Websites are one of the top ways people are finding churches these days. You should think of your website as your most important outreach tool.  Here are some tips in planning your website layout and design to help people fall in love with your church and become excited about coming to visit:

Think through the most important information you want people to get from your website in just seconds of looking at it. You want your front page to be clear of clutter and to be inviting. The front page is not the place to put large amounts of text.

You want your website to be personal and warm. People want to know that they will be welcomed and will fit in. Try to integrate photos of church members/activities. We believe these are more important than the actual building. Church building pictures are fine, but the church is made up of people.

It should function not only for your members, but also for people looking for a church and for non-Christians.  It is a great idea to have a “New to Our Church” section or button on your front page. This will give someone looking for your church an easy way to find out what they want to know. Keep this section warm, exciting, and informative.

As mentioned above, think about using your website for reaching out to non-Christians.  Do you have activities opened to the community? The website is a great way to advertise these and to offer your community information about these activities. This mentioned, you want to stay away from wording that a non-Christian would not understand (such as sanctification, justification, etc.). This is an easy, unintentional way to make a person feel uncomfortable about coming to your church. Try to avoid using too many of these words and phrases on your website.

We recommend a graphic slide show on the front page. This is a great way to keep your website updated and fresh. Change slides to match the season or to promote you most important events.

Use testimonies of members of all ages. This is a great way to add a personal touch on different pages just by using short bio testimonies of people in your church. For example, have a young married couple mention a little bit of their background (job, number of children, etc) and why they love coming to your church. It only has to be a couple of sentences long. You can do this with any age from the youngest to the oldest.

Make sure your advertising is true!!! Advertise on your website that your church is a warm and friendly place only if that is true!  Try not to make programs bigger than what they really are. Focus on what your church can positively offer a person and really highlight those areas. The most important thing a person is looking for in a church is love and acceptance. If your church family loves people, then a visitor will feel welcomed and a lot of times will overlook the minor imperfections of a church.