Having a website is great, but nothing beats a fresh website. In fact, if the content on your church’s website gets outdated, you might as well kiss it goodbye. That’s how important it is.

Pastors always wonder why I harp on websites so much. I mean, isn’t it enough to have a web page in the first place? Well, no, it’s not. Think about it this way: The people who are going to be looking for a church in America today were toddlers when the first video games came out. These folks can’t remember the world before the web. (I know because I’m one of them.) Your church’s target audience is increasingly internet-savvy. For many of these people, your church’s website will be their first impression. And if you have a crummy-looking or out-of-date website, it may be their only impression.

Here are three practical ideas for setting up a website management system in your church.

1. Designate someone as the website caretaker.

They used to call this a “webmaster”, but that’s so Y2K. Other names I’ve heard for this position include “web designer”, “web developer”, “web guy”, “web gal”, and “grand poobah of the church’s website”. Preferably, the website caretaker would be a member of the church staff who has experience designing and maintaining websites. Having a skilled web person on staff is an ideal option, as it will help to ensure that your website is always be updated and current, and that the design and content of the website is always aligned with the mission and vision of the church.

Another option that works well for many churches is outsourcing their website management to a professional that specializes in church websites. While this can seem expensive, it may actually turn out to be cheaper than maintaining a staff person for that job, and working with a professional firm virtually guarantees high-quality results.

What about volunteers? While this sounds good (and seems very inexpensive) on the surface, in my experience relying on volunteers to manage the church’s website often leads to one of two outcomes: First, volunteers may be too busy to really put enou