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: Jacksonville, FL

User Profile:

• Male
• 30 to 39 years old
• Caucasian
• Area Resident more than 11 years
• Attends Church 2 or more times per month

Final Grade: Overall this site worked well, had good content, and an attractive design. The biggest downside for our visitor was being unable to find a map or directions to the church.

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A big part of good navigation is that it allows you to find needed information. Hear what our visitor had to say about this: “The church address and phone number are prominently located on the home page, although maps and/or directions are not on the site. Finding contact information for Pastors and other church leaders was very easy; however, biographical information was absent.”
While everything on their site worked well, the visitor did note the following: “I also did not like being redirected to a new web site as this is easily changed. The church would likely want to know that the second Google link still takes an individual to their old web site, which is still being hosted. This old web site is clearly out of date with old staff still being listed as well as an outdated calendar of events.”
“The service times are clearly posted on the home page. There are 2 services, and although one is noted as contemporary and one traditional, I could find nothing that further defined what to expect from these services. The church beliefs are on the home page as well as further clarified/defined on additional pages that are clearly marked. I find it troublesome when the church does not clarify their stance on current issues, if the church does hold a stance. Maybe this church does not have any stance on any current political issues, but this would be very unusual. What would be refreshing is a church that is open and honest about these items as if one is doing the Christian thing, these stances should be a very visible part of ministry.”
“The visual feel of the web site is both contemporary and traditional. It communicates ideas and beliefs, rather than showing actual pictures of the facility.”

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What is your overall first impression of this site?

“This church’s name was the first that came up and so I clicked on the link. The link was for their old web site and I got to a page that redirected me to the new web site. After clicking through to the new web site, the design was very straightforward and it seemed all information would be very easy to find.”

What would make this site better?

“More information about the the facility, the symbolism, and beliefs relevant to today’s political climate, or a statement that no stance is taken on current political agendas.”

Would you visit this church based on the site?

“Probably.”

faithHighway Tips for improvement…
…from a design expert:

“This site uses a subtle color schemes, but at times it is too subtle.  Important information, like the address on the homepage is hard to read because it almost completely blends in to the background.  More imagery within their content would also make this site more compelling.”

…from a programming expert:

“This site has a few alignment issues in Safari.  They are also making multiple calls for javascript files, which can sometimes cause a page to load slowly.  Sometimes it is better to use one javascript library and to call particular functions within that library. The entire site is also built within a form tag which is an unusual way to create a website.”

…from a web outreach expert:

“The site would be considerably enhanced with the addition of imagery to supplement the written content. Adding some biographical information to the pastor & staff page will allow a visitor to form more of a connection with the church before setting foot in the front door. The calendar tool as it currently exists seems to have limited usefulness, as it does not appear to contain the capacity to hold event information. The church would be better served to remove the plugin and enter in events freehand as they approach.”

Photo by Takomabibelot