Faithwebsites Blog

Posted on November 13th, 2011

Promoting your church’s Christmas service

by Faithwebsites Team

Whether your church does a large scale, multi-time Christmas service, or a single Christmas Eve service, Christmas is a time to reach out and invite others in the community to your church. Here are some suggestions on how you can use your website and social media to reach out to your community.

Week 1 and 2:

  1. Build a page on your website for the event. Be sure to give your page a simple filename – you’ll want a short URL for that specific page.
  2. Once your website page is ready, build an event on your Facebook page. Use the same graphics, same text as you do for your website page. You don’t have to build all the details in your Facebook event page – but be sure to include the key items (dates, times, locations, etc.) and a link directly to your website page for the Christmas service(s).
  3. Tweet the event on your church’s Twitter account.
  4. Recruit your congregation! Get the word out through your church bulletin, announcements and more, asking members to share the event on their personal Facebook pages and tweet about the event.
  5. Sit down with your Christmas service team and make a list of specific things you can use to continue to promote the service. You can use random thoughts & rem inders

    such as “the stage is being painted…”, “sneak peek” concept, “you don’t want to miss…” teasers and more. Keep it simple, keep it short and most of all, make sure you have enough ideas to tweet and post about, every day to every third day at a minimum.

Week 2 and 3:

  1. Put a schedule together or jot down reminders in your calendar for regular posts and tweets on the event.
  2. Take pictures of the set being built, the children or choir practicing – anything like that. Add a photo slideshow or gallery tool to the bottom of your Christmas event webpage, and upload those pictures there.
  3. From the step above, choose one of the pictures you’ve taken and post it to your Facebook wall and tweet it. Why one? You’ll get more mileage by posting one at a time directly to your Facebook wall, versus building a Facebook album. Albums are for your members – and, aha! You have that on your website page.
  4. Consider putting together a promo video and uploading on your website. Embed the video on your event page and be sure to update your Facebook wall and Twitter feed with the video’s link.
  5. Remind your congregation to keep promoting the event on their personal social media streams.
  6. Don’t forget to keep posting about the event – several times a week.

Week 4:

  1. Post a reminder on FB about having your members invite their contacts to the service. They can do this with just a couple clicks on Facebook!
  2. Keep it up! Post a new picture on your Facebook wall.
  3. Retweet, re-post daily.

The above is a basic plan starting about 4 weeks ahead; customize this to fit your schedule and your social media streams, but do plan ahead and start as early as you can, picking up the pace as you get closer to the event.

One important step – take notes along the way – what works and doesn’t work, the schedule, etc. You’ll want to brush those notes off in a short time for your Easter service!

Posted in Church Websites, How-To's, School Websites, Social Media | No Comments »

Posted on November 8th, 2011

Share the Christmas Story…

by lisag

… and build up your social media following all in one. Have you heard of Natwivity?

The team at Faithwebsites was introduced to Natwivity last year.

Brilliantly produced and executed from a creative organization out of the U.K., the mission of Natwivity is to tell the story

of Christ’s birth – for the 21st century audience. Last year, all the characters of the greatest story on earth tweeted (Twitter) daily as they went through their lives. Joseph, Mary, Herod, and many were all sharing.

Natwivity targets the teen through 30′s audience, many of whom do not hear or get an opportunity to see the Christmas story. This target audience also represents the largest group of social media users, but Natwivity was loved by all. Grandparents chuckled over the thoughts of the Roman soldiers and shed tears over what may have been Mary’s prayers, while younger children were beginning to realize that these characters in the bible were real people.

Natwivity provides you with all the resources you need to join in that telling through your Facebook and Twitter streams. They even provide you with website ready images to promote the story. Just follow Natwivity on Facebook and/or Twitter and repost and share the story. Yes, it will require someone on your team to be dedicated to update your posts, but the updates take seconds and the results will be worth it.

Not only will you be sharing the Christmas story in a new way, you’ll be reaching a new audience, and you’ll gain momentum in building your social media network.

What are you waiting for? Natwivity starts in a couple weeks… check it out!

Note: While many Faithwebsites customers appreciated Natwivity last year, we encourage you to do your own research to ensure that your church or organization embraces the beliefs and presentation style of Natwivity.

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Posted on November 4th, 2011

SEO… One powerful thing you can do today

by lisag

The Page Level Title Tag is one of the most important tags in your website – especially for all your key landing pages or your main navigation category pages. The content of the title tag is displayed by most search engines as the title of your page within the search engine results – or SERPs.  Search engines weigh the content in this title as extremely important or valuable insight as to what is contained on your web page  – resulting in a heavy impact on your overall SEO.

In Faithwebsites CMS, you can easily create your own Page Titles on a page by page basis, customizing the keywords for each of your landing pages. To do so, head to your navigation builder, and click “update” for the page you wish to edit.

Click on Advance Settings and you will see a field called “Title Bar Override”. Add your content there, and after saving and refreshing – you can see the changes in your browsers title bar field.

It takes a few weeks for search engines to update this content, but with the right keywords, but results can be seen quickly. Here are a few suggestions in creating your Page Title:

  • Try to keep your Title Tags to between 40 and 60 characters in length, including spaces.

    Less is more!

  • The Title Tag needs to make sense

    to people, not just to search engines. Remember that this is what is displayed on the page of search results for users – make it something that compels users to click on the link.

  • Focus on working in your most important keywords
  • Start with your key landing pages or your main (top) navigation pages first. See how that goes and work into other pages on your site.
  • Revisit! Create your page titles and then mark your calendar to review your analytics in a couple months – see which pages have increased and what the title tag says. Edit and repeat.

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Posted in How-To's, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Website Content | No Comments »

Posted on November 2nd, 2011

Introducing our all new Premium Designs

by lisag

The team has been super busy here building brand- new designs<

/a> – offering the best and latest in web design, with all the functionality and ease of Faithwebsites CMS.

We didn’t just create great website designs – we also did research on hundreds of churches, Christian schools and nonprofit organizations to determine what the latest trends were, and the needs that are unique to Christian organizations. Many churches need to have a home page that balances the needs of their regular attenders – getting info out to them fast – along with being seeker friendly or sensitive.

Nonprofits need a way to display compelling stories  – through slide shows that lead users to want to learn more.

All that and more can be found on the new designs. And you still get all the tools and benefits of Faithwebsites CMS!

If you are a current customer, we can install a Premium Design around your existing website content – very little w ork will be required from you

or your team! Plus, as an added bonus right now, current customers can “Like Us” on Facebook and post something on our wall (ie. Your favorite new Premium design, or your favorite FWS tool, or just comment on one of our posts – and receive special discounted pricing on design services and site upgrades! So, head to our Facebook page – be sure to tell us your organization name – and we’ll be in contact with you!

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Posted in Church Websites, New Features & Releases, School Websites | No Comments »

Posted on August 23rd, 2011

Back to Sunday School Freebie

by Faithwebsites Team

Kids are heading back to school, and for many churches, the fall season means the start-up of Sunday School.

Faithwebsites has produced a simple graphic for our customers to use on their websites. Ideal for home page, you can download any (or all!) of the images you think will work best for your site. Feel free to resize, and add your own copy.

Remember that if you use the slide show tool, or the Image tool in the text editor, you can have these images “click-able” to a page where your Sunday School information is located.

To download, click on the image – a full size version will open in your browser. Next, right click on the image and click “Save Image As”. (Remember to check out these free resources to edit your images: Picnik, Picasa, and Aviary.  Blessings from your Faithwebsites Team!

Posted in Church Websites, General, Website Content | No Comments »

Posted on August 3rd, 2011

Enhancement Update: AddThis

by lisag

If you’re not familiar with the term “AddThis“, you are likely to recognize the image below.

AddThis is a platform that makes sharing a page

or content from your website easy for users – literally one click to the source of their choice and they have shared information with others. Adding this sharing tool to pages of your website is one way to gain visibility and help spread the word about your organization, event, fundraising and more.

Faithwebsites has created a built-in tool that enables you to place the AddThis sharing icon bar on your website with only a few steps! You can choose if you want to add it site wide, or select page by page.

Basic setup instructions:

  1. To begin, you need an account with AddThis. It’s free and only takes a moment to do. Head to https://www.addthis.com/register and register.
  2. Once you register, you are assigned a Profile ID. Copy that ID.
  3. Login to your FWS admin site and click on Settings.
  4. Towards the bottom of the Settings menu, you will see the AddThis Content Sharing section.
  5. Select the options you’d like, knowing that you can come back and change the settings at any time.

  6. Enter your Profile ID, edit the AddThis service options and then click Update at the very bottom of the Settings menu/screen.
  7. If you have selected to include AddThis on all pages, after a refresh, your live site will show the icons on every page, at the top. If you have selected to include AddThis on a page by page basis, continue on to the steps below.
  8. For page control, go to your Navigation Builder and find the page of your choice. Click on Update for that page.
  9. In the Update Page menu, click on red “Advanced Settings” link to expand the menu.
  10. At the very top of the Advanced Settings menu, there is a check box for displaying the AddThis tool. Check the box and then click Update to save your changes.
  11. Refresh your live site and the AddThis will appear at the top of that page. Repeat the process for all the pages you would like the sharing tool placed on.

The AddThis tool has many more features and functionality that you may wish to explore on your own.

We have found proven success with the AddThis tool, which is why FWS created a short-cut built into your CMS, but as a third-party application, we cannot offer support for the tool and it’s features. Should you need any assistance getting the AddThis tool embedded into your website, we are happy to assist you with that. Please create a new ticket in your Support Center and our Support Team will answer you shortly.

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Posted on May 31st, 2011

Trends in Church Websites

by lisag

A lot of change continues to impact nonprofit ministry and church websites. For starters, websites are no longer “optional” but now essential for most churches. And perhaps the biggest change is that churches are realizing that websites are not just for keeping their members updated – websites, especially with social media integration, are for reaching out to people looking for a church home, for offering support and spiritual resources and to continue to connect people already attending the church.

Some of the most common trends seen today:

  • Clean design and less words.

    Gone are the flashy intros and long wordy home pages.

    Churches are recognizing that good design balance, graphics, white space and integrated content is yielding great success.

  • Updated and simplified navigation. Churches are opting to keep their main navigation down to a 5 or so choices and using call-out button and integrated design “buttons” on their home page for key sections of their website. The navigation names have changed too, becoming more creative and direct. Examples could include the “About Us” section becoming “Learn More”, and “Service Times” being rolled into “I’m New” or “New Here?”. Terms like “Connect”, “Grow”, “Serve”, “Give” are being  used in place of longer terms.
  • Home page designs support featured important areas of the ministry – and offer users a one-click option to get direct to that information.

  • Video and audio are key to the website, mostly included as a call-out button or links right off the home page.
  • Social media links, or icons, are integrated into the design of the home page and social media feeds are offered throughout the entire website.
  • Home page slide shows are larger, featuring more stock photography or professional images. Less room is needed for home page content these days, and more resources are being put into purchasing and creation of announcements and other slide show images. Candid photos are reserved for photo galleries within the interior pages.
  • Slide shows are being used on more interior pages. Think Children’s Ministry, Teen Outreach / Camps, Short Term Missions Trips…

Your Faithwebsite CMS website can be changed to meet any and all of these trends! Our updated slide show tool can be made to nearly any size – including full site width. Moving to top navigation (if you haven’t already) and editing your navigation in your administrative website is a few minute task – the bigger chore might be determining what to update your navigation to!

As always, contact us via your support center for more information or assistance on completing a task in your CMS. And, follow us on Facebook; we’re going to start featuring new designs and customer websites that have made some great changes on our Facebook page.

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Posted on May 6th, 2011

New Design Offerings!

by Faithwebsites Team

Looking to update or upgrade your website? Want to do that without having to re-enter all your content?

At Faithwebsites, we are constantly working to improve our offerings and to help you stay at the cutting edge of website technology.

Currently, we are working on a large initiative to offer you more design options for your website.  We want to make sure EVERY ONE of our clients has a website design that they are proud of.   If you are currently using our basic template, you may want to consult with one of professionals on how we can design cus

tom graphics to spruce up that template.  

Or, if you want to take your website design to whole new level, you may want consider one of our new premium designs.  To learn more about this offering and to see some of these designs, go to http://www.faithwebsites.net/product_design_library.cfm.  Within the next 4-6 weeks, this library will be expanding a great deal.

Premium Designs are a cost-effective way to  have a great website look, and with the customizations that we do, your website will have the visual look that will lead your users into your site, draw them to the content you want them to read, and keep them coming back for more.

If you would like to take advantage of our new design offerings, please send us an email to info@faithwebsites.com or start a new ticket through your support center and ask about Design update options!

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Posted on May 3rd, 2011

New way to pay invoices

by Faithwebsites Team

At Faithwebsites / Dynamic Internet Solutions, we are happy to announce eChecks / ACH Payments as a new way in which you can pay your invoices.  Using this method, you can pay your invoices with us online without having to pay any extra processing fees.  Therefore, if you have been paying your invoices with a credit card, PayPal or Google Checkout, you may want to consider the ACH method so you can save these fees. If you have been paying with check, the ACH will save you the hassle of writing a check and sending it in the mail.  Unfortunately, th is option

is only available to our US clients.

To learn more about this payment option, go to http://support.faithwebsites.com/billing.cfm and read FAQ #12.

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Posted on April 18th, 2011

Enhancement Highlight: Updated Message Board Tool

by lisag

We are excited to announce that we’ve updated our Message Board tool to include a simple journal or blog presentation you can create on your website! The updates are live right now – go check it out!

With the added functionality, the uses for this tool are expanded well beyond that of the message board, but no fears! We kept the message board intact, knowing that many of our customers use the tool as a message board only.  Now this tool will allow you to create journals, devotionals, blogs and more open-discussion forums.

While we want to be clear that this tool does not possess all the functionality of a blog application (like WordPress, TypePad,  Blogger, etc.), you can create a basic blog and have it immediately available within your website*. Each post will be contained within a unique URL and enable comments (approved or posted directly – your choice). A keyword search can be placed on the page, and you can c

ontrol the number of posts you want displayed on the page. Posts that “fall off” the page are archived and automatically listed on the right side of the page. If you are looking to start a blog and have basic needs, you have the tool to accomplish that right now!

This tool also has great use for general announcements, discussions, journal or devotional posts, and more. Create a user-side secured page and place this tool on that page for a bible study support group. Encourage your ministry and office staff to keep your church updated on events, needs and more by using this tool as an announcement-update type of tool. The list of possibilities goes on. The most important asset this tool has is that it provides you with a way to keep your website content updated in an easy to use and “do” format.

Basic steps in creating a journal or blog type of message board tool:

  1. Create,or select, a page for the message board tool. From the drop down tool menu, add the “Message Board” tool.
  2. Create a title for the message board/journal/blog. You can always change this later.

  3. Most likely, you will want to keep the RSS default to “yes”. The use of CAPTCHA should be determined by the purpose of your tool. If you are creating a blog or journal where you are not going to allow visitors to create posts, you could opt to turn this off. If, however, you are going to create an open forum, support group, or similar you will want to keep this on.
  4. Providing a keyword search defaults to “yes” and in nearly all the uses we thought of for this tool, you’d want to offer your visitors that search option!
  5. Format for posts. Here is where you will shape the presentation and use of the page. Choose blog-like format when you intend to have a single or small group of contributors who will post blogs, journal/devotionals, announcements, etc.Choose topic based / bulletin board format when you are creating more of a forum, bulletin board or open community tool. This is the format the tool has been provided in.
  6. Now, finish the choices. For a blog-like format, you will want to turn select “no” for Allowing Users To Create Posts, and “yes” to Allowing Users to Submit Comments to Existing Posts. Also, for a blog-like format, entering a Default Author is a useful step. (The author can be changed at the creation of a new post.)
  7. Be sure to enter an email address to help keep you on top of what your users are posting on your webpage.
  8. Click Update.

Once you have your Message Board properties built, you are ready to add your content. To do so, simply click the “Create New Post” link and add content. With the same functionality as the Text/Graphic Editor you are used to working with, you’ll be on your way to adding content, images, attachments and more in no time.

To see a blog-like message board tool setup, visit our demo here. We hope you enjoy this greatly enhanced tool!

*Interested in integrating a full blog application in your Faithwebsites website? Have an existing blog that you want to have integrated within your website? Faithwebsites now offers integrating WordPress blogs into your website, residing on your existing domain. Many blog-build, migration and integration services are available. More information and quotes for these services can be obtained from your Support Team. Start a new ticket and ask for more information on these services.

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