Due to the global spread of COVID-19, religious adherents have turned to online platforms to connect with their faith. Major religious festivals such as Easter and Ramadan were already celebrated virtually in many parts of the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced digital transformation on many religious centers. A major part of the world is now using technology to connect with their faith. Online platforms have helped people develop their spirituality, strengthen their faith, and brought them close to religion in this time of uncertainty.

If you are a religious leader or a person who simply wants to spread religious messages and urge people to stay calm, read on to find out how you can stay connected with people through an online prayer platform.

1. What Are the Most Famous Types of Online Prayer Platforms?

Online prayer platforms have not altered the traditional practices of the religions, instead have paved a way to stay connected with the congregation during these uncertain times. The online platforms have proved that natural disasters, pandemic issues, or other major crises cannot stand as a hurdle for spiritual growth.

As a religious leader, if you are worried that these unexpected scenarios have led you to stay idle without connecting with your congregation. Online prayer platforms can greatly support you overcome these challenging times.

If you are planning to create an online platform to connect with people, here are some ways you can achieve it.

A) Mobile Apps

Usually, when people leave their homes, they will take 3 important things with them – Wallet, keys, and phone. The fact that people take their phone wherever they go means that they have an opportunity to catch on missed sermons or other important messages. Through mobile-based solutions, you can remove the Sunday-only mentality of people and encourage them to stay engaged with you throughout the week, at least for a small period.

A good religious mobile app will ensure that you are not bound by a specific time or place. It will help you centralize and streamline your digital conversation. According to Barna Group, 38% of people increased their Bible readership last year by downloading a Bible app or by listening to religious podcasts and streaming services.

Popular Religious Mobile Apps

Here, we have picked a top 3 religious mobile apps based on the features, ratings, and number of downloads. 

1. PrayerMate

PrayerMate app has a highly-secure and intuitive prayer index card interface that suits both Android and iOS devices. It is easy to download prayer galleries. This app includes an address book, regular prayer alarm, and integrated with Take Words With You. It allows you to download prayer files in PDF formats. You can import and export prayer requests via Dropbox.

2. Namojer Samoy

Namajer Somoy is a popular Islamic app among Muslims around the world. It provides various information and handy tools like Salat time, Quran, Qibla Compass, Dua, Hijri calendar, Tasbih, and much more. This app can be translated into 41 different languages. You can get access to all the important days, upcoming religious events, and books written by scholars.

3. Buddhify

Buddhify mobile app covers a range of meditation processes built with the goal of keeping one mindful and calm. The app features solo meditation and guided audio tracks for meditation to rate your mindfulness each time you meditate for long-term progress tracking. It is available for both iOS and Android devices.

With a dedicated religious app, you can offer your followers a single place to learn about events, prayer requests, offer live or recorded sermons, expand your reach, and engage with new followers.

For example, many religious institutions like churches rely on passing the offering plate and donations to make ends meet. These days, the number of people carrying cash and checks is reducing significantly. Through a mobile app, you can offer your followers an easy and secure way for them to make donations. Digital giving solutions will save time for staff members and will speed up the sorting process for year-end tax.

Developing mobile apps on your own is tough. So, you need to get assistance from an experienced mobile app development agency. By hiring a reputed company, you get access to a wide range of professional services that include consultations, requirement analysis, idea evaluation, monetization strategy, technical expertise, and after-sales services.

If you have ideas to build your online prayer platform through a mobile app, then reach out to a reputable mobile app development company. Remember, the company you hire should understand your requirements well to provide end-to-end mobile app development solutions.

B) Websites

A website gives a platform to add useful information such as community bulletins, event calendars, volunteer sign-up forms, blog posts, podcasts, share live-streaming videos, and more. Overall, it is a central location that allows you to add up-to-date information. Moreover, if you find any difficulties in promoting your religious website within your region, you can make use of location-based SEO services.

Moreover, a website is also a secure way to receive digital donations and contributions and increase involvement in prayer groups.

Above all, it is a cost-effective platform when compared to mobile apps. It will serve as a central information hub for everything a prospective member will need to know before considering it. We have also written a detailed blog on how much it will cost to build a website, do take a look to learn more.

Popular Religious Websites

Here, we have listed the 3 stunning religious websites that have an amazing layout design, font style, color choice, and many more features.

1. BibleGateway

BibleGateway website has a clean and professional design with a user registration form to enroll the church members. It includes multiple versions of the bible that include KJV, NIV, NLV, and more. Also, it is integrated with an online store for selling religious books, bible, etc. This responsive site allows smooth navigation and loads quickly.

2. Islam Way

Islam Way is the most popular Islamic website that allows users to read Quran, fatwas, and other spiritual articles. You can translate the website into various languages. This website has an intuitive layout design with an inspiring logo. This mobile-friendly website is built with chatbot support. It provides easy navigation and loads fast.

3. Jain World

Jain World is the most popular website among Jains. This mobile-friendly website has scriptural books, gallery, lectures, e-books, yoga schedules, and more. It is highly personalized for children, adults, and other age groups. The excellent usage of white space and pleasant colors gives an appealing look to the site.

How to Develop Your Online Prayer Website?

According to Grey Matter, in the past thirty days, about 21.5 million adults have visited the website of their own place of worship.

If you don’t own one, it is high time you start building a website as it helps to explore serving opportunities, helps you stay connected with your audience, and forward more helpful information. CRCNA.org researched and found out that over 60% of church-goers say that a church’s website is important in facilitating their participation at church.

Once you make up your mind to build an online prayer website, the next question will be how to build a website. There are a lot of ways you can develop your online prayer website either through website builders, from scratch, using WordPress or through web professionals. Here, we will give a brief explanation on all these effective methods.

1. Build Your Website with Website Builders

Through web builders, anybody without coding expertise can build websites at an affordable price. WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, are some of the leading website builders.

Though, website builders are beginner-friendly and are the best-suited platform for the newbies, some of the builders provide only a few options for customization.

Like adding links, customizing pages, applying responsive features, and resizing images is a painstaking process with builders. Further, most of the builders often lack SEO essentials and lead generation tools, which is a big drawback.

2. Build Your Website from Scratch

If you value flexibility, then the best option would be building your online prayer website from scratch. This allows you to bring your own ideas live on your website in the best way that you expected it to be. The one major thing you need to be aware of this is that this method is time consuming and will put a strain on your pockets.

3. Build Your Website Using WordPress CMS

WordPress is a cost-effective platform that has access to a plethora of tools and resources for easily adding content.

Another best advantage of choosing custom WordPress CMS is the availability of plugins. There are more than 54,000+ plugins in WordPress that can be used to add amazing functionalities to your website. Moreover, if you like to develop a plugin according to your unique requirement, then opt for custom WordPress plugin development.

Good-looking themes in WordPress can make your online prayer site more appealing to visitors. If you have ideas to build a more personalized theme that best suits your online prayer community, then you can opt for custom theme development.

C) Social Media

Over one billion people log in to Facebook each day. Instagram boasts more than 500M+ users each month, and Twitter has over 328M+ monthly active users. As social media is thriving in the online space, establishing a powerful social presence for your online prayer community is crucial.

Social media platforms like Facebook offer various concessions to promote spiritual events and strengthen your community. Optimizing social media channels can support your community members to stay connected, increase awareness among the public, and build a reputation for your religious services.

By consistently posting daily verses, messages, prayer requests, timings, etc, you can keep your community members engaged 24/7 from remote locations. Social media space offers the best opportunities to encourage your kids, youngsters, and adults in spiritual events even at the time of uncertainties. You can also use the live stream options of social media platforms to connect with your audience.

Popular Religious Social Media Accounts

Here, we have curated the 3 active religious social media accounts that a huge number of followers.

1. Proverbs Daily

Proverbs Daily is a popular Instagram account with more than 193K+ followers and 116 posts. This active page posts biblical verses, inspirational quotes, and much more consistently.

2. Indian Monk

Indian Monk is an active YouTube channel that has over 427K+ subscribers. It was launched in June 2016 and posts 1 video per month. The channel is focused on explaining about ancient science technology and scientific basis behind rituals of India’s health information, inner-mind engineering tips, mind-blowing facts, and a lot of information.

3. Sisters In Islam

Sisters In Islam is a Facebook page with more than 112K+ followers. This page was initiated by a group of Muslim women who promote the women’s rights based on the principles of equality and justice mentioned in Quran within the framework of Islam community.

With pages and groups on Facebook, you can bridge the communication gap between your followers during unexpected times. On the other end, Instagram an amazing social media platform for sharing your photos, videos, and other visuals to effectively showcase your worship place to the online world.

YouTube paves a great way to telecast your worships live so that you can make every member attend your sessions remotely and prevent people from missing your worship sessions. Moreover, Twitter is one of the best platforms to post quick updates, share blog posts, inspirational quotes, provide links to study resources, and more.

If you are interested to establish a powerful visibility on all these social media channels, feel free to reach our skilled social media marketers. We implement smart and ethical strategies to help you make a mark in the social space.

To Wrap Up Things

Hopefully, we have covered all the effective ways to build an online prayer platform that connects you with your audience during unexpected situations. If you want to collaborate with end-to-end service providers, then get in touch with Small Business Web.

We take care of developing your online prayer platform from designing your logo, working on an appropriate CMS platform, to implementing digital marketing techniques.

All you have to do is drop us a line or leave us a call +1 (919) 234-5140. We are happy to work with you!

If you have ideas to build an online prayer platform through other mediums, let us know in the comments section. We are here to help you.