Webmaster Newsletter - April 2008

[pdstein]

Hello OurChurch.Com webmasters,

The potential for reaching non-Christians with the Gospel online is tremendous. Most people online are open to new people, new information, and new websites. So, the opportunity to meet people, build relationships, have spiritual conversations, and share evangelistic materials is on the Internet is unparalleled. That's why we've made April Internet Evangelism and Outreach Month at OurChurch.Com. Read on to learn more about Internet evangelism and the services and opportunities we're providing to help you connect with unbelievers online.

View this message on the web with color and graphics in our newsletter archives at:
http://www.ourchurch.com/news/archive.php

IN THIS ISSUE
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1) Internet Evangelism Month
2) New Church Marketing Online Site Launched
3) Free Search Registration
4) NE1 Adds Map, Sitemap, and More!
5) 5 New NE1 Templates
6) Discuss Internet Evangelism

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Tell people about your business or ministry!
http://www.ourchurch.com/advertising/
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1) INTERNET EVANGELISM MONTH
Throughout the month of April - Internet Evangelism and Outreach Month - OurChurch.Com has been making efforts to raise awareness of the opportunities to share the Christian faith online and to increase participation in Internet Evangelism Day Sunday April 27th. Yes, IED was 2 days ago, but really there's nothing sacred about that date. Any day is a good day to do something at your church or ministry develop an Internet evangelism plan or teach people about Internet evangelism. Visit the IED website for more info.
http://www.ourchurch.com/internet-evangelism-month.php
http://ied.gospelcom.net/index.php?partner=ourchurch

2) NEW CHURCH MARKETING ONLINE SITE LAUNCHED
Millions of people this year will search online for a new church. So, earlier this month OCC launched a brand new site - Church Marketing Online. The site includes a new Top Church Search Rankings service to help churches rank at the top of search engines when people search for a church in their community. The site also includes a blog to help educate pastors and church leaders about search engines, church websites, and online outreach.
http://www.ChurchMarketingOnline.com
http://churchmarketingonline.com/top-church-search-rankings/

3) FREE SEARCH REGISTRATION
What good is great website if nobody can find it, right? Unfortunately, churches and Christian ministries usually don’t give much thought to making sure people can find their websites in search engines. Have you?

This month only, if you buy the Christian Search Engine Registration service (which will get your site listed in about 50 Christian search engines), we’ll give you our Major Search Engine Registration (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc) for free. Or buy the Guaranteed Search Ranking or Search Engine Optimization Management services and get both the Christian Search Engine Registration and Major Search Engine Registration services free.
http://marketing.ourchurch.com

4) NE1 ADDS MAP, SITEMAP, AND MORE!
Last week we announced 6 new features have been added to the NE1 Website Builder - a sitemap, map & directions page, address in footer, bookmark link, navigation clues, and spell checker. Several of these features will help search engines as well as visitors. For more details see the announcement:
http://forums.ourchurch.com/viewtopic.php?t=4257

5) 5 NEW NE1 TEMPLATES NOW AVAILABLE
Check out the new lighthouse theme with animated Flash header. We've also created a new Mothers template just in time for Mother's Day. Other new templates include Manuscript, The Old Forest, and The Harvest.
http://forums.ourchurch.com/viewtopic.php?p=15320#15320

6) DISCUSS INTERNET EVANGELISM
Want to know more about how you personally can share your faith online? Want to know more about how your church or organization can better connect with unbelievers? Do you have ideas or proven methods to share with others? Read our blog and our forums for articles and discussion related to Internet evangelism.
http://blog.ourchurch.com
http://forums.ourchurch.com/viewforum.php?f=4

Plus check out "Salvation is Just a Click Away - Using the Internet to Reach Unbelievers" by OurChurch.Com CEO Paul Steinbrueck. It's the feature article in the April edition of Christian Computing Magazine.
http://www.ccmag2.com/2008_04/ccmag2008_04coverstory1.pdf

Thanks for hosting your website at OurChurch.Com. Post your comments and questions concerning this newsletter here in our forums.

In His Service,
OurChurch.Com

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OCC Quick Links
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- OurChurch.Com homepage - http://www.ourchurch.com
- Website hosting - http://www.ourchurch.com/hosting/
- Custom website designs - http://www.ourchurch.com/design/
- Marketing services - http://marketing.ourchurch.com
- Partner/Affiliate program - http://partner.ourchurch.com
- Christian Search - http://www.ourchurch.com/search/
- Daily scripture - http://devotions.ourchurch.com
- Christian Web Trends Blog - http://blog.ourchurch.com
- OCC message boards - http://forums.ourchurch.com
- OCC status board - http://status.ourchurch.com
- OCC help pages - http://www.ourchurch.com/help/
- OCC help desk - http://www.ourchurch.com/support/

OCC's NEWEST ADVERTISERS
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- Copeland Closure Company - http://www.ourchurch.com/ads/click.php3?bannerID=1441

MARCH AWARD-WINNING WEBSITES
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- Spiritual Survival Handbook - http://www.spiritualsurvival.org/
- Preschool Sunday School Central - http://www.psscentral.com/
- Harvest Ministry - http://www.harvestministry.us/
- Gentle Heart Ministries - http://www.gentleheartministries.org/

Info on PowerPoints Challenge - http://www.ourchurch.com/help/help-powerpoints.php

OVERHEARD...
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"I was just wondering if any of you webmasters (of websites with the premium hosting packages) out there... are using the blog module on your new NE1 websites." - betheltoledo

Sound off on our message boards - http://forums.ourchurch.com/viewtopic.php?t=4049

NE1 TIP O' THE MONTH
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Adding a map to your website are easy with NE1 and Google Maps. Just add a new page to your site and select the Map & Directions page type. Then click the link on your new page to the Google Maps help page.

WEBSITE SPOTLIGHT: Robinson AME Church – http://www.robinsonsamec.org
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Robinson African Methidist Episcopal Church is located in Grasonville, MD just across the Chesepeake Bay Bridge from Annapolis on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Robinson was the winner of the Extreme Website Makeover contest in February and received a custom template with Flash header. Their beautiful new site also makes excellent use of the news, calendar, prayer request, and sitemap modules.
http://www.ourchurch.com/NE1/contests.php
http://www.ourchurch.com/hosting/design-services.php


NEW NE1 TEMPLATES
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New NE1 templates are created each month and posted in our forums.
http://forums.ourchurch.com/viewtopic.php?t=3887

All NE1 templates can be viewed in the gallery.
http://www.ourchurch.com/sitebuilder/gallery.php