The 2.1 Update: Our New-Look Website
With March here and Valentine’s Day a pleasant memory, you may have missed another important February event: the update of our congregation’s website.
Why the update? Every congregation with an online presence hosts a carousel of visitors. To phrase it in Valentine’s Day terms, our website is participating in a speed-dating event in which our would-be partners skim the homepage, check a few details, and leave in less than a minute. This glance can be our first and only chance to impress visitors looking for a church home.
For this reason, the Communication ministry asked me to revamp our website through what became known as the “2.1 Update,” which seeks to improve three areas: aesthetics, organization, and warmth.
Aesthetics are important because visitors often make an immediate judgement based on the work that has been put into the site. If it looks good and up-to-date, then our church appears to be proactive and energetic. An ugly or dated website tells someone that our church is, at best, bland and, at worst, apathetic. Is this fair? Probably not, but online visitors judge a book by its cover.
Organizationally, we have retained much but replaced or added certain key elements. We retained the major categories (“Home,” “I’m New,” “About,” etc.) to keep things simple for returning users, but pages within these categories are now streamlined for usability. The home page, for example, now includes a “Quick Info” section that hosts commonly sought-after information. New page templates were also created for predictable design and navigation. Other organizational projects, such as an all-in-one Beliefs and Mission page, are coming soon.
Finally, we really wanted the website to feel warm and inviting. So we added personal touches like a welcome letter and an increased number of photographs. We adopted first-person plural possessive language such as “Our Mission” and “Contact Us.” Ministries are now (mostly) introduced by a quote rather than generic description, and our ministers and staff have bios that give visitors a sense of them as people. These touches bring our church to life as a welcoming family.
While the initial release of the 2.1 Update took almost six months to complete, our work is never quite done. Ideas, suggestions, and content are always welcome,
Collegechurchofchrist.org is the front door to our congregation, and it takes all of us to keep it up-to-date and inviting.
Why the update? Every congregation with an online presence hosts a carousel of visitors. To phrase it in Valentine’s Day terms, our website is participating in a speed-dating event in which our would-be partners skim the homepage, check a few details, and leave in less than a minute. This glance can be our first and only chance to impress visitors looking for a church home.
For this reason, the Communication ministry asked me to revamp our website through what became known as the “2.1 Update,” which seeks to improve three areas: aesthetics, organization, and warmth.
Aesthetics are important because visitors often make an immediate judgement based on the work that has been put into the site. If it looks good and up-to-date, then our church appears to be proactive and energetic. An ugly or dated website tells someone that our church is, at best, bland and, at worst, apathetic. Is this fair? Probably not, but online visitors judge a book by its cover.
Organizationally, we have retained much but replaced or added certain key elements. We retained the major categories (“Home,” “I’m New,” “About,” etc.) to keep things simple for returning users, but pages within these categories are now streamlined for usability. The home page, for example, now includes a “Quick Info” section that hosts commonly sought-after information. New page templates were also created for predictable design and navigation. Other organizational projects, such as an all-in-one Beliefs and Mission page, are coming soon.
Finally, we really wanted the website to feel warm and inviting. So we added personal touches like a welcome letter and an increased number of photographs. We adopted first-person plural possessive language such as “Our Mission” and “Contact Us.” Ministries are now (mostly) introduced by a quote rather than generic description, and our ministers and staff have bios that give visitors a sense of them as people. These touches bring our church to life as a welcoming family.
While the initial release of the 2.1 Update took almost six months to complete, our work is never quite done. Ideas, suggestions, and content are always welcome,
Collegechurchofchrist.org is the front door to our congregation, and it takes all of us to keep it up-to-date and inviting.
Recent
Archive
2026
January
2025
May
June
July
August
September
October
No Comments