1	Enhancing Our Web Sites [In] common between the Internet folks and the UUs… UUism is full of hope, and the fact that the Web happens is an example of a dream coming true and an encouragement to all who hope. – Tim Berners Lee, founder of the World Wide Web (www.w3.org)
2	ASPECTS OF OUR WEB SITES Appearance Content Navigation Accessibility Search Engine Optimization Safety Resources – including yours
3	APPEARANCE Smiling faces Basic information without scrolling Consistency of design: background, headers, footers, palette, etc. – check inside Feels good for newcomers – shows uniqueness to other area churches Colorful but not too busy Expresses diversity of race, age, gender, lgbt Doesn’t look like a site map Looks good in Firefox, Explorer, Windows, Mac, & others, including old browsers
4	CONTENT Welcome message “Join us” Basics: “About us”, About UUism, minister, services, religious education, hours, calendar, location, map, contacts Get Involved: committees, social opportunities, social action projects, Small Group Ministry, youth and young adults How to become a member Searchable text with pertinent keywords (unitarian, universalist, church, congregation, community, religious education, Sunday school, music, the name of your town or local community or county and state) Symbols & statements about the church’s accessibility Information up-to-date
5	NAVIGATION Easy to find important information: location, contact, time of service Links easily viewable without scrolling Site map &/or Search form (or less than 10 pages) Consistent linking scheme throughout site Customized 404 error page
6	ACCESSIBILITY Domain name easy to remember and type in – own .com If drop down menus, main link is clickable & links are easy to click on with eye-hand coordination problems Alt tags on all images with description of image (left blank if no information) to inform the visually impaired & blind – No or little text in images Good contrast for visibility and few or no blinking or moving items No audio or video that automatically starts when opening page Quick to load, even with older equipment and slower speed access Newsletters are not text embedded in images so audio readers can be used Podcasts &/or Videos available Files to download are indicated (e.g. PDF or DOC)
7	SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION Can find in search of name of town, state and “church” or “community” or “fellowship” (all 3 would be best – without “unitarian” or “unitarian universalist” or “uu”) Comes up on Google Maps with address search or church & town+state or zip code Can find with other search keywords Good browser titles which show up as links in searches & names in bookmarks Good description – different for each page Page addresses have names rather than numbers (sermon titles in link rather than date in link) Found in Open/Google & Yahoo Directories in town/state section besides UU churches section Found in local directories (including special pages – concert series, open mike, podcast)
8	SAFETY Photos of children not labeled with names No newsletters available with personal information No copyright infringement – photos are credited to photographer Email addresses not open to spammers
9	EXAMPLES OF UU SITES UU Wiki at www.uuwiki.org and click on the link for “Websters” for an encyclopedia of resources for UU web site managers & contributors UUA Resources: Largest Congregations in the UUA from UUA Data Services for examples of sites
10	Example of UU Site
11	Google search results on May Memorial
12	Searching for May Memorial
13	Good 404 Example
14	Large UU Church site
15	Alt tags needed
16	PDF Newsletters
17	Safety issue found in search
18	Typing in domain name wrong
19	Searching for large UU church
20	No customized 404
21	Another large church site with no alt tags
22	Another search for a large church
23	Page names seen in search
24	Google's browser share
25	Another example of Google's share
26	Successful search for church
27	Stats showing site visits
28	Google Adword on right
29	Google Adword on right
30	Google Adword in blog