Heit's Point Lutheran Ministries Assessment

This website assessment is for Heit's Point site at http://www.heitspoint.com/. It was completed by Luthernet Website Services in order to help those who run the program see what can be done to spread their message more efficiently.

Framework
I am not sure of the framework here. The website builder is Church Square, and it seems they charge $25 a month to host whatever it is being hosted. It may be a CMS, but it's being used mostly as a static page. The forum is not used, and the newsletter section seems to just have one article. However, the framework is less important to Heit's Point's website than the fact that it's no good on mobile devices.

Mobile-Friendly
This website is not mobile-friendly. Here's what Google says about it:

• Clickable elements too close together 
• Viewport not set 
• Text too small to read 
• Content wider than screen (link to Google test results)

That's pretty much everything that could be wrong with a mobile website. I confirmed it on my phone: this website is pretty much impossible to use on any device other than a laptop, which means that if someone says, "Hey, we're thinking of taking our kids to Heit's Point," and everyone gets out their devices to check it out, they won't be able to tell what great things will be happening there. And they might even decide that another camp with a better website makes more sense. 

Other Issues
Unless Church Square is offering Heit's Point some sort of free deal, $25 a month is insane for a website that has not been updated in any way by the web developer in several years. It costs them maybe $25 a year for use of space. Heit's Point might even be paying more because there's a forum on the website, which seems to be part of the $40 a month option. That's a lot of money that could go back into the business of making the camp better rather than paying for swanky offices for a web developer who does not take website design seriously. 

The use of an email address rather than a contact form can be a problem for spam, too, but that's not the biggest issue with the website. In fact, it's been updated and has a lot of imagery, so it's not like the people at Heit's Point have done anything wrong with what they've been given to use. The suggestion would be to tell Church Square that a new, mobile-friendly template is needed and that the cost per month should be used to cover it. And I'd make sure it's the right monthly program to be on. Then consider Luthernet when it's time to really upgrade. Maybe that's right now, especially if a new template is going to cost a single cent. Luthernet can build a new, mobile-friendly website for about the cost of one year of hosting.  

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