UU Growth Lab friends, here's an update on NEW content in our member area and a reminder for Tuesday's live session via Zoom!
Not a member? Learn more here. Read, watch, listen to our full growth strategy training library on-demand at your convenience.
1. Register for our June Live Session:
Turn Your YouTube Channel into a Visitor Welcome Center.
See end of this post for registration details.
2. Visitor-Centered UU Websites Design
I've had an amazing time interacting with leaders about UU websites this last month. Our related training is now available in our member area. This training covers what I believe are the most important "visitor-centered" design considerations for supporting online hospitality and membership development.
More details on the session and access links are below.
The big takeaway?
The first visit to your congregation is now the ONLINE visitor experience, exploring your website. That makes the onsite visit maybe the second visit. If the online "first visit" is lacking, don't expect that onsite visit!
This training explains how to make the shift from an online "brochure"- like site to a visitor-centered experience.
The following links require individual member or team member login to access.
New Member Training
Visitor-Centered UU Websites Design: A Visitor-Centered Design Strategy for UU Congregations
Watch the member training (Peter on camera)
60 minute training + 20 minute Q&A
Download the handouts and transcript
Takeaway Notes PDFAudio Podcast
Listen to the training audio podcast episode
One-time setup to get on your device
Looking for the live session replay?
May 2026 Live Zoom Replay
About this Training
Most congregation websites were built to share information. But today's newcomer isn't looking for a brochure; they're trying to answer one deeply personal question from the privacy of their own screen: "Is this going to work for me?"They're doing what amounts to online dating with your congregation. And if your website isn't designed to meet that moment, they move on quietly — without ever telling you.
In this training, we cover a website design focused on the online visitor experience and the specific psychology that makes it work.
You'll learn why the homepage needs to function as a newcomer landing pad rather than a congregational information hub, what a welcome page is really doing (hint: it's your online welcome table), and how a plan-a-visit page can reduce anxiety, set expectations, and move someone from curious to RSVPed and ready to visit. I recommend including a simple RSVP strategy that delivers a digital welcome packet automatically.
We discuss visitor-centered design principles — relational orientation, momentum toward the visit, human presence through video, friction reduction, and the "landing strip" approach that keeps visitors moving toward an actual first visit rather than disappearing into external links.
We also cover the psychology of information "compression" and why too much content, even good content, loses people. We need to distill what your congregation needs to say into something a newcomer can absorb fast and act on!
The session closes with a Q&A drawn from our live May session, covering real questions from UU leaders.
Turn Your YouTube Channel into a Visitor Welcome Center.
June 9 Live Session
Join us for our June UU Growth Lab live session! There is no cost for guests of UU Growth Lab members to attend. After you've had a chance to fill the seats, I'll open it up to my larger UU network. This session will inform the member training I will make on this topic later in the month.
Date: Jun 9, 2026 01:00 PM Eastern
Duration: 90 minutes, with possible optional overtime
Most congregations are treating YouTube like an archive. Today’s visitors are increasingly using it as part of their research process. Before people attend a congregation, they often watch worship clips, search for sermons, look up ministers, and try to get a feel for whether a community is a good match for them. We can use YouTube to offer newcomers the content and experience they need to say YES to visiting. In this session, we'll focus specifically on how to transform your congregation’s YouTube presence into a practical tool for newcomer welcome, discernment, and membership development. We'll explore how visitors actually use YouTube, what kinds of videos help visitors, how to use titles, descriptions, thumbnails, chapters, and playlists strategically. A deeply practical session focused on supporting the online visitor experience with your existing content.
Register using the link below.
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