You have a ministry, you feel the calling, and now you need to get an online presence. You know you want a website, but what about a domain name?

Our first instinct is not to worry about a website when we first get our ministry going. However, we live in a much different era than our grandparents, and being online is  becoming increasingly more important. 

In the past most churches were started by door knocking, a preacher who had a burden for a city, and  some sort of place hold services. We met people on the job, on the streets, in the supermarkets, and told them about God, but they came to know him, and us, by coming to church.

While for the most part that is still true, we are a society that wants information now. We don’t want to wait, and frankly there are so many similar names for churches these days, the church down the street may have a similar name as your church, and they may not believe the way you do.

There are varying levels of what Pentecost is about, and depending on the particular church, it can be a big shock if you expect holy rollers, and find that Pentecost is just the name on the building. And did you know that there are apostolic catholic churches? So, just putting up a banner, or even just saying we are the church by the ice cream shop is not enough anymore.

However, most of our world is online now. And most of us do research, at least somewhat, before we even buy furniture, let alone determine our soul’s destiny. We want to know what we are getting into. The best way to do this is to have a website for your ministry. Not only can you differentiate between who you are, and who the church down the block is, but you can more easily be identified with others who believe the same, you can let people know what to expect, you can sell books and media, and most importantly, you can give them the best directions with a map. You do not have to say our church is by the ice cream store followed by a myriad of directions.

Choosing your domain name is just as important.

The fact is, millions of domains are sold each day for websites that may never happen, as well as those that are created and uploaded. And if your ministry already has a name, then most likely you want that name for your website.

If you get lucky, or have purchased a domain when you first got a burden, then you are set. Your email can be pastor@yourdomainname.com instead of pastor122344@wherever.com.

That already makes you more identified with your church on your business cards, phone book, newspaper, or just in person. It lets everyone know that is how you are identified. They have your email and so they know you are a pastor, and when they have a need that they believe you can help with, whether it be advice, a funeral, wedding, or anything of spiritual needs, they have a way to get in touch with you directly, and that will influence their decision on who to contact.

Plus, whether you have a full blown website with media downloads, bible studies, and just about anything else you can imagine, or just one page with your church name, address, and phone number, people can find you on their cell phone or computer by going to that domain.

It makes it much easier for them to FIND YOU.

You do have to realize though that the domain name you want, may already belong to someone else. This happens quite a bit even to large businesses, let alone other ministries that are similar.

So what then?

The simplest idea is to add another word to your domain name. Instead of just using churchname.com, add thechurchofyourcity.com or other variations. Sometimes, you can get lucky by using just the initials of your church name followed by your city name, and it would be easy for anyone to remember.

Another option is changing the first level domain. First level domains are the ones we all know. The .com, .net, .org, etc. are called first level domains. Typically, most churches, ministries, and organizations opt for the .org on their domain names, but these days most any of the others are also options you can consider.  The top three everyone has heard of, but there are many other options available, from .cc, .us, .info, .me, .tv, and many more. Some domains may cost a different amount to use, but it won’t take long that people know your domain name and identify you with it.

Tell them how to find you, and in doing so, help them find Jesus!

Want to see if your chosen domain is available? You can check out here on godaddy. Click here! I choose godaddy.com because I have found them to be easy to work with, affordable, and reliable in my own dealings.