A Church using Google Video

[Bob Woolley]

What a neat idea! :fav18

Maybe I am behind the times but this is an easy way to present to newcomers how your services are presented so they may feel more at home and know what to expect should they visit.

You might want to try this using one video as an example in your church? Just link Google video to your web page.

Click on the link below:
Scroll down on the first page and click on the play arrow in the video box.

http://ephratanazarene.org/

I have been scrolling through Nazarene Church web sites to get ideas and I am amazed how some are out of date or links are bad...including my own. Also some don't say where they are located on the front page?? If you are a visitor, would you want to go looking through a web site to find out where you are located? :eek:

[Mike Schutz]

Bob,
Thanks!

My dad used to wait until one of us kids got up and then would say, "Beings as how you're up, would you get me ... from the kitchen?"

So Bob, "Beings as how you're looking around the web..."

Would you be willing to do me a favor and look at our site and give me an objective opinion? We are about to do a redesign. Some folks want a tweak and other folks a major overhaul.

I would appreciate the opinion of anyone willing to share it.
Thanks.

www.avongrovenazarene.org

[Billie Goodson]

Bob,

Nice site. A few observations --

When I leave the home page, there is no clear button to navigate back to the home (although I see you have the COTN seal and it is linked to the home page).

Love the map link -- don't expect me on Sunday, your church is 1002 miles from my house. Clear directions...but, I hope you understand.

Good use of multimedia and flash! Your site is catchy!!

I struggled to find the youth -- it is there, but highlight it more.

I love your use of video -- a great idea!!

Your comments are so right on about the Church. I travel a lot and when I am in an area, I usually try to find if there is a Nazarene Church nearby. I am an internet junky -- it is like a phone book add, or a sign out front -- if I find a church's website to be just a front page with no info or appeal -- I find that is two strikes in my mind. Even my wife who is not the biggest fan of technology says the same thing about church websites. With such a great medium to reach so many generations today -- churches need to invest some time and effort in presenting themselves on the web. So many people today use that as the first glimpse. How many of us call 411 anymore for information -- vs, how many of us go to the web for a number? Many churches still think they can post a note on a tree to get people to stop by -- might work -- but, do you really want to count on it?

[Billie Goodson]

Nice site Mike -- very functional. You guys present the information and it is really pretty good at first glance. I would put your church on my visit list (along with Bob's). All you need now is the "GRAB". I would look around your site .. the youth page to pick on one was big, easy to read, and good info. The biggest difference is that Bob's site grabbed me with the multimedia. Your site gives great info -- if I go after it. Bring it to me. Challenge some folks (youth especially) to make use of some multimedia. Get them to think and come up with something that would grab their attention as a visitor.

PERSONAL STATEMENT: No MUSIC!! I hate when I go to sites and they play unsolicited music or even video for that matter. It eats bandwidth -- and while I no longer have dial up, some do. I hate pages that just start downloading a lot of content to me and make me wait for them to get done. Just my 2 cents.

Oh, and how about some staff pictures! I like to look at pictures of staff because I want to make sure they all have two eyes, one mouth -- you know...normal. It just gives me the feeling of a familiar face if I go there.....

[Mike Schutz]

By, the way - I just checked out the site Bob posted.
It is not his church's site, but that of a church on our district.

While I like some of the "look and feel" of it, they have committed the cardinal sin. Some of the pages are out of date by over a year.

But I know the feeling. Keeping everything updated can be tough on a bare bones site like ours, much less a busier site like Ephrata's. Besides, I don't want to be too tough - those folks are my friends. :basic05

Billie, I agree with you about music being a negative.