The Web Audit

Websites have a shelf life equal to bread.  Unlike printed materials which can be produced in volume and remain relevant for a time, websites can't.  Think of it like produce.

To make sure yours isn't going stale, put a task reminder on your calendar to "audit" your site at regular intervals.  To review content, this may be set on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis.  But for the "big audit"--the one I want to focus on in this post--you probably want to set the reminder at six months or annually.  The "big audit" is about identity, functionality, search engine performance, and value. So, let's start with the big four:

Identity.  Most companies and organizations tell their story in terms of who they are instead of who they plan to be in two years. Given that people and organizations grow and become, identity isn't a static thing.  In many ways, your website can set trajectory both internally and externally by communicating who you want to become as a church and what you care about.  So the audit question is: "Does our site communicate who we want to be in both look and content?" 

Starting with look is typically the easiest but also the most contentious.  Because look is such a subjective thing, it generally draws the most emotion. Pull yourself away from the emotions evoked by the design and focus on what it communicates. I mentioned last post about stock photos of people being a mismatch for churches who want to communicate authenticity.  Does the look communicate warmth? Tradition? Art? Approachability? Style? Adorable quirks in your church's personality?  Is your look unique to you or does it look like websites of other churches? (By the way, this isn't a bad thing if they are similar to you in personality.)

Moving to content, you would look at similar issues.  Does our site have content that communicates our heart? Does the content effectively tell our story? Is the "voice" formal or casual? Is the voice consistent? (A challenge for any site with multiple contributors.)

Functionality. Typically designers can't discover functionality issues on their own because the site flows out of the way they think. Beta testing is key before launch, but it is also important through the life of the site as things are updated and changed. A few common usability mistakes...

- Too many choices in the navigation (This can be helped with dropdown menus or other headers). 
- Disconnected navigation.
- Legibility issues.
- Too much text and too few images. (Adding headers and other visual breakouts such as photos can help the eye manage the text.)
- Phraseology that isn't easily understood by people who don't go to your church. (You can work around this if you define things so people can learn the lingo.)
- Important data not easily located. (ie. Directions to your church and when you meet.)
- Flash elements or images with slow load times.
- Contact information such as address and phone number not on the site. (Don't laugh. It happens.)
- Forcing users to fill out forms to connect with you. (Creates an unnecessary wall and communicates "corporation" over "personal".)
- Outdated information that causes the site to lose credibility in providing accurate info. 

Realize that websites are viewed differently based on the browser the viewer is using, resolution, and default font settings. Not to mention those who view with mobile phones. If you are using Google Analytics to track your site usage then you will have the data about the browsers and resolutions being used by site visitors and can design to the majority.  Ask yourself--or maybe more importantly, a test group--"How useable is our site?"

Performance in the Search Engines.  Most people will find you via Google. Or Yahoo. Or some other type of search engine.  The quick test for how well your site is performing is to Google yourself. Test search terms like "Presbyterian church St. Louis" or "Community church Chicago."  If your site isn't performing well, check the following.

- Is your site Flash based or is most of your text in graphics?  Since search engines read text and not images, you may be completely invisible on the web and not even know it.
- Have you filled out your keywords and metadata? To find out, bring your site up in your browser, right click and select "View Source." Your metadata and keywords will be at the top of the page.
- Have you submitted your URL to Google?
- Does your content contain words that help people to find you? (If the name of your church is only contained in the graphics, probably not.)

How well does your site perform in the search engines?

Value.  This one is by far the most difficult.  Most church websites do a good job at communicating the 411 about where they meet and what they do (programs). Other websites take that a step further and communicate who they are.  However, very few are structured in a way that give people a reason to come back to the site. So, possibly the most difficult question of the audit becomes: What do we provide that is valuable enough that people return to the site on a regular basis?

It might be easy to look at a site in terms of what you find valuable.  Maybe even what your church finds valuable.  After all, if your pastor's Sunday AM message is available and you listen to it a second time, then that is valuable to you.  (I explored some other possibilities in "Eight Ways You Can Connect beyond Sunday AM for Free.")  However, figuring out what the people you want to reach find valuable is a longer conversation.  Value is highly contextual and will take exploration (and inspiration) to develop it in your site. But simply viewing your site through that lens in an audit can make you open to possibilities you hadn't thought of before. And that is highly valuable.

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