Church Website : Your Most Impactful Marketing Tool

Your Church’s Most Impactful Marketing Tool

You have your convicting sermon nailed, get connected cards printed, and greeters ready with smiles – your church is ready for Sunday morning! Or is it? You feel prepared as ever yet you are missing one of the most impactful tools in your arsenal – your digital front door, your church website. Let me tell you why. The woman down the road looking for a church to take her family this Sunday does not see your greeters or hear your carefully written sermon when she is determining if she wants to attend your service. She makes a quick google search for a variation of “church near me” and clicks on your church’s website (that is if you are pulling up in search results, read more about that here). And if she is impressed enough to continue browsing your site, she then hopefully finds the information she is looking for. Now, let me ask you a powerful question… would you visit your church for the first time solely based off of your impression of your church website? Some of you may say yes, but a lot of churches we come across are trying to catch up with the digital age and implement modern-day web practices on their website. And trust me, we get it! Thinking about updating your website let alone putting it into action sounds like a daunting task. With all of the missional efforts of the church, focusing on the website may not make it on the priority list. Luckily, we have compiled a list of our top 5 church website tips you can put in action TODAY to increase the effectiveness of your site!  

5 Points To An Effective Church Website

Seeing as your church website is the first impression a new guest will have from your church, below are 5 tips you can use to improve user experience on your website and hopefully encourage new guests to visit Sunday morning.  

1. Update The Photos on Your Church Website

  At Digital Rocket, we love when our clients are able to provide photos that reflect their congregation, Sunday Morning worship and friendly faces to display on their website. When a new guest is able to see what to expect for their first visit to your church, they are more likely to actually come visit! TCAL in Mansfield TX (pictured right) does a fantastic job with their photos!    Digital Rocket Tip: New church or church plant with no photos? No problem! It is common for churches of all sizes to use stock photos in order to create a clean and cohesive look on their website. We recommend choosing photos that you and your team feel best reflects your church!  

2. Include Sunday Morning Details 

I am sure this is a given to most, but believe it or not we have actually come across church websites that do not display their address or service times on the home page! Nowadays, everyone wants instant and providing useful information on your home page such as service times, your church’s address and any other information they may need is key. Bonus points if you embed a Google Map of your location or link to directions.   Digital Rocket Tip: Utilize buttons that take a user to another page with more detailed information. For instance, it would be quite wordy to put all of your kid’s ministry drop off info on the homepage, by using a button that says “Kid’s Ministry” or “Sunday Morning Details” on the homepage, it keeps your page clean but also increases user experience with easy navigation. We love how Family Church (pictured above) includes a button for their multi-site church locations and times!  

3. Keep It Clean

My wife oversees most of our client’s website re-design needs. There is nothing that drives her OCD crazier than a church website full of Times Roman Numeral font text in the same size, images all over the place, and colors galore! I am only slightly teasing her, but her instincts are correct. Having a clean user interface is key! Stick with a theme of some sort (think simple) – a color palette that is on-brand for your church, a few modern fonts & headings and subheadings to create the distinction of different sections. Oak Hill Baptist Church uses modern fonts and has a consistent theme throughout their entire site!   

4. Think of The First Time Guest

With eternal impact as our mission, one of our main focuses is aiding churches with their first-time guest attendance. We have our clients think of their website as their digital front door. What do they want to convey to their guest, what questions do they want to have answered, how do they want their guests time spent on their church website to make them feel? These questions are all great to think about when updating your website.  Digital Rocket Tip: Having a “New Here” or “FAQ” section has grown increasingly popular. We love when the churches we work with want us to build out a page of this nature because they have new guests in mind! This could potentially lead the new guest to chose to visit your church over another because they feel comfortable knowing what to expect at your service. Redemption City Church in Westminster Colorado does this well with their menu. 

5. Tell Your Story

Your church website should always be a true reflection of your church’s heart, personality, and mission. That is the ultimate selling point of your church – the culture!   

Looking to rebrand, refresh or relaunch your church website? Great! Digital Rocket’s professional developers would love to serve your church and aid you on your mission of eternal impact! To discuss your specific needs and project

 

Subscribe to our newsletter and stay up to date on our pro church marketing tips!