According to A Multi-Site Road Trip, there were 300 known multisite churches in the year 2000. Today there are over 3,000! That fact still amazes me. Over the past 15 years, multisite has moved beyond an interesting phenomenon and is now considered by many to be the future of the Church.
We have the opportunity to work with numerous multisite churches at Church Community Builder. Each time we work with a new church, we affirm again that multi-site changes everything. While we work to help each church manage ministry strategy at both campus- and ministry-wide levels through a church management system, we’re also aware that there are dozens of decisions about how to use technology to effectively reach every community. One of the most common dilemmas we hear from multisite leaders involves their website.
"...51% of members and visitors stated the church's website was somewhat to very important in their decision to attend church..."
According to research, 51 percent of members and visitors stated the church’s website was somewhat to very important in their decision to attend the church. Therefore, taking time to develop a strategy for your website is important. A few weeks ago, our friends at the Vision Room shared some great insights into creating an effective multisite website strategy. Today, we wanted to highlight some of their ideas with some personal thoughts about how they apply to your church.
Whether you’re an established church that has decided to make the multisite shift or you’re planning a multisite church, here are three steps you need to take to create an effective website for reaching people in your communities:
1. Determine your approach.
Will you keep it under one roof create a standalone site for each campus create a universal site with a campus select option? Determining what type of website is right for your multisite church is the first step in creating an effective web presence.
2. Create a strategy for using your website to keep everyone informed and unified.
Going multisite can lead to confusion and lack of communication. After working with several multisite churches, we’ve seen how systems and processes can play a major role in alleviating any missteps along the way. Your website is a key tool for communicating with members at every campus. Creating a way to keep them informed about their specific campus along with any major announcements about the entire church is a critical element for your website.
3. Identify how your website can share resources between campuses.
Having a place for centralized services is one of the key ingredients for success when going multisite. Creating a place on your website that serves as a hub for all of your information and resources will ensure the volunteers and small group leaders at every campus are equally equipped and prepared to lead your members.
What approach has your church taken to creating a website? What other advice would you give to multisite churches looking to enhance their Web presence?
There's always a next step:
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