In an age where most of our lives are spent online, it is important for churches to use their websites to the fullest. The simple fact is that other than members of your congregation, your church website is likely the first interaction a newcomer will have with your church.
With that in mind, here are five ways to make your church’s website as welcoming and user-friendly as possible.
1. Be the solution
People join churches for different reasons. Maybe they’re looking for deeper community with others of a certain age, or they want a church with a strong focus on missions—everyone has their motivations.
Your website should be geared toward telling your audience who you are, not what they want to hear.
📣 Proclaim what your church does best. Make sure it’s front and center on your website. Try to define your church’s main mission in a sentence or two, and put it in bold and clear text so it’s impossible to overlook.
Bonus tip: Make sure your messaging aligns with what your congregation says. What words would they use to encourage someone to come on Sunday morning?
2. Make important information visible 👀
Don’t bury important details such as service times, where you meet, and how to contact you.
Visitors to your website are likely to leave if they have to go around digging for basic and crucial information. Ask someone who hasn’t used your website before if they can find when your service times are—watch them navigate the site; make changes if there are issues.
3. Have a clear call to action
So someone found your website and they know when services are…now what? 🤔
INVITE THEM.
You would never hand somebody a flier about your church and not encourage them to come, right? Call them to a specific action. Is it to visit? To watch online? To get connected with a small group?
Whatever it is, you should say it loud and clear—and preferably in the form of a clickable “action” button for easy navigation. Repeat it over and over throughout your website. Don’t let someone leave your website without taking some action that involves engaging with you.
4. Use real images
Stock photo images can be great when you’re crunched for time, but your church is made up of real people. This community of people is what you are inviting others to join, so put their photos on your website.
📸 Getting high-quality pictures taken by a professional photographer (or a member of the congregation that’s great with a camera) is a huge benefit to your website. Just make sure you capture some candid photographs and/or footage so it feels real and genuine.
5. Keep it consistent
Don’t mix and match your fonts, colors, and layouts on your site. You want to present a cohesive and united picture of who you are as a church.
Keep a consistent brand image across all of your pages, and reinforce who you are and what your church is about.
Need help improving your church’s website?
Book a free 15-minute Discovery Call with TwoTone Creative and together we’ll create a website that effectively communicates who you are inside and outside the walls of your church.
As our creative copywriter, Melanie helps craft what you want to say in the way you want to say it. With experience in social media management, feature writing, blog posts, and more, she’s passionate about connecting the dots between small details and big-picture ideas. Whether you need a snappy tagline, a compelling email message, or a social media post that keeps people coming back for more, she enjoys transforming ideas into stories that impact and inspire. She’s in her element when she gets to revitalize tired old ideas into fresh, new content, and loves tackling writing projects covering any topic.
