How do you create a robust, attractive, and user-friendly website for your audience? There are so many ways! The following list of ideas is not exhaustive but contains some basic elements that should go into creating a truly dynamic internet presence to serve your mission.
Design Principles
Web design is a unique modern art form. It is virtual reality, images, videos, and words floating in cyberspace that people can access at the click of a button. Creating an attractive forum that people want to come to and return to, however, is easier said than done. Here is what good web design has to do:
- Be Personal – It has to fit your style and vision of your ministry and has to communicate in a way that your people will recognize as distinctively yours.
- Be Complete – Whether the website is for a parish, a mission-based organization, or a personal apostolate, it should strive to be a total expression of your mission’s message and core capabilities. It doesn’t have to explain every detail or element of the work, but it should amply instruct others about the main elements, programs, and values that drive your mission. The visitor must be able to find out every critical aspect of your mission there on the site.
- Be Responsive – “Responsive” design means the website fits or responds to the four standard screen types (Desktop | Laptop | Tablet | Mobile) – each of which has various sizes within its own category! The goal is to make your site readable and interactive on all screen sizes.
- Be User-Friendly – It is imperative to be a good host when people are in your house (or in this case, on your site). The site design has to make it clear and easy for them to move around and find what they are looking for otherwise they go elsewhere. Studies show that you have about 3-4 seconds to convince them that your website it not going to be a frustrating user experience.
- Be Attractive and Maybe Cool – What’s the use of putting up another boring, second-rate website? The creative process is a lot of work, but it’s also meant to be enjoyable. We’ll make a site that you’re proud of when finished and that other people will find inspiring.
Here at Priest Mode Websites, we don’t perform miracles, but we do offer solid and creative design services for you…and more. Such as:
Resources or Features
Priests and deacons love to be resource persons, and today there is so much good Catholic stuff out there that you are in a unique position to make it accessible for the souls you care for. Here are a few standard features you may wish to offer on your site:
- News and news feeds (on Church and culture)
- News (from established news sources)
- Commentary (yours and other linked articles)
- Influencers (people who have a high profile on “our issues”)
- Teaching (scripture, doctrine, catechesis, etc.)
- Motivation and Inspiration (saints and movements)
- Spirituality (for personal growth and events)
- Media (podcasts, videos, blogs, etc.)
- Social Media (links to your platforms if you already have them set up.)
In effect, the sky is the limit with online resources. Like preaching, the harder part is whittling things down to the essentials. In the case of a website, you want it to be complete, but you don’t want it to look cluttered or get confusing to navigate.
Blogs
A blog can be central or peripheral to your site. Because of the predominance of social media (immediate interactions with others), most blogs are generally places for posting ideas and images you want people to see rather than for interacting.
The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy’s website has an entire page dedicated solely to “Priest Bloggers”, and a few minutes looking around at what priests are doing with their own blogs will be educational for you and may plant some good ideas in your head for your blog if you want one on your site.
Audio/Visual
Let’s face it: all the best promoters of anything are effective in audio and visual media these days. With your website, you can be too, as long as it fits your mission. There are so many good formats:
- Podcasting requires some setup and preparation, but many priests have become proficient at it.
- Many priests post their sermons on their websites in audio or visual form. It’s a very basic type of podcasting.
- Any and all self-made videos can be posted on the web these days. [Hint: “clips” and “reels” are most effective: shorter is better in video culture.]
- Posting other people’s or organizations’ online resources by linking to their videos, interviews, and podcasts.
- Many priests even have their own YouTube pages, which interface easily with their websites and social media accounts.
Campaigns
Whether it’s a sign-up campaign for an event, a registration drive for a good cause, or an online survey to get feedback from people, websites are good venues for campaigns of every type.
You can link campaign brochures, social media postings, and web ads right back to your website for further information and sign-ups. You can use QR codes and videos on the website to promote the events. The sky’s the limit when it comes to using your website for organizing anything.
Sales/ Donations
It’s tremendously easy today to set up an e-commerce store on your website to sell things related to your ministry. (I’m sure we’ve all seen Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire ministry. No one sells better than they do.) Naturally, commerce is not the focus of our vocation, but sometimes these items can be used for fundraisers or ministry support.
It’s also very easy to accept donations through websites these days, including online giving platforms for parishes and non-profits.
If you have something to sell, a web store is entirely possible. However, more often than not, it is best to link to other people’s stores and/or Amazon whose business is selling things.
