How to Add Sermons to Your Website

• 1). Determine where sermons should be on your website.
  
  Because the text of a sermon can be rather long, posting a sermon on your home page isn't recommended. When web surfers look at your home page, they don't want to be overwhelmed by a massive amount of text. You can, however, post a link to the sermon on your home page.
  
  Another option is to have a "Sermons" link on the navigation rail, which would lead to an archive of past sermons. The caveat here is that web surfers expect more information the deeper they go into your site, so having such a deep subject on the surface of the website could work against you. The typical web surfer initially scans for brief information, and doesn't want to be overwhelmed by a link to 15 pages of text. The point of your home page is to create interest, not to turn people away, so save the highly detailed and lengthy content for the deepest layers.
  
  Another alternative, and perhaps the best one, is to make your "Sermons" page a child to a parent page titled "Worship" or "Sunday Services." That way, when a web surfer moves the cursor over the "Worship" option, a drop-down menu shows not only the sermon archive or past sermons link, but also information about other parts of the worship service, such as music and upcoming sermons.
  
  
• 2). Determine which type of media to use.
  
  Think about the best format to present the sermons. Is it text, audio or video? There are advantages and disadvantages to all three.
  
  Text has the advantage of being printable. Congregants who are looking for a copy of the sermon appreciate the fact that they can have a copy to read at their leisure or to give to someone else. The disadvantage is that the length can be so overwhelming that it puts people off from reading it.
  
  Audio has the advantage of requiring very little effort on the listener's part. It's nice to be able to turn on the sound and just let it come to you. The disadvantage is that recording and uploading audio can be challenging if you don't have the proper equipment and technical background.
  
  Video has the advantage of engaging more senses. Video also has the advantage of being a little more hip and modern than audio alone. The disadvantages are that the sermon isn't available in a printable version, and a watching a sermon can be like watching a talking head.
  
  Given the advantages and disadvantages of each, the deciding factor rests in what your church family will respond to best.
  
  
• 3). Post the sermon on your website.
  
  The actual posting of the sermon should be the easiest step in this process. Of course, you'll need to be authorized to access the dashboard of your church's website to make any posts. (The dashboard is the behind-the-scenes control panel where website changes are made.)
  
  For text, posting a sermon is as simple as copying and pasting. Request the sermon in a Word (.doc), text (.txt), Open Office document (.odt) or in the body of an email. Then log in to your website's dashboard and go to the appropriate area. (You might need to create a new page for each sermon, which is as easy as clicking on the "create new page" icon.) Paste the text, preview for transmission errors, and title the page. Now the sermon is ready to be posted. Posting varies from host to host, but the icon will be clearly displayed and is most likely to say "post," "update," or "publish."
  
  For audio, upload the sermon audio to your computer so that it's there when you log in to your website. Just like with text, go to the appropriate area or create a page. Now all you need to do is upload the audio by clicking an the "insert audio" icon, choosing the sermon you want to post, titling the page, and clicking on the "post" icon.
  
  Video can be uploaded to your church's website in much the same manner as audio, except that you click on the "insert video" icon instead of the "insert audio" icon. Another viable, and extremely user-friendly, option is to upload your video to YouTube and then embed the code on your webpage. This works particularly well if you want to put all the videos on the same page for the web-surfer to scroll through and pick a favorite.