Churches lag behind other organizations when it comes to websites. Smaller churches are less likely to have a website, let alone one that includes everything they need. Websites are the main source of information for any organization. A website can increase a church’s search engine optimization (SEO), encourage online giving, and provide attendees with information about church events and activities.
During the current pandemic, Church websites have also become necessary for sharing virtual sermons. with congregations during the closure. Websites are not something that churches of any size can ignore. This article provides examples of why a website is important, including essential components and questions to ask a website builder.
- Why is a great website important?
- 10 Essential Components of a Great Church Website
- 7 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Website Builder
- Steps to Building the Site perfect church website
- Examples of great church websites
Why is a great website important for churches?
Websites give churches the option to reach more people, collect donations online, and encourage active participation during our current pandemic. As technology becomes more and more present in people’s lives, churches must investigate and find ways to use a website to spread their message.
By adding the following pages and techniques to the church website your church, you can increase your church’s reach and profit. These additions also make it easier for the congregation to participate in church activities and communicate.
1. Church Calendar
Historically, churches shared church activities on the Sunday morning program or by word of mouth. While that may still work for some, other parishioners who attend virtual church services or who don’t yet have a strong church family will miss out on important events and volunteer opportunities.
2. Ways to Give
As online donations become more popular, a web page created solely to collect these donations is essential to your website. Give church members ways to pay with a credit or debit card, raise money for the church from friends and family, and sign up for recurring or matching gifts.
3 . Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Your church can get noticed online with practices like SEO. Keywords and links will increase your church’s SEO and help your church rank higher in Google and other search engines.
4. Register for the event
Once again, churches promote these events during services or through rumors. New church attendees and community members may not get the information this way and miss out on critical relationship-building activities. An event registration page allows everyone to find out more about your event and register or purchase tickets for your next event.
5. Virtual Church
The pandemic has made virtual service a vital part of every church. Many in your congregation are not comfortable attending church in person. To keep these members as part of their church and even increase the participation of others, churches should include links to online religious services and other activities like prayer groups and Bible classes.
10 Essential Components of a great church website
All nonprofit websites have similar attributes. Churches will have many of the same needs as any nonprofit organization, regardless of size. Therefore, you should research what other churches have incorporated into their website and what non-profits in your community have included.
Here is a list of essential components to make the process easier for you:
1. Mission and Vision
Adding a mission and vision to your church website may not seem important, but it can provide transparency for those interested in what your church believes. You can also build trust with church members and the community. A mission statement that sets out why your church was formed and a detailed vision of where you hope to go is one way to stand out from other church websites.
2. Church Calendar
Your leadership may be under the assumption that everyone knows when your services begin, but many people in the community will not stop by your church. If the hours are not clearly stated on your website, they will not attend services.
Other events and programs for your church should also be shared on your church website. The way you do it is up to you. Some churches have a calendar app integrated into their website. Others provide links to each program with detailed information and its classes or days and hours of service.
If you’re just starting out with a website, a list of your available services and classes should suffice. As you work through all the issues and find what works best for your church, you may want to add additional widgets like event ticketing or live chat.
3. History
The history of your church is the history that people want to know. It is good practice to add a page dedicated to the history of your church: when it was created and what brought it into being. This can be part of your “About Us” page. Or you can create one separately. Since people are often emotionally and spiritually connected to a church, having a good story page can boost your online presence. Remember to acknowledge your clergy on this page.
4. Donations Page
Passing the offering plate is the traditional way to collect tithes and offerings, but it has become more difficult to collect the necessary funds with fewer people carrying cash. A website allows churches to collect tithes and offerings online.
Instead of wasting valuable time during their service asking for money, churches can collect funds online at all times. Online giving platforms provide churches with affordable options and encourage different ways to give.
Here’s a great example of a simple church giving page for you:
5. Inspirational Images
Images are at the heart of every nonprofit website. The hero image you have on your home page makes a world of difference. You have to remember that people are busy and therefore they check the home page first and decide their next course of action. If you have good images (actual images of your church, prayer meetings, etc.) on your website pages, people will spend more time on them and engage with them.
6. Volunteer Page
Most churches rely on volunteers for office work, teaching Sunday school, music, and even cleaning. Volunteer needs are varied, and the only way many have heard of these opportunities is by word of mouth.
That reliance on church members to get the word out isn’t as necessary with a website. Church websites should have a volunteer web page that defines each volunteer role and details how people volunteer at their church. Church members and the public will appreciate how easy it is to find what they need.
7. Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) may not be your primary concern. Still, with a website and the addition of keywords and links from internal and external websites, your organization will rank higher in Google and other search engines. This classification can make it easier for new attendees to find your church.
8. Virtual Church Services Page
The pandemic has closed many churches and made worshiping together nearly impossible. We are blessed that Covid has occurred during the internet age when social media and streaming services like YouTube and Facebook have made virtual church a possibility for all churches. You can add a link to your Youtube channel, Facebook page or Podcast channel where you live stream or have uploaded your virtual church services.
9. Registration Buttons
You have some upcoming events, both online and offline. How do you ensure maximum participation? Your website event registration buttons can work wonders here. Remember to add great calls to action on your home page or “Events” page to inspire a lot of registrations on your website.
10. Social Media Integration
Social media has become an essential part of marketing church activities and raising money online. Churches that have a large following on social media apps can also create groups for members to connect with. Integrating social media links into your church website makes it easier for parishioners to find your church’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter page.
7 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Website Builder for Your Church Website
If you haven’t created a website for your church, there are several website builders to choose from. Companies like WordPress and Wix have gained notoriety, but other affordable options may be better for your current budget. Here are some questions you might consider asking as you choose an effective website builder.
1. Is it affordable?
Affordability is a primary concern in building a church website. Most website builders will give you a free option, but churches should spend some money to create a website that works best for their church. Costs can range from $3 to $300, with additional pricing added for online donation processors, email marketing, and donor management systems. Many of these costs are worth it when you factor in the additional donations your church will collect online.
2.Who will host your website?
Another cost to consider is hosting your website. Once you’ve built it with a website builder, you’ll need to find a web hosting service to host your site online. Companies like BlueHost and Siteground will charge you around $20-$30 a month for basic hosting services, but there are free hosting options for churches that qualify for 501c3 status with the IRS.
3. Can you integrate it with your existing tools?
You may already be using a church management system or donor management tool. If you can integrate your donor database with your website builder, email marketing and other communications become easier. If your fundraising tool can run smoothly on your website, collecting donations is no longer a concern. Here are some serious considerations to make when choosing a website builder.
4. Is it easy to use?
Even if you hire a professional to design your church website, you’ll still need to make changes to keep it up to date from time to time. When looking for website builders, make sure that they provide an easy way to update the website on your own. You don’t want to have to pay the company every time a Sunday school teacher’s schedule or an event changes.
5. Is it customizable?
Customizing your website is another one of those things that non-marketers don’t consider. Companies like McDonald’s, Walmart, and Disney have well-known brands and spend millions of dollars keeping their brand the same on every piece of marketing. Churches also have branding, and church websites should match that branding to avoid confusion. Website builders should provide their church with several design options and make it easy to customize their website colors, fonts, and images.
6. Help with SEO?
SEO actions to help your Google ranking can change quickly, so if you’re not a marketer, you probably don’t know all the ways to boost your SEO. Many website builders provide information on keywords, meta tags, and descriptions to help you improve your SEO. Some even link their website to Google Analytics so you can monitor website visits and actions.
7. Is it mobile friendly?
Most people will use their smartphones to visit your website to learn more or make a donation. It is essential that your website can be seen on all mobile devices. All website builders should be mobile friendly, but it would be best to ask and make sure.
6 Steps to Creating the Perfect Church Website
Creating your website is more than just designing and creating content. To create the best website for your church, you’ll need to incorporate marketing strategies like understanding your audience, calls to action, and monitoring your response rates.
Here are 6 steps on how to build a The Perfect Church Website in 6 Steps:
- Step 1: Understand your audience
- Step 2: Add a call to action
- Step 3: Add a Donation Page
- Step 4: Tell Your Success Story
- Step 5: Track Response Rate
- Step 6: Optimize your website for desktop and mobile devices
1. Understand Your Audience
Corporations and non-profit organizations need to understand their target market before creating a website. Churches are no different. Understanding your audience is essential to finding the right design and content for your website. If you are a new church that works primarily with young families, your website should include family photos and activities geared toward young parents and children. If your church is more established with an older membership, you may want to provide more scriptures and details on how to give online and by text.
2. Add calls to action
Your website should include calls to action to get the best responses. Your home page should include a button with a link to your online giving page and virtual church services page. You can also link your church programs and calendar. When planning your website content, think about how you want website visitors to view your website and create calls-to-action by directing them.
3. Add a Giving Page
People won’t give to your church if you don’t ask. They also won’t give to your church if you make it hard for them. Online donation pages should be simple and easy to use. Give donors different amount options along with descriptions of how their money will help. Donorbox offers churches the option to integrate donor forms with their current donation page or add a popup form. Calvary Family of Churches is a non-profit church that does the same. Take a look at their built-in form on the donations page –
4.Tell Your Success Stories
Your website shouldn’t just include a bunch of facts and Bible verses. To add a more personal touch and encourage action, you should add stories of how God’s message has touched his church members. Include photos and videos with stories of when you accepted God into your hearts. Let your church members be a part of building your church website and sharing your message with the community.
5. Response Rate Tracking
With your website builder, you should be able to track how many hits you get and how people spend their time on your website. You can even monitor how long people spend on each web page and which pages they leave most often. These details can help explain which activities are most appreciated by your membership or which programs need more work. As you learn more about how your audience views your church website, you can make the necessary updates to attract more visitors and online donations.
6. Optimize your website for mobile devices and desktop computers
Your website will be seen by people using their computers and smartphones. You need to create a website that is easy for both of you to use. Make sure your website is compatible with iOS and Android, and create responsive landing pages that don’t take too long to load. You might be surprised how quickly people click away from websites that take more than a few seconds to load. Brown Line Church’s desktop and mobile-optimized website is an excellent example of what we’re talking about here:
4 great church website examples
As websites become more common with churches, some of them really stand out! Here are 4 church websites that blew us away.
1. Dwelling Place – Church in Seattle
Dwelling Place Church has a simple design with eye-catching images and easy navigation. The moment you open their church website, it grabs your attention.
They have a great mission and vision page that talks about their beliefs, lists God’s words, and clearly tells you why they exist church. That’s all you need to start instilling faith in your community. They also tell their visitors the history of the church, which is important for credibility. The content is crisp on every page, helping to keep your attention on the website.
Whether you want to check out the donations page, join their services via a calendar, or just read their blog for get inspired, this website has it all. All of that without it being complicated and insensitive. We highly recommend his website if you are about to start building your church website. The design is basic but almost perfect for an effective website.
2. Cornerstone Community Church
Cornerstone Community Church has an excellent website. The videos are of high quality and they have designed their site precisely the way they want you to work on it. New visitors have the option to request prayer or learn more about the church right away.
Service hours and links to their online service are the second thing you see when you scroll down the page Of start. Visiting this website is nice because all the programs are divided by age or interest. You don’t feel like you’re missing a thing as you click on all the areas that catch your eye.
The additions that really stand out on this website are the videos on their donation page that explain to viewers how donate online. or by text. This is a creative way to handle a donor base that may not understand technology.
If you can get some high-quality videos created at your church, this website is the perfect example for you. The videos may be related to your church’s leaders, services, and programs. For a website with so many constantly playing videos, this website is very fast and responsive.
3. Macquarie Life Church
Macquarie Life Church is another example of beautiful design with simple content. This website includes a menu that is simple and uses real language. Your only options at first are About Us, News, and Church Life. From there, it breaks down into mission and bios, programs, and events, but the menu remains easy to follow.
The church’s mission, vision, and what we believe pages provide excellent transparency and they are well designed. The church calendar includes many events but is easy to understand and use.
Like many others, this church has an online church that is featured on the home page. His online church has a separate page that gives viewers the option to stream and engage in a live chat or watch on YouTube. They also have their services for children and youth online.
We would also like to highlight their donation page here. It has separate links for your different needs: tithes, missions, building fund, Macquarie care. Giving donors the option to donate as they please can make any church more transparent than it is.
However, we would have liked it better if the “Give” button had been more obvious and easy to locate on the website. Donors may have some difficulty finding it in the dropdown menu, but once there, the rest is a doddle.
4. Eastern Orthodox Church of Saint Clement of Ohrid
St Clement of the Orchid Eastern Orthodox Church has a simple but fast design on its website. The carousel on the home page gives you an idea of what they create. If you are a church that has been around for many years and are now looking to create or revamp your existing website, this is the right example for you.
Your story page can be an inspiration to you if you He asks how to write the history of his church. It is insightful and also acknowledges the contribution of its clergy over the years. Its easy navigation shows you how to reach them, find the schedules for their services and readings, and of course, find out more about the church.
The website makes the church quite transparent with detailed information about the church committee. and dashboard, clergy, photo gallery, a donate link and more on the home page.
The donation page is easy to locate and navigate. Not only that, they also mentioned why they need people’s support now more than ever. For someone who believes deeply in the mission of the church, this website is simply irresistible.
Final Thoughts
Church websites have become a necessity for all churches, not just for megachurches. The pandemic has made a website with links to your virtual church service even more vital for church members. Websites provide transparency to the public and help promote trust in the church and its message.
As people become more comfortable with technology, online giving has grown in popularity. Online donation processors like Donorbox provide churches with an affordable option to raise more funds online. Learn more about features like donor management, online donation forms, and text-to-donate campaigns on our website. Get online fundraising tips and tricks on our blog.
