Media Outreach

First Impressions is facilitated through Guest Reflections. People are asked to pick a website from a church in their area at random and review it. These sites may or may not be powered by faithHighway.

Church Location: Bothell, WA

User Profile:

• Female
• 18 to 24 years old
• Caucasian
• Area Resident 3 to 5 years
• Attends Church 2 or more times per month

Final Grade: According to our visitor, this site had great navigation, flawless functionality, inviting content, and an appealing design.

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“I found what to expect when you visit under one of the first buttons I clicked on – About us. It was very informative and easy to find as well as understand. Also, I clicked on the “what are we doing” to find updates throughout the week. I also clicked on the “events” button to find what events occur throughout the week for members. Lastly, the Weblog was easy to find at the very top of the page. Overall, I found the website very easy to navigate through as well as information that was easy to understand.”
The visitor found no error messages and all the pages loaded quickly.
“I liked the quotes saying ‘no church experience required, so easy, something for everyone, etc.’ These quotes are inviting to everyone, and that is what I liked most of all.”
“The vibe of the site is for young adults and professionals. I have never visited this church, but I would feel like it is for 20-40 year olds. It seems like a younger audience that is friendly and welcoming. I feel like it is a very thorough website. Also, I liked how the website was inviting to people who may have not grown up in a church because it was not intimidating at all.”

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What is your overall first impression of this site?

“When I first logged onto the webpage, I noticed pictures of members and mission trips scrolling through. It was a positive first impression of the professional site. I also realized the site was incredibly easy to navigate, and I think the wording was inviting for new people and made you feel comfortable to try a service.”

What would make this site better?

“I would have liked to see a letter from the Pastor. I saw a picture of what looked like the Pastor standing on the stage preaching, but it would be nice to put a name with the face. He didn’t have his picture up under the Team Tab.”

Would you visit this church based on the site?

“I would absolutely visit this church.”

faithHighway Tips for improvement…
…from a design expert:

“Overall, this site is pretty well done.  The main image rotation piece though, is not functional at all.  Having images of the people involved in your ministry adds some value, but it would be better to have that be an interactive piece.  For example, even just having those images be links to different areas of the site would be more useful and would add value to that piece. Also, I think it would be better to have another color on the bottom half of the site, instead of just a white background.”

…from a programming expert:

“They’re missing meta tag information which would help them appear higher in search engines.”

…from a web outreach expert:

“A custom site is a great opportunity to brand your church. However, this site seems to have mirrored the design of another very large ministry’s site. Creating a site based on your needs and brand would net a much higher return.”

Photo by HelloSputnik