church websites

I've looked at about 300 church websites in the last 2 days. Here are some thoughts.

• Don't use istock people. They are so fake. It's obvious that they don't go to your church. Makes me wonder if any real people do.
• Don't over-font. Clean and clear is best. [But if your church is an over-font kind of a church, by all means, over-font your website too. Better that I know before I turn up.]
• Keep it real. Don't try to be something that you're not.
• Don't have little 'contact us' forms. Makes it hard for spammers like me to get my pre-written and nicely formatted email to you.

The websites I liked best were those from the salvation army. Like their dress, the websites were uniform. Different picture on each (of their congregation) but everything in pretty much the same place. They had the annoying little comment form, but hidden in the corner of each site was also a 'contact us' button. Magic!