ministries are utilizing technology to grow the kingdom and help reach people for Christ. This is especially true for church planters who are new to a community. The most prominent tool for churches and ministries to reach out digitally is their website.

4 Reasons to Start a Church Website

1. Biggest Bang For Your Marketing Buck

It takes money to run a ministry. Ask any church planter, and they will tell you getting their church off the ground was very expensive. Much of that initial investment is in marketing dollars: these are finances spent to let people know you are there. Marketing for your church plant can quickly add up; from flyers, to banners, to boosting your posts on Facebook, there are so many costs to be considered in your marketing. 

A church website is often the best use of those marketing dollars. With a web designed web page, you can often reach 1000s more people digitally than you will initially at your services. Consider your website like your digital front door that you want to get as many people to walk through and start experiencing your ministry. 

"But, I’m A Pastor, Not a Web Designer"

It can often be intimidating to try to get your church plant’s first website going. What church planters need is a simple-to-use, easy-to-engage website that allows people to find out who you are, how to get to your services, and how to support your church financially. At StartCHURCH, we have designed our very own website builder with this in mind!

For just $29/month with StartSITES, you will have your biggest marketing tool, at a fraction of the price. If you want to change something on a flyer, you will have to pay to get them re-printed, whereas with a website, simply log into your StartCHURCH Cloud account, and you can automatically update it!

A website produces one of the highest returns on investment for your church!

2. Increase Church Income

Did you know that in today’s world of church planting, most pastors will receive a majority of their funding through online giving? Meaning, if you do not have an online giving option for your church plant, you could be forfeiting thousands of dollars.

In order to have online giving, you must be able to say “yes” to the following questions:

• Do you have an FEIN?
• Have you opened a bank account?

With StartSITES, funding your vision has never been easier! StartCHURCH has partnered with Stripe to allow for online giving to be processed through your StartSITES website. Setup is easy and FREE! If you already use another online giving platform, it is simple to link it to your StartSITES website. This way, there will be no delays or hiccups for you to continue to receive online giving.

By including online giving on your church’s website, you can see your donations increase by 32%!

3. Help People Find You

Matthew 5:15 (NIV) says: Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

We are called to shine before our communities. Yet, many churches don’t realize that the internet has become a “stand” in the world as we know it today, and communication with millions of people is now possible through a website. A great website puts you on the map for all to see. A bad website is like hiding your light under a bowl.

I remember as a young child, my family and I moved to a new area, and my parents were looking for a church; every newspaper would have postings for local churches that we would visit, but people are no longer looking to the newspaper to find their home church.

With everything we see in the media today, we have the opportunity to be a light amidst all of the darkness and to use our website to point others to Christ. Who would have thought, 30 years ago, that we would have the ability to do that with the click of a button?!

4. Tell Your Story

The reason God calls us to plant churches or ministries in a community is because they need our ministry done our way. There is something about your style and your story that will resonate with that community. People who are looking for a church or ministry to join are looking for a style and story that feels like them. Your website is a key part of telling the world your story and showing them your style. 

StartCHURCH makes this part simple, with our easy-to-use website builder. With predetermined questions and segments to fill out, we make it easy to tell your story digitally. And since our website builder is made with pastors and ministry leaders in mind, you can easily create your website in just one hour with no website experience needed! It no longer takes an IT expert to build a website, and with our step-by-step process, you can create your fully customizable page that best represents your church!

Are you ready to create your website?

Your church’s website can completely change the life of your church. It’s cost effective, can increase your church’s income, helps you get discovered, is fully customizable, and will increase your member involvement. 

We would be honored to help you tell the world about what God is doing through your church plant or ministry. We have designed StartSITES with you in mind and have seen firsthand the difference that having a website can make. Going global may be just a click away for your church! If you have questions about StartSITES or want to start increasing your donations today, give us a call at 877-494-4655.

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