What Are Website Visitors Looking For?

What Are Website Visitors Looking For?
Visitors know little or anything at all about your church. Many of the 17 million non-churchgoers who visit your website silently check you out online want to know all there is to know about your church. When considering visitors visit your church website you want to provide content that makes it easy for them to know you. Consider the information they are seeking and answer their most pressing questions. Below are six things every visitor to your church website wants to know.
 

Six Things Website Visitors Want to Know

 
1. Your statement of faith
Visitors desire to know what you believe, and if your church has its roots in the word of God. The last thing they want is to come for a service and find strange doctrines or practices that are religious. Give them the assurance that you are a Bible believing church.
  
2. Your ministries
Ministries are the places where your members serve and visitors want to know those in existence in your church. As they consider making your church their home, they also want to know if your ministries apply to their needs and provide a place for them to serve.
  
3. Your location
Visitors will look out for your physical location. This helps them see if they can easily make their way to your church on Sunday or during the week for your mid-week services or other activities. Besides location, they will search for your contact information like phone numbers and email address.
  
4. Your services
The timing of your services is key in a visitor’s mind as they join your church. Provide information on when you have your services, how many you hold on Sunday and any other special services available. Visitors will also look for services they can attend as a family.
  
5. Your leadership
Visitors want to know who are the pastors and ministers of a church and how long they have served there. A biography of each church leader will provide the much-needed information on who to approach for a particular issue. Provide names and photos of your pastors and ministry leaders.
  
6. Your history
Some of those who visit your website want to know how long your church has existed and whether you are an affiliate of a group of churches. This gives them the comfort that you have been around for a good amount of time and are stable. Be sure to include your church history and your parent church if you have one.
 
Keeping these things front and center encourage visitors to explore your church. As they explore your website visitors will begin to form decisions based on what they find. For your convenience, we listed the three decisions website visitors will make about your church based on your website.
  

The Three Decisions Visitors Will Make About Your Church

  
1. The church is a good fit
When visitors resonate with your vision, statement of faith and values they know they can trust that you will give them the spiritual nourishment they need. They are also trying to determine if they will fit into the culture of your church. Visitors to your church will begin to discern whether you are a good fit for their unique needs, spiritual and otherwise. When they have the assurance that they will have a place for the entire family, convenience of location and a place to serve, it encourages them to become members of your church.
  
2. Your church is stable
Every churchgoer wants a stable church that will be there for a long time to come. When they check your church online, they want the assurance you have powerful and effective services, your ministries are healthy, and integrity in the leadership as they lead and serve the church. Visitors are also on the lookout and wary of any scandals. Church splits, high pastor turnover rate, or significant changes in size can be red flags to visitors. Stability is important for visitors because once they commit, they plan to stay on for a long while.
  
3. You have room for spiritual growth
Visitors gauge whether there is room in your church for spiritual growth. They can typically tell if this is a place where they can be part of something that makes an impact. This is based on the information and service opportunities displayed on your website. They want to see great value placed on using the spiritual gifts and involvement of your people. They do not want to be stagnant or serve in roles that have nothing to do with their purpose or spiritual gifts.
 
These are the things helpful to visitors because they want to make important decisions when looking for a home church. Once visitors find relevant information, they are more inclined to visit your church and sign up to be members. When they show up at your doorstep, they will be well-informed and looking to see if what they read online matches the actual thing. If it does, visitors may soon be ready to join your church.