by Rev. Dr. Arne H. Fjeldstad

A Web page for evangelism can be

1. just like any other web page presenting yourself, your family,
work, hobbies, your cat or dog (or whatever pet you might have), your
car, topics of special interest to you, in short: whatever you choose.
You do not need to address religious issues at all on the start page.
However, such a page (or pages) serve as an introduction to friendship
and should offer links to other pages with more about your life and
faith.

2. a general interest page without any explicit "gospel
message" but challenging people to consider their own view and
prepare them to read on with an open mind to pages with clear Christian
content.

3. a page presenting a Christian "angle" to popular issues
of general interest challenging people to consider their own view and
attitude.

4. a page with one or more testimonies of how people encountered
God.

5. an apologetic page aiming to answer questions about the Christian
faith and/or Christian life and ethics.

6. an "easy to understand" page explaining the gospel in
simple, relevant terms.

7. a page with a novel, fiction story, a fairy tale, etc.
introducing or alluding to basic stories from the gospel.

8. an evangelistic Bible study.

9. a Bible quiz, or questions related to Christian issues, etc.

10. a questionnaire on topics of general interest, science, life,
ethics, etc – with an automatic opportunity to read your view after
filling in the form.

Remember; you have probably less than one minute (60 seconds) to
catch the visitor’s interest! If he or she becomes interested and
curious enough to click on, you need to continue to stimulate the
visitors curiosity and keep your pages short and easily read. Every page
must aim at keeping the reader’s attention. And, always give the visitor
an opportunity to interact with you on each page via e-mail, signing a
guest book, filling in a questionnaire, etc.

A few more suggestions

1. General

Aim at dialogue, not confrontation. Internet is for interaction, not
one-way proclamation.
People (and their stories) are often much
more interesting than philosophical ideas.
Be personal but not
private. A nice picture of you can help people become more open and find
it easier to send an e-mail.
Try to answer the journalist’s
questions; who, what, where, why, when on your pages.

Register your web site (or different pages depending on the topics)
with the major search engines. Use many popular words as meta-tags
(hidden "keywords" used by the search engines) to attract
attention. Don’t forget to mention your web site (or special pages) to
friends in e-mail groups, etc.

2. Language

Watch your language, keep it simple. Avoid "slang" and
idioms.
Quite a number of your visitors may not have English as
their first language.
If possible try to make the page available in
other languages.
A good sense of humor is always welcome.
Don’t
be "preachy"
Always explain Christian words when you need
to use them.
Have somebody read the text with a constructive
critical mind.
Always use the spell checker!

3. Layout

Funny illustrations and pictures stimulate the visitor’s curiosity.

"Neutral" illustrations are often better than Christian
symbols.
Keep the pages short and easy to read. Don’t be afraid of
open space.
Avoid "heavy graphics" that may take a lot of
time to download.
Don’t overload your page with graphics and
illustrations.
Consider carefully when to use Christian symbols.

Let the visitors decide if they want to listen to music when they
enter your site.