I spend a lot of time looking at church websites. Whether that means exploring new trends, cleaning up broken sites, or building a site from scratch, a majority of my week is spent on websites. My go-to platforms for churches are WordPress and Squarespace… I love these platforms for their reliability, flexibility, and ease-of-use.
Sometimes when churches think they need a new website, they really just need a tune up of what they have. Here are 5 ways to instantly improve your church’s website:
1) Fonts are Friends, not Food
One of the easiest ways to tell an amateur site from a pro site is the usage of fonts. Church sites are the worst offenders of poor choice in fonts. You know exactly what I mean, too (I refuse to name the worst font ever, but you know what it is). Your website should be limited to two fonts, should contrast each other (tall & short, serif & sans serif, bold & thin, etc), and should be super easy to read. Below are some great font combinations you can use on your website. All of these fonts are available on Google Fonts.
- Montserrat & Libre Baskerville (Sans & Serif)
- Oswald & Open Sans Condensed (Tall sans & short sans)
- Source Sans Pro & Lora (Sans & serif)
- Poppins & Merriweather (Sans & serif)
- Arvo & Open Sans (Block serif & sans)
2) All the Colors
Just like fonts, colors should be sparingly and in moderation. If you have a color palette for your brand, start there and use your primary color along side white and black. If you don’t have brand colors, check out coloors.co for some great color combinations. As a general rule of thumb, only use 3 colors and make sure that those colors all pair well together. Additionally, create contrast by placing dark text over your light colors and light text over your dark colors. Readability is more important than than being “artsy.”
3) I Need Some Space
Have you ever noticed that professional designs (graphic designs or websites) have a lot more space around the text than Suzie’s potluck graphic? There’s a reason for that. Designers are utilizing “white space” to enhance legibility and give the eyes some room to process the information being presented. Instantly improve your website by giving your text some space and room to breathe. It might feel like too much at first, but know that it will be okay in the long run and your site visitors will thank you later.
4) Get to the Point
Here is a harsh reality: site visitors don’t read a majority of the content on your site, in fact, they probably don’t really care about it. One major faux pas committed by churches is having too much content on their site. Go through your website and cut the clutter. Remove redundant sentences and help your site visitors have a single, unified takeaway. What do you want your visitor to do? Tell them and make it overly clear. If you’re looking for a way to do this, check out the book “Building a StoryBrand” by Donald Miller to help clarify your messaging. (Affiliate link, meaning we get a commission if you buy the book using our link.)
5) First Things First
If you do not currently have your service times and your physical address on your homepage, I want you to stop reading right now and go put them in an extremely accessible place on the homepage. Make it clear when you meet and where you meet. The first thing a guest should see on your site is this basic information… don’t make them search for it and don’t give them information about the women’s potluck right away. Put the most important things first and then everything else after that.
