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There is no special power in a website. But churches that are intentional about outreach recognize the necessity of developing a high-quality, inviting website. Those that are serious about their Internet presence will stick to it for at least a year.

"Research says congregations that started and maintained a website over any previous 12-month period are more likely to be growing," says Bill Nix, CEO of Axletree Media, provider of the E-zekiel website management system. "The implication is that you have to start a website and maintain it over a 12-month period, and then you will probably be a growth church."

Numeric growth is a result of their commitment to their outreach strategy. But is a website that important? Is it really a necessary part of an outreach strategy?

Richard Reising, president of Artistry Marketing in Dallas, Texas, and author of the book Church Marketing 101, thinks it is. "Currently, 80 to 85 percent of people are finding their church based on websites," he says. "Websites are replacing the yellow pages as a key mode of church advertising."

Too bad most churches haven't realized this yet. David Gillaspey, president of Great Church Websites, says that 85 percent of church websites are poorly designed, 10 percent are merely adequate, and only five percent can be considered really good. Gillaspey is certainly in a position to know. He has personally reviewed about 14,000 church websites for his online publication, the Directory of Church Website Design, which includes 500 examples of good church website design.

Given that 85 percent of church websites are poorly designed, how is it that 80 to 85 percent of people looking for a new church find it through a website?

Reising explains it this way. A family is preparing to move to a new city. They search online for churches in their new city and they may find about 15 websites. Of these, they check maybe eight or ten websites in detail before deciding on three churches they will visit. No doubt their decisions also involve criteria not related to the quality of the website, such as denomination, location, and other factors.

The main implication is that if all the websites are equal, the family gleans the basic information it needs for its selection criteria, but may not be excited about visiting any of them. But if in the group that meets their basic criteria they find one or two dynamite websites, they are likely to be much more eager to visit those churches first. If they like what they find after visiting the church, their search is over.

Why are so few church websites really good? The problem is not so much with the website, but in the mindset of the church, says Nix. "Church administrators tend to see websites as just another form of advertising, like a billboard, giving just basic information such as the times of services," he says. "They should see their website as a satellite of the church, one that reflects the core of what they are doing."

A big problem, Nix continues, is poorly designed navigation of the site. "Think how a person would come to your site and naturally navigate," he says. Missing or broken links frustrate the visitor. Too much text on a page can give the visitor a headache, as can too many different fonts, colors, styles, and expensive graphics. "Animation and storytelling devices can be useful, but they're overused as well."

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