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Your Church Website's Reservoir of Goodwill (and 3 Ways to Keep it Full)

What is a website's Reservoir of Goodwill?

"I've always found it useful to imagine that every time we enter a website, we start out with a reservoir of goodwill. Each problem we encounter on the site lowers the level of that reservoir."
- Steve Krug, Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Your website visitors enter your site wanting something--your service times, your location, to contact you--and each obstacle they encounter decreases their experience satisfaction level.

Here's an example of a very poor website experience, and how a Reservoir of Goodwill can be depleted.

	I want to visit your church for a service. So I come to your website looking for service times.
	I don't immediately see your service times on your home page. I'm slightly disappointed.
	Now I have to look through your menu for service times. There is no section with that name, so I have to figure out which section it would be in. I click About.
	On your About page, I don't see anything about service times. And the pages within this section only read Staff, History, and Beliefs. Which section is it in? I'm starting to get frustrated.
	I click the Locations link in your menu. This page displays your address and phone number, but I still don't see your service times. My patience is wearing thin.
	While some may have started with performing a search, I leave it as my last resort. "No results" come up when I submit "Service Times" in your search field. I'm almost ready to give up.
	I return to your Locations page, pick up the phone, and dial your number. You've just defeated the purpose of me visiting your website, so when I call to ask your office your service times, I'm going to be grumpy.

Before your visitor even walks through your physical door, his attitude toward you has already been soured--just from one website visit.

How to Keep a Full Reservoir of Goodwill

Here are three easy ways to ensure your Reservoir remains full.

1. "Keep the main things the main things."

Create a top 5 list of questions your users to your church website to have answered, then make sure the answers are easy to find. These items should probably be in your top-level menu as their own sections. Adding banners or ads--or just displaying the answers--on your home page can go a long way toward keeping your Reservoir topped-off.

Your top 5 user questions might look like this:

Who are you?
Where are you?
What time are your services?
What do you believe?
How can I interact with you?

2. Write clear content

Even if your content is easy to find, if it doesn't answer a user's questions, what good is it? Concentrate on making your text readable, simple, and very brief. Too much text on a page and a user might give up before they even try. Or if they do try and end up sifting through several paragraphs of filler just to find the one important sentence, you can see your Reservoir drop in a hurry.

3. Make constant updates and improvements

If you say something will be on your website, it should be there--front and center. There is nothing more depressing to a user than to be directed to a website for more information (from a brochure, flyer, or announcement) only to come up empty when getting there. Every event or news item shared within your bulletin or church should be advertised on your website.

You should also keep an ear open to listeners whose Reservoir has run out while on your website. They should have insights on how you can improve your user experience and ensure your Reservoir stays full for other users. Create a short Contact form for feedback, or hold some quick user tests with a few staff members or family and fix the Reservoir-drainers they come across. (see point #5 on this post)