Church Website Design Archives - Ryan Wakefield's Blog

[This post is part of a series on Free and Simple Ways to Improve Your Church’s Website]

There are often a lot of small things you can tweak that can make a big difference for your website. In this post I’ll outline a few of those small details that you should be paying attention to.

Small Thing #1: Label Your Pictures

Most of the times visitors to your site will have no clue about the context of the photography on your website. There’s a good chance this is creating confusion for the user. Don’t take for granted that a visitor knows what your pastor looks like, can differentiate the youth service or building from adult service, or understands why there’s a whole bunch of people raising there hands. So if you’re going to feature a photograph that is outside a labeled gallery then give it a short and sweet label in one of the corners. This is also good marketing strategy for your events.

Before I work with a church I will always visit their website. I’m sure this is also the case with people who are considering attending a church. The last stat I read indicated that the vast majority (around 85%) of young people will check out a church’s website before attending. As you’ve probably figured out, many people are making decisions about your church before they ever arrive on location.

It’s interesting how much you can tell about a church just from a glance at the website. Here are the things that normally jump out at me:

The style of the site tells me a lot about the style of the church
The timeliness of the content tells me a lot about the importance the church places on what is happening
How the content is prioritized tells me a lot about what the church prioritizes
The focus or lack of focus of content speaks volumes about the vision of the church
The pictures or lack of pictures tells me a lot about what the church emphasizes
The navigation on the site is a great indicator of how the organization is led
The spacing or clutter can tell a lot about what the church’s facility will be like

It’s very interesting how a church’s website is a reflection of the church. In some cases churches desperately need to update their site to better reflect who they are, but in other cases their site may just be an electronic assessment of an internal reality.

In the next few posts I’ll give you just a few ways you can take you site to the next level. Be sure to give me your input as well.

1. Fewer Buttons

2. Overview Video

3. Use Photos of People Not Buildings

4. Google Your Church

5. Volunteer Involvement Part 1

6. Online Giving

7. Don’t Make Me Think

8. Go Mobile

9. Pay Attention to the Details