The weeks leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are among the busiest times of the year for a synagogue — and often for its website, too.
Current members are looking for service times, registration information and schedules. Prospective members may be visiting for the first time to learn about your congregation. Others may be searching for a place to attend High Holiday services and trying to understand what they need to do before they arrive.
That makes this a particularly important time to look at your website through the eyes of a visitor.
Can people quickly find what they need? Do they know what to expect? And does the website make attending services feel simple and welcoming rather than complicated?
Here are six ways to get your synagogue website ready for the High Holidays.
1. Create One Clear High Holiday Destination
High Holiday information has a tendency to end up scattered throughout a synagogue website.
Service times are on one page. Registration is somewhere else. Children’s programming has its own page. Information about parking arrives in an email. Livestream information gets added at the last minute.
Instead, create a central High Holiday section where visitors can find everything they need.
Depending on your congregation, that might include:
- Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur service schedules
- Registration or ticket information
- Children’s and family services
- Selichot, Tashlich and other related programs
- Livestream information
- Parking and transportation details
- Accessibility information
- Memorial or Yizkor information
- Childcare
- Volunteer opportunities
- Information for visitors and non-members
Not every piece of information needs to live on the same page. But there should be one obvious place to start.
And during the weeks leading up to the holidays, that High Holiday section should be very easy to find from your homepage.
2. Don’t Make People Hunt for the Basics
Someone visiting your website a few days before Rosh Hashanah may have a very simple question:
What time are services?
Make the answer easy to find.
High Holiday pages sometimes become so focused on registration, greetings from the rabbi, beautiful graphics and introductory content that the most practical information gets buried.
Think about the questions someone is most likely to have: When does the service begin? Where is it being held? Do I need a ticket? Is registration required? Where should I park? What should I expect when I arrive?
Put that information front and center.
A visitor shouldn’t have to download a PDF, search through a calendar or scroll through several screens just to figure out when Kol Nidre begins.
3. Make Registration as Simple as Possible
High Holiday registration can involve a lot of moving pieces.
There may be tickets or reservations, guest registrations, children’s programming, childcare, memorial books, Yizkor submissions, volunteer opportunities and donations.
Your website should help simplify that process.
Use clear buttons and calls to action so visitors understand exactly what they need to do. If registration takes place through ShulCloud or another system, that’s perfectly fine — the synagogue website can provide the context and explanation, then direct people to the appropriate form.
Most importantly, don’t assume everyone already understands your congregation’s process.
A longtime member may know exactly what “High Holiday registration” means at your synagogue. Someone considering attending for the first time probably doesn’t.
4. Remember the Person Who Has Never Been There Before
For current members, the High Holidays are part of a familiar annual rhythm.
For someone new, they can involve a lot of uncertainty.
Can non-members attend? Do they need to purchase tickets? What should they wear? Is there security at the entrance? When should they arrive? Are children welcome? Is there a family service? What if they aren’t familiar with Hebrew or the liturgy?
Your website doesn’t necessarily need to answer every conceivable question. But it should make newcomers feel that they have been considered.
A simple “New to Our Congregation?” or “Joining Us for the High Holidays?” section can make an enormous difference.
It can also be an opportunity to introduce visitors to your synagogue beyond the holiday schedule — your clergy, community, values and the Jewish life that continues throughout the rest of the year.
After all, someone looking for a place to spend Rosh Hashanah may also be looking for a Jewish community to call home.
5. Include the Details That Make Attendance Easier
Some of the most valuable information on a High Holiday page isn’t particularly glamorous.
Where do I park?
Which entrance should I use?
Is the building wheelchair accessible?
Is assistive listening available?
Is there childcare?
Will services be livestreamed?
Who should I contact if I need an accommodation?
These details can determine whether someone feels comfortable attending at all.
Think through the experience from the moment someone decides to attend until the moment they walk into the sanctuary. The more uncertainty your website can remove beforehand, the better the experience will be when they arrive.
6. Use Your Homepage to Point People in the Right Direction
You don’t need to turn your entire website into a High Holiday website every fall.
But you should recognize that, for several weeks, High Holiday information is likely to be among the most important things many visitors are looking for.
Give it appropriate prominence.
That might mean a homepage banner, a prominent button, a featured section or a temporary announcement at the top of the site. The exact approach depends on your website design.
The important thing is that someone arriving at your homepage shouldn’t have to wonder where to go next.
And once the holidays are over? Take it down.
Keeping seasonal information current is just as important as putting it up in the first place.
Your Website Is Part of Your High Holiday Welcome
Synagogues put an enormous amount of thought into creating a meaningful High Holiday experience — from services and music to greeters, security, children’s programming and the way people are welcomed when they walk through the doors.
The website is part of that experience, too.
For many people, it’s where their interaction with your congregation begins.
A clear, thoughtful High Holiday section can answer questions, reduce uncertainty and make it easier for current members, guests and prospective members to participate.
It doesn’t need to be complicated.
It just needs to anticipate what people are looking for — and help them find it.