Social bookmarking can be a powerful way to attract visitors to your church website.  It’s also one of the easiest ways to market your church and a way to get everyone in your church involved.  How can you use social bookmarking most effectively with your church’s website?  Here are seven tips for using social bookmarking most effectively: Read more…

There are millions of people online at any given time. How many of those millions will ever hear about your church’s website? There are many ways for people to find out about your website and we’ve discussed many of those ways right here on the Church Marketing Online blog. Lately we’ve been looking at the social web and how your church can engage members and visitors online through interactive website features, social networking, etc., but social bookmarking is a little different. With social bookmarking you have a way to market your church through some of the most powerful marketing tools there has ever been…not social bookmarking per se…but simply the power of recommendations and the desire for people to fit in.

Does your church use this tool? Read more…

Over the past two weeks Paul and I have posted several articles related to the Interactive Church Conference, articles about church communication and interactive church websites.  One of the big stumbling blocks a lot of churches run into when deciding whether to have an interactive website is the fear of user created content or member created content…the loss of control of the website content.

• What if someone posts theology that is not what the church teaches?
• What if someone posts something negative about the church?
• What if people spam the site?
• What if people post inappropriate content?
• What if someone just attacks our church website outright with vulgar content? Read more…
  

One of the topics we discussed at the Interactive Church Conference was about the concern some of the pastors had about how people would interact on the website.  There were a variety of concerns, but some of the main concerns were how to prevent the website from being just self-focused (the users only being focused on themselves) and having inappropriate conversations.  Not just conversations about inappropriate topics, but public conversations about private matters or members arguing over an issue instead of having a discussion.  So, how do we keep our church sites from becoming a gossipfest or places where people are constantly arguing? Read more…

Yesterday, I posted a blog on the Christian Web Trends blog about why churches should have an interactive website.  I assume every church is now chomping at the bit to get their new website , but perhaps some churches aren’t quite sure how to go about it.  Thankfully they addressed some of those issues in the Interactive Church Conference.  Read more…

As the title of the conference indicates, the “Interactive Church Conference” had a large focus on interactive websites and their use within the church.  A well designed and well used interactive church website can allow members to connect with members they don’t know, deepen relationships with members they do know, and grow in their faith.  One of the greatest aspects of an interactive church website is its ability to extend “church” from being a Sunday event to being an everyday experience. Read more…

In the third article coming from the Interactive Church Conference Paul asks the question, “Are you a bridge person?”  In the previous articles Paul looked at the communication issues and solutions between church leadership and church techs.  In this third article, Paul focuses on bridge people, people who can bridge the gap between church leaders and church techs. Read more…

As I mentioned the other day, this past weekend Paul Steinbrueck and I attended the Interactive Church Conference in Daytona, FL.  We thought we’d blog about some of the discussion topics from the conference and, since much of the conference was related to churches and technology (as opposed to church marketing) we decided to post the messages in the Christian Web Trends blog. Read more…

This past weekend my brother Paul and I attended the Interactive Church conference led by the Bob Christenson and Matt Farina of Geeks and God. The focus of the conference, as the name implies, was why and how to have an interactive church website, a church website that utilizes social web features such as blogs, podcasts, forums, and Twitter to promote community within the church, help market the church, and spread the love of Jesus Christ. Read more…