10 Mistakes to Avoid on Your Church Website
Is your church website ready for a redesign, upgrade, or maybe a total overhaul? We are seeing more and more churches put time, energy, and resources into their websites and online presence than ever before.
Why?
Because it has been made clear in this digital age that your church website is the new first impression. Before a visitor steps foot into your lobby they have already looked at your website and drawn conclusions about your church.
Luckily if you are seeing visitors on a regular basis, your website could be doing a good job of representing your church, your mission, and the love of Christ. If you aren’t seeing visitors walk through your doors on Sunday, of course, there are multiple reasons that could be, but one place to start when evaluating why is your website. Do you have one? Is it outdated? Does it represent your church and mission well?
Ultimately your website could be hindering people from wanting to visit your church and experiencing your worship services. We aren’t saying your website is an end-all-be-all for the health of your church but it should be seen and used as a tool to reach the lost and hurting in your community or even around the world.
With that said, let’s evaluate.
Are you making any of these 10 mistakes on your church website?
Missing Call to Action
It’s likely your church has multiple different ministries, serving opportunities, and events to promote on your website. When a visitor lands on your homepage, however, it can be overwhelming to see multiple buttons to “join a group”, “serve here”, or register for an event”.
You want your website visitors to have a clear first step before being inundated with all the other options you have to offer. This could look like taking them to a “plan a visit” page or “your first steps’ button, or “meet us at Church’ ‘. However you word it and whatever your first steps look like, make sure it is clear and doesn’t get lost amongst too many other options.
Unresponsive Design
Responsive web design is the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform, and orientation.
Responsive design uses a method of coding that considers and adjusts according to screen size. There are now more mobile users than PC users surfing the web! This means your website needs to adjust and optimize your content so that it looks good no matter the screen size.
Confusing Navigation
The navigation bar on your website is your visitor’s road map to navigating your website. If your navigation bar is too cluttered, unorganized, or poorly labeled, your visitors will quickly get frustrated. Consider having 3-5 categories within your navigation bar that clearly lead your online visitors to their desired destination.
Too much information
It can be tempting to cram as much information as possible onto your homepage. People fear that if it’s not on the home page it will never be seen. Unfortunately, an overcrowded home page tends to deter readers from sticking around long enough to take all the information. You are better off focusing on your main points of distinction or priority and allowing your internal website pages to speak for themselves.
Outdated logos and branding
When it comes to logos, design, and branding, the bar has been set high. If website visitors land on your home page and see outdated logos, poor-quality graphics, and inconsistent branding it will likely reflect poorly on their view of your church. We know, it may seem vain but that is the nature of the internet. Churches can use an updated logo and cohesive branding to appeal to a greater online audience.
Slow load time
Sometimes, it’s the technical aspects of your website that are hurting you. If your website is outdated or poorly maintained you could be running into issues like slow loading time or security issues. Stay on top of these technical aspects of your website because in today’s fast-paced world, you will lose visitors even after a few seconds of load time.
Obscure Fonts
Not all fonts are created equal – and just because a font looks cool on its own doesn’t mean that it’s the best choice for your website’s body copy. Fonts that are too small, detailed, or poorly matched with other fonts can cause viewers to reach for their reading glasses (or leave your site altogether). Choose a simple, clean font that’s easy to read and pairs well with several other fonts
Too much text
Nothing Is more overwhelming than being greeted by a homepage full of text. Your website should be balanced with graphics, images, and text. If your website visitors feel like they are sitting down to read a novel, they won’t stick around long. Utilize effective paragraph spacing and headlines to help your visitors navigate your text and gather relevant information even when they are simply skimming the page.
Visual overwhelm
Don’t be afraid of white space! Having Your website too crammed with text and visuals will simply overwhelm your visitors. White space can be used to emphasize and highlight your most important information.
Outdated or irrelevant content
If a website visitor gets a sense that your website isn’t updated, all your content becomes useless. Having past event registrations, old announcements, or inaccurate service times will cause your website to appear unreliable.
Additionally, being sure your website is filled with updated and new information on a regular basis will help you better rank for SEO and help those who are searching for a church in your area better find your website!
How Does Your Church Website Look?
Did you take the time to check your church website for these 10 mistakes? How did it measure up? Is it time to make adjustments? If so, we encourage you to do just that. There are many resources available, including Torchable Kingdom plans to help you develop and design a church website that will expand your reach and influence.
More Online Resources to Reach Your Community
Beyond your website, Torchable has created a new App to help churches reach their surrounding communities. With features like event promotion, small group messaging, volunteer coordination, and the ability to make church announcements, on the Torchable app, your church will be more accessible than ever before!