‘Being able to evangelise digitally excites me!’

Salvationist Website Manager Tim Davis introduces himself and his role.

What’s your role?

I manage salvationist.org.uk. I am responsible for managing all the content and for making sure the website remains functional and live. I also work on making it easier to use and for new users to find.

Why do you do what you do?

I’ve been working with websites for years, both website development and design. Being able to mix my faith and my work, and evangelise digitally, excites me. I know that the work I do is helping someone make a life-changing decision, the best decision they’ll ever make.

What’s the most popular part of the website?

The Resource Centre and the Appointments section. In third place, alongside articles in general, is the Explore Faith section, which has grown out of our Becoming a Christian webpage.

How has that developed over the past year?

The Becoming a Christian page appears at the top of results for searches such as ‘how to become a Christian’ on Google. The page explains what becoming a Christian means, and invites people to download an ebook of Who Is This Jesus Anyway? by Commissioner Robert Street. That’s them taking a step beyond reading what’s on the website and registering interest in finding out more. About 40 to 80 people each month download it.

We have also been writing evergreen introductory content to tie in with the Christian calendar, for example Christmas and Easter. When users then search for something, for example things to give up for Lent, our website comes up. This brings in new users interested in finding answers to their questions.

So your job is partly about facilitating those faith journeys?

Yes, I would say so. The website is a hub for Salvation Army members and leaders, but they have a different journey from someone coming to the Explore Faith section. How do we take users who potentially have no knowledge of faith through those early stages? How do we help them get in touch with a Christian community? Scattered through the website are links to Find Your Nearest Salvation Army at salvationarmy.org.uk/map-page. Since November last year, over 1,000 people have used those links. Some will be taking that first step. If someone came to a corps and said the reason they’ve come is because of salvationist.org.uk, that would make my year!

How does AI impact the site’s visibility in search engine results?

If you search a term, you’ll probably see an AI overview at the top of your results. That means you don’t have to click through to a website, so some website owners have seen user numbers drop substantially. It’s not been terrible for us, but it affects how we optimise content, so that a page answers a person’s question and search engines know the page is trustworthy. We’ve had some of our seasonal content appear in the AI overview on Google, which is good.

What work is happening at the moment?

We finished a piece of user feedback research in April. This was about user experience and navigation. It’s clear that we have to improve how easy it is to discover content, for example a resource for a small group. We also learnt that a lot of people will click over from social media to an article and then maybe leave the website, but we want to show them relevant content they’ll enjoy. The web agency we use has given us suggestions for improvement and we will be beginning the process of implementing those soon.

What kind of changes will people see?

A lot is in the background, including how we categorise content. One change will be filters, so that people can filter through events, browse Bible studies by books, that kind of thing.

What work is going into accessibility of the website for people of different ages or needs?

We carried out an accessibility audit before I joined, and we are implementing the suggestions from that. The work isn’t that visible, but it’s in the code, making sure that anyone who uses assistive technology, for example, can use the website in the same way as someone else.

What’s the biggest challenge in your role?

Prioritising what’s next alongside day-to-day tasks. This morning, for example, I was fixing broken links, which is when a link to a webpage doesn’t load – it’s therapeutic in small doses!

What section of the website should more people know about?

The podcasts are really good. If you haven’t looked at them, you should give them a listen! 

What excites you most?

The potential of the Explore Faith section. We’re sowing seeds. It’s exciting that someone might come to learn about what they could give up for Lent and then find out who Jesus is!