With all the church website builders out there these days, creating your church’s digital presence is becoming easier than ever.
Drag-and-drop elements, no need for a coding background, pre-set templates—these all give you the tools you need for a website both members and non-members of your congregation will enjoy.
But one thing these website builders can’t do is teach you how to create beautiful, engaging website design that looks good and feels good to navigate.
To do that, you need to get a better understanding of a few modern design principles, how they relate to your church website, and traffic-killing mistakes to avoid making on your site.
And that’s exactly what this article will do.
But before jumping into the guide, let’s first take a look at why your church web design needs to be on point in the first place.
Why Does Church Website Design Matter?
Now, you may be tempted to simply put your church’s website design on the backburner.
After all, you have other things you need to put your limited budget towards—weekly gatherings, local events and charities, youth trips, advertising (the list goes on).
But what you may not understand is that websites aren’t just a benefit for certain modern churches anymore. They’re downright required.
Functional, eye-catching websites are the foundation of any church’s successful digital marketing strategy. Without it, it will be significantly harder to…
- Keep your congregation engaged
- Attract new members to your church
- Inform your community of upcoming events
- Drive donations to keep your community healthy and happy
All in all, the better your website is, the better able you’ll be to fulfill your church’s core mission.
Need proof?
Well, it’s all in the numbers.
Check out the statistics below to see just how important it is for churches like yours to have clean, gorgeous, and user-friendly website design in today’s world.
- According to Grey Matter, 17 million people who aren’t regular church-goers actually end up visiting church websites each year (a fantastic opportunity to grow your congregation).
- ChurchMag found that around 59% of churchgoers over the age of 66 have actually donated to their church online.
- 52% of your Sunday morning website viewers are first-time visitors to your site according to Bridge Element (so you better make it look great!).
- Hubspot found that 93% of people left a website because it didn’t display properly on their device, 90% of people left a website because it was badly designed, and 93% of people left because a website didn’t load quickly enough.
The main takeaway here is clear: you need a good-looking and functional website if you want your church web design to make an impact.
5 Principles of Modern Church Web Design to Remember
Below are just a few principles of modern church web design you’ll want to keep in mind when laying out and designing your website.
Don’t Forget About Mobile
Something to think about: mobile devices generated more than half (50.81%) of global website traffic in the third quarter of 2020.
And unfortunately, if your church website design is not mobile optimized, that means that you’re risking losing about half of your viewership.
Sound like a mistake you’d rather end up avoiding? Wise move.
Be sure to optimize your website for mobile, either with one of the many website builders available or (for even sleeker design and optimization) using a talented and experienced web design company.
Enable Online Donations
Unfortunately, a lot of churches still have not implemented this exceptionally simple and massively impactful design change.
By allowing donations right through your website, you’re putting the choice directly into the hands of your visitors every time they land on your page. No more waiting until tithe collections during your service. No more asking for donations after and before events.
Instead, you’re essentially setting up a 24/7 donation box that anyone with an internet connection can contribute to, day or night.
The only question is why wouldn’t you put this on your website?
Design Your Site With Both Regular & Irregular Attendees In Mind
It’s important to remember that members of your congregation and frequent churchgoers aren’t the only people who will be visiting your website.
While offering services updates, recapping past events, and repeating messages of recent sermons on your site can be valuable content focuses, you’ll also want sections devoted specifically to attracting new members.
What is the guiding mission of your church? How have you helped your community? What kinds of events do you regularly host?
Be sure that your website isn’t forgetting to “market” your church at the same time as it’s informing members about the latest news.
Include Video!
People love video!
In fact, by 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic according to Cisco. That’s 15 times higher than it was in 2017!
So be sure to use this ever-growing trend to your advantage on your church website design.
Share videos of especially powerful clips from last week’s sermon. Showcase your pastors and church admin staff. Introduce newcomers to the rest of your congregation.
Get creative with it!
Creating engaging videos can be a bit tricky though, so if you’re feeling in the dark, be sure to consult with a digital marketing agency for help.
Use Highly Visible Call-to-Actions (CTAs)
And finally, always include highly visible call-to-actions (CTAs) on your page.
These can be buttons users can click to donate, confirm their attendance at an upcoming event, sign up for volunteering, like your social media page, or even just opt in to your newsletter (since email marketing is such an important part of digital marketing for churches).
No matter what your CTA ends up being, it’s vital that you include at least one on every single page.
Because truth be told, each and every page of your website is another chance to drive action and get ever-closer to attaining your church’s goals.
How Can Epic Life Creative Help?
Church website design is just one more critical piece of your digital marketing strategy as a whole. And while having a great-looking and responsive website is always the goal, unfortunately achieving that goal is easier said than done.
But that’s where we come in. Epic Life Creative is a mission-driven digital marketing team specializing in helping churches like yours build their brand, refine their online presence, and create gorgeous websites their congregation and community will love.
We have the expertise, experience, and god-given talent needed to grow your church and achieve your goals. And we’d love to help.
To learn more, just click below to connect with us today.
