So why do you have a happy web developer on your hands? Simple, I can go back to not pulling my hair out on an hourly basis. Lol !
For those who do not follow anything as it relates to web standards, allow me a bit of your time to explain why it became essential in re-designing the ministry website of Crow Mountain Baptist Church.
A short while ago, you may have seen an article that I released about me preparing to re-design the ministry website.
With this release introduced a lot of things that anyone with an online presence will need to ensure that their site measures up to. The first and foremost of these is the deliverability of the code that works on the backend of things to ensure cross browser functionality as well as across all platforms.
Furthermore, Google is pressing nearly everyone on the Word Wide Web to ensure that all site’s are delivering their content that meets ADA standards. Trust me when I say, it’s a full-time job trying to keep up with every change that the Goog’s want to see across the board.
One of the many complaints I receive as a developer and even a web user myself, is the difficulty in navigating a site. Either the navigation is clunky , or just plain hard to follow.
That was one of the very top priorities that I took into consideration when re-designing the ministry website as I wanted it to be as easy-to-use as possible.
This is particularly true when the site is being viewed from a mobile device.
As a happy web developer, I want people to enjoy their experience when visiting our ministry website and to continue to return for fresh updates frequently.
Several of these include our new section dedicated to the Quarterly CMBC Newsletter that is provided to each of our congregants. Now this will be online.
We all know that it is really easy to loose track of paper. In addition, this helps us reduce the cost of paper and printing materials, since it is now being provided digitally.
Yes, there are still a few that we send a paper version too, however, moving forward we everyone else will need to view the content online.
Another welcomed addition to our website will be a calendar of events. Sure we wall here the announcements on Sunday morning’s, they’re displayed on the screen pre-service, but what happens once you leave the building and you didn’t grab your bulletin or threw it away?
Plus this will provide those who are outside of our body of believer’s to get an insiders look at all the wonderful activities that we have to offer as a ministry.
Many have seen various iterations of our ministry website.
However, do you have a clue as to what I do as a web developer and what truly goes on behind the scenes?
It’s more than just a pretty exterior. There is the maintenance of the site, security, performance, and searchability across the webs!
It’s more than a full-time job when it comes to ensuring that the ministry website is as sleek as possible and running beyond the speed of light.
In today’s instant and on-demand users, ensuring quick deliverability of our website across a variety of cellular networks and devices is beyond essential.
Now that we have a rock solid design and performance under our belt, we will be looking for other things that we can put into play on the website to make ours one of the best within our associational block as across the globe.
We want this to be a landing spot for people to come and fine useful information as it pertains to them looking for a home church, or to be able to find answers to some of the challenges that people face in everyday life.
One of the things that we hear preached from the pulpit on a regular basis is about local missions.
Did you know that the easiest way to establish a contact is via the web?
People are more likely to interact with you first through either a contact form, or possibly social media prior to them even thinking of attending in person.
People want to get a real feel for what we’re all about.
This is where you can come into play. We need individuals who are willing to write blog posts. No I’m not looking for Bible lessons.
I’m looking for individuals who are willing to write about real world issues. I know that there are plenty of individuals within our ministry who have been through challenging time’s in their lives and can share their strength, hope, and be an encouragement to someone who is looking for answer on how to deal with their own situatino.
Don’t be bashful, get in contact with me and let me get you set up on the ministry website and show you how easy it is to create and publish a post. If you don’t believe me, just ask Kenny McKnight! Just after a few times of doing it, he is now a seasoned pro and delivers content to the College & Careers Sunday School class.
In addition, we have it set up to where when you create a post on the ministry website, we can have it shoot directly to the church’s Facebook page. It’s a double win-win for delivering meaningful content to those who are searching for it.