For purposes of this article, I am going to assume that you have a fully-operational website for your community…PLEASE have a website. You know the importance of a website, but do you know what makes it successful? Do you know the difference between a good website and a bad website? Here are 5 must-haves for any Tres Dias website.

1. The weekend dates are on the home page

Put the weekend dates on the very first page your visitors see. Why? Because 99% of your visitors are coming to the site to see two things – the dates of the upcoming weekend and what Tres Dias is. Don’t bury the lead. Make your website as easy to use as possible and give your visitors the information they need quickly. You don’t want to have someone not come because the candidate or sponsor couldn’t find the dates.

2. There are photos of real people from your community

What is the number one problem we have to combat all the time? The cult stigma. What is the easiest way to dispel it? Don’t give it a reason to start. If a visitor sees real, smiling faces (not stock photos, or worse NO PHOTOS), they are more inclined to understand that Tres Dias is what it says it is. Once your visitors get past the “cult” hump, Tres Dias really sells itself. Who doesn’t want to spend three days with Jesus? Don’t have a quality camera? Get one. Can’t afford one? The iPhone7 and other smart phones take great photos. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on camera equipment anymore. You can get an entry-level camera that takes great photos at a reasonable cost.

3. Your website is mobile-friendly

80% of users access websites from their phones. If your website is clunky, it will turn people away. If you don’t know if your website is mobile-friendly, test it out. Try to access your website from your phone. Test the forms, the donation buttons, the contact links – make sure everything looks nice on your phone. Here are a few examples of mobile-friendly Tres Dias sites: Northwest Arkansas Tres Dias Orange County Tres Dias Music City Tres Dias

4. There isn’t a secret login page

If you’re already going to extra lengths to combat the cult stigma, why intentionally put a login-only page on your site?  It looks like you are hiding something! Now, the average pescador knows this is probably just where your community stores its internal docs, but a potential candidate doesn’t know this. If someone is already coming in with the mindset that your community has something to hide – this doesn’t help anything. Consider moving your login portal to a not-so-prominent section of your site, or renaming it to something less obvious–or even better, take it off completely.

5. You have online forms

PDFs and printed word docs that have to be emailed or mailed just slow down the process. I cannot remember the last time I purchased a stamp. If your community relies on paper forms, you are not only missing out on current, up-to-date candidate listings, but also on potential millennial attendees. We have online videos showing you how to set up online forms in an easy-to-follow, low or no-cost  process. Waiting for handwritten forms to show up in the mail weeks later is just silly. If you want to keep the paper option available for some of your pescadores, that’s great, but it shouldn’t be the only option.