Managing your website

Creating a new website is no small task. At a minimum, it could be a solid month of full time work, or much longer.

Having someone with good project management skills can be invaluable.

Once it is live, it is key to confirm who will manage the content and keep it updated.

You need to ensure that the website:

Is secure (update any plug ins for example if you are using WordPress)

Is working - a regular check to ensure it is functioning correctly

Is up to date

Administration

Keep a careful way of filing all documents and photos that go on your website. Be aware of copyright and people's permisisons to have their faces in photos you have on the site. 

If your chaplaincy has a charitable or non-profit status, both Mircosoft and Google offer free subscriptions. You may find that in addition to helpful tools you can benefit from email professional addresses which correspond to your website domain name, for example, contact@yourchurchname.org.

Evaluating your website

Adding evaluation to your project from the start will help you decide what is important to measure and whether your website is effective.

Evaluation doesn't need to be complex but must be relevant to your user's needs. Think about what your chaplaincy would like to know and measure, is it how many visitors click on your latest news story, download a Service Sheet or link to your site from Social Media?

Simple steps like adding Google Analytics to your site can be a good place to start if you are not sure what to measure. Over time you will start to see which site pages are most visited and perhaps why some are not.

Also - ask people!  Ask those that use the site if they found what they needed ok.  You could do a short and informal survey of the local community if you have them as part of your 'audience' to see if they can find the website ok and if they can navigate to what they need well.  Does the website also inspire people to take action by attending a service or event?  You can ask visitors how they found out about your church too.