Writing Compelling Content for Your Church Website.

Visitors will come to your church website because of flashy imagery, but they'll keep coming back for fresh, well written content. Writing for the Web is different than writing for other mediums. Web visitors have shorter attention spans than any other medium, so it is important to know how to write to keep their attention as long as possible and keep them coming back for more.

Over the next several blogs, we will give you tips for improving your Web writing. The first step to becoming a better Web writer is finding and developing your writing "voice." We've used the analogy in a previous blog entry that your church website is like a conversation. Your voice, like your speaking voice, is the tone projected by the words you use and how you use them.

Here are three keys to developing your voice:

Know your audience.

Before you begin crafting the words directed toward your website users, it is important to understand their expectations and wants so you can meet them.

Your ministry visitors want to feel in touch with your pastor and want to sense being cared for by staff members from the minute they walk in the door. They want to interact with you and not feel like a number sitting alone in a pew. You want them to feel at home, too, so when you greet these visitors to your ministry, you smile, welcome them, and give them your undivided attention. Your writing voice should do exactly the same thing.

Be friendly.

Your tone has the power to invite people in or turn people away. Use informal language. Say "we" and "you" instead of "our congregation" or "ministry leaders" to make yourself more relatable. Use your page as a handshake and your text as a "welcome."

Example of friendly voice:

If you are interested in becoming a member of Calvary Baptist, we invite you to attend Meet the Pastors.

Meet the Pastors is a great first step towards becoming involved at Calvary. If you are investigating or have recently decided to make Calvary your church home, then we welcome you to join us at Meet the Pastors.

Please register for Meet the Pastors today. We would love to see you there!

Be firm and use active voice.

Use active voice when writing news articles or blogs to energize the content and involve the reader. Use strong commands when writing ad content to promote action. Use the present tense and confident words to give your text authority.

Example of firm, active voice using present tense:

Join us at one of our two Sunday services. We meet at 9:30 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. each week. We invite you to engage in Christ-centered worship and an application-filled study of God’s Word with us.

Visit our "What To Expect" page to find out more about our services and our beliefs. If you have a question or comment, fill out a Contact Us form.

SOURCES FOR THIS BLOG/FURTHER READING ON WRITING FOR THE WEB

The 10 Commandments of Internet Writing: Web Pro News