One of the biggest decisions to make when creating a church website is figuring out who will be doing the updating.

Joe, The Web Developer

Joe has a great set of skills.  He knows how to write code, can fix problems that the site my have, and he may even be able to give you a good idea on what system to set up and how much you should be paying.

The problem with Joe is that he’s a web developer.  He may not know everything that’s going on in the church well enough ahead of time.  He may not be gifted in language, and he may not posses a gift when it comes to design.

For him, you want to plan to get and keep him involved by providing him with all the data he needs—preferably written by someone with that gift, and you need to tell him when to have it up and when to take it down.  He’s probably reliable, but don’t overtask him.

Susie, The Secretary

Susie knows how to keep things punctual.  She’s been doing it for some time.  She can navigate herself around her favorite word-processor and spreadsheet and knows how to communicate events.

When it comes to websites, she checks the weather and chats with her husband on IM, but doesn’t know much about keying information into a website.

For her, being a church employee means that she has a lot of time, but you have to give her familiar tools.  Either find a way to hook up what she has to she can easily publish her material, or have her provide her stuff to Joe.  The quicker that she can get familiar with the routine the better.

Updates, I Need to Update?

If you want to rank in search engines, you’re going to want to keep your information fresh.  And having what you’re doing—some kind of calendar of events—will  help guests and members know what’s going on.  Static probably means people won’t find your church.

What other types of people keep up church sites?