Whether you are looking to update your current church website or build a new one from scratch, it is vital to be strategic about your website development. From content and design, to loading speeds, it all plays a role in representing your church, and your mission, to the world.
Your website acts as a first impression to visitors, a resource portal for your attendees, and an engagement tool for all who log on.
Even if you aren’t in the market for a new website, but you have found yourself here, we highly suggest you continue reading.
You already know building a church website is a big job. As website developers who have helped design and build church websites, we want to help.
Let’s start With the basics. Whether you are evaluating your current website or planning for a new one, ask yourself these 5 questions to assess the effectiveness of your church website.
Let’s get started.
1. Does your website immediately deliver the core message of your church?
As soon as someone stumbles upon your home page, they should be able to quickly get a feel for what your church is all about. This will vary from church to church, but your website should be an extension of the ministry you do. Does your website accurately reflect what a ministry experience would be at your church?
Some ways you can do this is through, high-quality photos, videos, or a mission statement. You can utilize design to reflect the style, atmosphere, and overall feel of your church.
2. Is vital information easy to find?
Think about what users will be coming to your website to find. Specifically, your Weekend and Sunday services times and location should be prominently displayed or easy to find.
Additionally, you can utilize well organized navigation to help users find other valuable information. This could include information about groups, events, announcements, or other discipleship resources.
The content of your website will vary based on what your church offers, the important part is that whatever you are offering is easy to navigate. Think about what questions people may be coming to your website with. What time is Sunday service? Where does that group meet? What was last week’s sermon about? Make it easy for them to find answers to these questions.
3. Is your website aesthetically pleasing?
We know this may seem superficial, but as we stated before, your website is the new first impression and font doors of your church. How do people feel when they log on? What do they see? Is it pleasing, welcoming, inviting, just how you would like your lobby to feel?
An effective website will use, high-quality, eye-catching graphics and videos. It should be well designed to be easy to navigate and digest the information you are presenting. We know, this can be easier said than done. That is why churches put their trust in church website designers like Torrch to help them get their message across in an aesthetically pleasing way.
4. Is your website responsive?
How your website operates can be just as important as how it looks. This is another example of why working with a website developer can be advantageous to make sure you have an up to date website.
An effective website will use a responsive design. This means the website is built to customize its display for the size of the screen being used. Your website will be optimized whether your user is on a desktop, using a smartphone, or a tablet. Keeping your website up to date is also essential to maintain efficient loading times and ensure a smoothly running website.
An unresponsive website that takes forever to load won’t be a pleasant experience for your users and could ultimately turn them off from visiting your church.
5. Is your website easy to find?
Most people who are looking for a new church are going to start on Google. Likely they will type in something like “churches near me”. How can you ensure your church pops up in their search? By making sure your website is search engine optimized.
Simply put, optimization means people are able to find you easier, hopefully as one of the top results in google when they start a search.
Additionally, Your website will be the starting point for any online marketing you do. All marketing efforts will lead back to your website, what will they see when they get there?
Church Website Design
Now that you have asked yourself or even your team these 5 questions, how does your website stand up? Do you feel it is effective? If your answer to any of these questions was no, it could be time for an upgrade. At Torrch, our team of website developers is here to help churches optimize their online presence through well-designed and effective church websites. Contact us today!