Outreach-focused churches might want to spruce up their websites.
More than 17 million non-churchgoers visited the website of a local church or place of worship in the past 12 months. Yet many sites fail to easily provide the information these visitors are looking for, according to the just-released results of a nationwide research study by Phoenix-based Grey Matter Research.
These results follow the recent release of similar research on use of the internet for religious purposes.
Other new findings of note:
How frequently do regular churchgoers (who are online) visit their own congregation's website?
28%
In the last 30 days. (21.5 million adults)
44%
In the past six months. (34 million adults)
57%
In the past year. (44.8 million adults)
32%
Never. (Or their church does not have a website.)
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How frequently do regular churchgoers (who are online) visit other congregations' websites?
13%
In the last 30 days. (10.4 million adults)
27%
In the past six months. (21 million adults)
37%
In the past year. (28.7 million adults)
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How frequently do non-churchgoers (who are online) visit the websites of places of worship?
2%
In the last 30 days. (1.6 million adults)
10%
In the past six months. (10.6 million adults)
16%
In the past year. (17.4 million adults)
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What people do on the websites of places of worship:
Check to see the times of services: 43%
Check what activities are offered: 29%
Look for a map or directions to the church's location: 28%
Watch streaming video: 26%
Listen to streaming audio: 26%
Check to see what the church's religious beliefs are: 22%
Request prayer: 18%
Downloading a podcast: 15%
Checking what denomination or group the church belongs to: 15%
Send a message to the pastor or leader: 12%
Post on a bulletin board or forum: 5%
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12%
Percentage of all American adults who have visited the website of a church or other local place of worship within the past thirty days.
22%
Percentage of all American adults who have visited the website of a church or other local place of worship within the past six months.
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LifeWay Research has also done studies on church usage of technology, including electronic giving, cloud computing, social networking, and general web usage.
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