Over the last 25+ years, we’ve helped thousands of churches with their websites. Through that experience, we’ve observed about 80% of the problems with church websites come down to just 10 common issues.
We figure… If we educate, motivate and assist churches on these 10 issues, we could eliminate 80% of website problems.
So, that’s what we’re going to do, and today we start with this…
The Best Church Websites… 1) Have a Memorable Domain Name
The first issue we’re going to look at is domain names, because having no domain name or a bad domain name can prevent people from ever getting to your website.
5 Tips for Choosing a Memorable Domain Name
1) Register a domain name!
Some small churches with limited financial resources get a free site that doesn’t have its own domain name. We understand many churches are struggling financially, but unless you’re in a 3rd world country and are living off a dollar a day, this is a REALLY bad idea. Free sites have a long website address that is hard for people to remember, often misspelled and terrible for search rankings.
If you genuinely want to reach people in your community, invest the $20-$40 a year to get your church it’s own domain name.
2) Keep it short.
Long domain names are also hard to remember and spell correctly. If your church or organization has a long name, don’t include the entire name in your domain name like firstepiscopalbaptistchurchmontgomery.org. It’d be better to go with FEBCMontgomery.org or even Montgomery.church
3) Go with .org, .com or .church.
Most people think .com for companies and .org is for nonprofits. Therefore, if you can get your preferred domain name with the .org TLD, that’s ideal. If your preferred .org is not available, choosing the .com is a good second choice. .church domains have been around for several years now and are a good option as well.
Often though those domains not available, so if you have to choose between a really long .org and a good, short .net, .us or something else choose the latter.
4) No dashes.
Don’t choose a domain name with a dash in it like first-lutheran-church.org. People have a hard time remembering the dashes, and its difficult to verbally communicate the dashes.
5) Get feedback before choosing.
Family of Christ is a Christian School in Tampa whose mascot is the Knights. The domain name FOCKnights.com would have been a bad choice. Before you make your final decision, have a few other people take a look at it.
You can’t underestimate the importance of a good domain name. To quote Tony Messer…
A domain name is online real estate. It’s where your brand lives. -Tony Messer
Half Off Domain Name and Web Hosting!
OurChurch.Com makes it extremely easy and affordable to get a great domain name. If you order church web hosting this month, we’ll give you half off your first year of domain registration and half off your hosting!
Comment & Discuss
- Do you think its essential for a church website to have its own domain name? Why or why not?
- Do you have any other advice for selecting a good, memorable domain name?
Continue reading: Best Christian/Church Websites 10 Point Checklist
Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com
Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.
An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.
Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.
2 Comments
Good information. My church has its own domain name and we made it easy to remember. The training is good–even though we have an easy to remember domain name–because it lets me know we did well in choosing. Our site has been so helpful to our members and we have other churches and individuals going to the website to get the Pastor’s bio and other important reference information.
That’s great to hear Esther! Thanks for letting us know.