I built a Drupal website for a church with the intention of users being able to log in and make comments on posts, announcements and changed dates. Unfortunately, some of the users get on the site to check those pages, but they definitely don’t use their logins to leave their impressions or opinions on the site. Often times the Pastor or a parishioner will share a page from their site on Facebook, and I can see via Google Analytics that an influx of traffic comes to the site, but all the comments and discussion happen on Facebook. Is it better to have your CMS designed for your users to interact, or just for them to make necessary updates and changes to the website?

Since all web development work should be done with the customer’s best interest at hand, I feel that in this scenario, whatever drives discussion and brings views to the site is the most beneficial. Not all people will check the church’s website everyday, but most people who use Facebook check their Facebook News feed at least once a day. This means the visibility of the shared pages will rise as well as traffic to the site. Also, with the conversation being on Facebook, there is the added possibility of the website’s influence reaching a much greater audience as people comment on and share the link. Along with this is added page views and links to your website which will raise you site in page ranks on many search engines.