I read a post while back by Phil Bowdle that reminded me once again how important it is to clearly communicate during the design process. This is especially true when trying to design your church website.
No one wants to kill a website design process, however, it can happen if you’re not careful. I’ve seen a lot of great concepts fall flat for different reasons. Do you want to avoid common mistakes? Are you looking to make sure that create the best possible site for your church? You can do this by avoiding these three common traps.
Not Clarifying Your Requirements
Before you fire up Photoshop, install WordPress or even surf the web looking for inspiration, take the time to clarify what your requirements are. This is the most important part of the entire process. When you have clear expectations of how your site should function, you give yourself a roadmap to follow. This roadmap will not only help you, but your team members as well.
Using Subjective Terms Throughout the Process
While terms like “pretty”, “nice” or “modern” may seem like the best way to describe what you want in a church website, they provide little help in the process. The quicker you can move to using objective terminology based on desired outcomes, the quicker you will get what you want and need.
Fear of Losing Your Audience
Understand that with any new church website design you’re going to have detractors. Inevitably someone will complain about the menu, graphics or the removal of some feature. However, don’t let that fear prevent you from pushing forward with your design. Yes, you may get some pushback, however, your audience will adjust to the changes over time.