Church Marketing Sucks

In case you missed it, Google has updated their search engine algorithm to be more mobile friendly. It’s been reported as the biggest update for some time and it has massive impact for churches. The media are calling it #mobilegeddon.

In our last #cmschat on Twitter we discussed the implications of #mobilegeddon for churches and some of the best practices that will help you create an exceptional mobile-friendly church website. Hopefully these search engine optimization (SEO) tips will help your site maintain or improve it’s search engine rank. The great principle about #cmschat is that it isn’t theorists discussing what they think matters. We had practitioners who are in the trenches of church communications

While many of the churches are using different content management systems, many of the hosted solutions and others such as WordPress offer mobile-friendly options. Here are some of the best practices:

Good User Experience

1. A good user experience can mean many things. One example is that a mobile-friendly site will work on a variety of devices such as smart phones and tablets all the way up to a desktop solution.

2. Consistency is another feature of this best practice. While the page may change shape and form, the consistent look and feel shouldn’t dramatically change.

3. Buttons may look great on a desktop experience but are they easily clickable on a mobile experience? Ease-of-use is very important. You don’t want a user to give up just because the button doesn’t behave properly when resized for mobile.

Limit the Clicks

4. A good user experience is all about creating a smart navigational pathway that reduces the number of clicks it takes a user to get to the information they want.

Readability

5. Ever need to pinch or zoom to read some copy? Chances are you are degrading a reader’s experience. The reader should be able to read the copy without pinching or zooming.

No Frills

6. Limit the bells and whistles you have on your site such as mouse hover effects and transitions. If it isn’t necessary then remove it.

Copy Matters

7. You don’t want your reader scrolling through a magnus opus on your about page. Web copy should be short and punchy.

Image Impact

8. Just because an image works at desktop size doesn’t mean it will have the same impact on mobile. Check what it looks like on a mobile and if it has the same impact.

Responsive Video

9. Your site may be a beautifully responsive site, but that doesn’t matter one bit if your video isn’t responsive and reactive to the device it is on.

Webfonts Matter

10. If you choose a fancy webfont, make sure it is as readable on a small screen as it is on a large screen.

Our #cmschat community is full of fantastic peer-led advice. Why don’t you join us on Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET on Twitter? If you want more mobile-friendly insights from our last #cmschat, read the transcript here.

Got questions? Comment below.