12 Traits Of A Well-Designed Church Website

It can be overwhelming to redo a whole website or to create a new one - especially if you don’t know where to start or how to organize your website. So here are 12 traits that can help you develop a well-designed church website, some of these you may find very helpful, and some of them you may not want to do, and that’s okay! We are here to provide you with resources so you can apply them however it seems fit. 

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1. ALL (or at least 80%) of the photos on your church website should be of your church’s community - not stock photos. Your church website should represent your community, your beliefs, and the vibe of your church. Placing stock images of people who are strangers, brings in a sense of distrust from the viewer towards your church because how do they know your church is legit if it's full of images of fake people? Less trust and less authenticity means less growth for your church. 
2. Keep it short, simple, and sweet. Don’t fill your pages with long text, instead of placing it right on the page, simply make it accessible for your viewers to click on it to learn more about it. For example, if someone wants to learn more about what your church’s beliefs are, then don’t have it already listed on the site, have it hidden behind an info card. Information is still accessible for the viewer but it doesn’t overwhelm them with long text that they may not even be looking for. 
3. Cultivate an inspiring website design. This is where you want to have photos and videos that show how your church has impacted lives, from bible studies to baptisms. 
4. Navigation - make your tabs and the subjects within those tabs make sense. Too many times I have seen churches place their ministries under their ‘about us’ tab/landing page, or they have events listed under their ‘Connect’. This is pretty confusing, because if a viewer clicks on ‘about us’ then it should reflect what the church is about - their pastors, their mission, values, etc. - not about their ministries. This confusion - or any confusion - can turn away potential newcomers from visiting your church simply because it was too much work to find the information they needed. 
5. Make vital information available for newcomers, this means making it easy to find your service times, location(s), social media, contact information, and sermon videos accessible for those who want to get to know the basic information. The easier it is, the more likely you are going to have newcomers visit your church.
6. Keep your website up to date! It can be overwhelming to do this if your church has tons of events going on, so create a system where every 3 months freshen up your website with events, small groups, and announcements that are relevant to what will be going on at your church for the next 3 months (3 months is just a suggestion - this completely depends on your staff and their capacity). Then, once an event happens, create a reminder or a task for your team to take the event down on the website. 
7. Provide all the detailed information for events, groups, ministries, etc. Your website is the place for you to provide more information for your viewers about what they can expect, date, time, and any payments if needed. On social media, you want to keep promotions for events and small groups short and sweet - just enough to get their attention and then send them to the website where they can learn more - so, make sure your website has all the frequently asked questions for any event, group, or volunteering opportunity. 
8. Make your website mobile friendly - most of the time these days, people are checking out websites on their phone not on a computer or laptop, so get with the times and make sure your website is easily accessible on a mobile device too!
9. Add clear call-to-actions (CTAs) to your website. If they’re a newcomer or a potential newcomer, add a call to action like “plan my visit”, if they’re on the ministry page or connect page then add a call to action such as “sign up” or “get involved”. This way you can turn viewers into leads. 
10. Don’t use insider church language on your website, for example, when promoting vacation bible school during the summer, don’t use the acronym “VBS” Most people won’t truly understand what it means unless they regularly attend your church. 
11. Keep the important topics prioritized on your page. If prayer requests and sermon videos are important to your church, then make sure it’s one of the easiest things to find on your website. The same goes for volunteers or for people who want to join a small group - you’ll want to keep these easily accessible for people who know what they want without any added stress. 
12. Have your church website reflect the truth and remain unique. If your church is more conservative, then make sure your website reflects that - not with jargon and terms that will make you sound ‘cool’. One of the worst things for a potential newcomer is if they are checking out your website, and see it's easy going, laid back, and relaxed, and yet when they walk into a building, it's the complete opposite. This shows that the church is a liar and can turn people away from God. 

Whoo! Tons of information in these 12 topics but all are vital to building a well-designed website! These are just a starting point for you and your church to get started on your website but if you need help, or would like to talk to someone, PMF Creative is here for you! All you need to do is go to pmfcreative.com/web-design and get started on redesigning your website.