I am writing a series of posts about setting goals for your church website. I’ve talked about goal setting before. In this post I want to introduce you to the idea of setting smart goals for your website. We all know that goals are important. In every aspect of our lives we must set goals. Your church website is no different. The big question is are you being smart with your goals?
The Old & New Project launched last week and it is an amazing showcase of illustrations from the bible. The Old & New Project features three new illustrations a week which you can order as prints. All of the proceeds go to the blood:water mission.
Very soon my office will be decked out in illustrations from Old & New, the designs are fantastic!
Check it out: http://oldandnewproject.com
I am running a test. Something that might drastically change how a user interacts with Church Website Ideas. Last night I removed the search field from this site in a effort to test an idea I had. It all started when I wanted to find an old blog post I wrote, so I did a quick search using a keyword and, nothing! I couldn’t find the post, or anything really relevant. Not a good user experience.
A Quick Look at the Numbers
I thought that if I am having trouble finding things, then I bet others are too. I took a quick look at my Google Analytic data and noticed in one week, 21% of people searching this site we bouncing off as soon as they hit the results page. This can mean a few things, but I read it as: 21% of our users are not finding content and leaving the site. Not something I want to be known for.
I love WordPress. When done right, using WordPress for your website is a great choice for a CMS. Unfortunately for churches, there are not a lot of choices when it comes to beautiful church WordPress themes. I spent some time digging for quality themes churches could use, and I found 8 that stood out over what is out there. All of these are paid themes and their features very.
Have a theme you love? Share in the comments! Enjoy!
From time to time I post random things from my life in a effort to possibly help encourage people. I want to share part of my journey with you. Running has a ton of benefits, we all know why we should run, but I wanted to share with you a few reasons why 18 months ago I started running.
Here is my story, why I love running, and how it helps me as a creative.
It seems like responsive web design is here to stay. I recently started designing and developing my new projects around the responsive web design methodology. Designing and developing with multiple screen sizes in mind, presents a whole new set of challenges for designers and developers.
I have put together a list of some great tools I have used to help make my new responsive websites work.
Life can be crazy, it can be busy, it can be hard, but if you are following what God has called you to do, you will succeed.
Since moving to Cambodia to work with street kids, life has been difficult. I find myself questioning if we made the right choice. But I have to remind myself that God made a path for us to follow. As long as we follow His path, we will make it, and hopefully by His grace make a difference.
When I start to doubt God’s calling for us, I look to my favorite verse:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
(Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)
We need your prayers, and I want to pray for you. Let me know how I can pray for you.
And if you want to see what my wife and I are unto in Cambodia, check out our site at: goforlove.org.
What are you afraid of?
You’re afraid. Getting more done would mean exposing yourself to considerable risk, to crossing bridges, to putting things into the world. Which means failure. – Seth Godin
Is 2012 the year you face your fears? I pray that it is.
via: Seth Godin Blog
Creative Bible Verse is a feature that explores the bible and what the Word has to say about creativity and our relationship with God.
For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name! – Amos 4:13
The same God who forms the mountains and creates the wind gave us his Holy Spirit. That very spirit enables us to be creative, to form our own mountains and create our own wind, as an act of worship to God! It is my prayer for you today that you feel his creative spirit, in anything you do, He is there with you.
Original Server Photo by: Tom Raftery via Flickr
For some of us, paying a hosting service is worth the monthly cost. Being able to hand over control to someone else can remove potential headaches. But 3rd party hosting isn’t for everyone. I use a local server for testing out web apps I am developing, which cuts down on hosting costs for a dedicated server for testing, which can easily run $100+ a month!
This is the first part of an on-going series that will walk us through the process of setting up our own web server. First thing we need to do is look at what you will need in order to get your own server up and running!