What Comes Next? Answers to All Your Onboarding Questions

Welcome to Digital Outreach! If you've just signed up—first, welcome! You’re probably wondering, “What’s coming up next?” Let’s get that answered right away.

The day after you sign up, you’ll receive an email with two key items:

• A Short Form (about 15 minutes to complete) – This helps us understand your church’s current digital presence and operations. Your responses guide our onboarding call and allow us to tailor a clear project plan for you.

• The Digital Outreach Photography Guide – With easy instructions, this guide helps you begin collecting images we’ll need for your new guest website. There's no better way to fast-track your onboarding then to start focusing your time and energy on this now!

After your onboarding call, you’ll get a longer, more detailed questionnaire that dives into your web copy. Once we receive all your materials, our team reviews everything, clears up any questions, and gets to work. You can relax—we’ve got it covered. When we’re done, we’ll send it to you for review and feedback.

Now that you know what’s coming next, here’s answers to other common questions you might have!

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Common Questions

How long does the onboarding project typically take?

The entire process usually takes about 9-10 weeks from sign-up to launch, though it can go even faster depending on your pace. Here’s how it breaks down:

• Phase 1: Content Collection (5 weeks) - We begin with planning, content collection (photography & web copy), and preparation to ensure a smooth project build.

• Phase 2: Design & Build (2 weeks) - Our team gets to work creating your guest website, member hub framework (e.g. Church Center), and outreach campaigns.

• Phase 3: Revisions & Launch (3 weeks) - You review the deliverables, share your feedback, and we polish everything so it's ready for launch!

The more proactive you are, the faster we can progress through our production process.  Of course, we'll keep things moving as quickly as we can, but we'll never sacrifice quality. Our reputation—and yours—depends on it!

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Can my guest website look like anything I want?

We offer a lot of flexibility when it comes to your guest website. We start with a proven blueprint built from studying over 40,000 church website visitors to ensure the best experience possible. From there, we customize it to fit your church, using your photography, brand guide, and web copy so it truly feels like you.

While we don't build sites completely from scratch, our process makes sure your website is tailored to your congregation and communicates your unique story. And don’t worry – your Project Manager will be with you every step of the way to keep things moving smoothly!

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How does billing work?

We like to keep billing simple and hassle-free. Your monthly billing starts on the day of your onboarding call, and you’ll get your first invoice by email through our secure payment partner, Stripe. Once you pay that first invoice, you’ll be set up on autopay—so no extra steps needed—and you’ll get a receipt by email each month for your records.

We accept both ACH and credit card payments. ACH is free of extra fees, while credit card payments include a 3% processing fee.

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What do you recommend for outreach / advertising? 

If you're wondering how to reach your local community and get the word out about your church in a way that’s simple, effective, and consistent—you're in the right place.

Our goal at Digital Outreach is to make outreach easy and impactful for churches like yours. If you purchase a plan with our Advertising Package—you'll get a turnkey solution that helps your church show up where people are already looking.

The Advertising Package includes a full suite of professionally managed campaigns that build and sustain your church’s presence in your local community. That means:

• Your church is consistently visible across key online platforms

• New visitors find you online and show up on Sunday mornings

• You’re not stuck figuring out ad tech or trying to monitor performance—we’ve got it covered

Think of it as a foundational, always-on presence that complements everything else you're doing. Want to see the exact campaign types and how we approach targeting, messaging, and budgeting? Check out Advertising Overview →.

If you’d like help getting started or want to talk strategy, just let us know. We’re here to help your outreach make a real difference.

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What Happens at Launch?

3…2…1…LAUNCH!

Once you’ve reviewed your site and given the green light, we kick off the launch process. Most churches choose to let us handle the technical part—switching your web address to point to your new site. Your Project Manager will walk you through everything, and there’s no need to worry—your email and other services stay exactly the same.

Your new site will be hosted on top-tier servers, with built-in SSL security, regular backups, and ongoing updates. If you’re paying for similar services elsewhere (like hosting or sermon archives) and you’ve already moved over any content you need, you can cancel those—just make sure you’re not using them for anything else first.

We’re excited to see how your enhanced online presence will reach and impact the community you serve!

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What does support look like after launch?

You’re live—congrats! So, what’s next? We’re still here for you anytime you need help, and the best way to get in touch is through our Help Center.

Need to update your website? Have a question? Spot something that’s not working quite right? The Help Center is your go-to spot. Every request you send gets routed to the right team member, so we can jump in quickly and nothing gets lost in an email thread.

We want it to be easy and stress-free for you to get the support you need—whether it’s day one or day one hundred. Just drop us a note in the Help Center anytime.