The ChurchWebsite Guide

a free resource from

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Websites are a valuable asset to your church’s ministry. Your church’s website is your digital front door. It’s where people find you. The sign on your front lawn used to draw people to show up on Sunday; in the digital age, people turn to Google first.

It’s time your church starts thinking about your website as a tool to reach out. It’s where your presence exists online—more than anywhere else. Your church website can be extremely helpful to potential guests—if you do it well. Rather than seeing the website management, hosting, and domain as added expenses and line items in your church’s budget, start thinking about them as a tool for ministry. How are you using your church website to reach your community? What kind of message is your online presence sending to potential visitors? How can your online address bring people to your physical address? What impact does your website have on Sunday attendance? New guests? Outreach events?

We’ve put this guide together to provide insights about what the best church websites are currently doing, how your church website can improve, and what makes a website work for your church.

If you have any questions or would like Church Juice to help your church figure out this whole “communications” thing please do not hesitate to reach out. I’m here to serve and support you as you energize your church’s communications. As always, everything we do to serve the Church is provided to you for free.

Your fan,Bryan HaleyChurch Juice Producerbryan@churchjuice.com

INTRODUCTION

3 Introduction 4 25 of the Best Church Websites 18 A Checklist for Your Church’s Online Strategy 24 5 Things Every Church Website Must Have 27 Your Website is Your First Impression

30 About the Authors 31 About Church Juice

CONTENTS

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Let’s start with the best of the best. While this is not a comprehensive or exhaustive list, we’ve spent dozens of hours searching the web to find the best church websites in North America. We came up with 25 that we think every church can take something from.

We asked three questions when looking at each church website:

1. Does the website have a clear target audience? 2. Does the content and imagery of the website communicate clearly to its intended audience? 3. Is the website clear from distractions that take away from reaching the intended audience?

After evaluating hundreds of websites,

here are the top 25 church websites for 2019:

25 OF THE BEST CHURCH WEBSITES

Good News Church | Omaha, NEWhat’s Valuable:• The colors and imagery

used on the homepage are purposeful (and fun!).

• Good News’ homepage focuses on “story.” It does this by sharing a story with each image of how someone’s life has been changed. It also focuses on “story” in the headline used on the homepage.

Church on the Move | Tulsa, OKWhat’s Valuable:• COTM created a secondary

website to help improve their primary site. The homepage on their primary site focuses solely on answering any question a potential visitor might have. Any sort of next-step-type action would be taken on their secondary site, cotm.info.

• The images used on this website help convey to the visitor what they might expect on a Sunday.

By Bryan Haley

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The Village Church | Flower Mound, TXWhat’s Valuable:• This website is focused

solely on the newcomer. TVC created a secondary website (tvcresources.com) to house all of the resources they produce, allowing their primary website to better serve potential visitors.

• The homepage communi-cates to the potential guest that reservations with attending a new church are almost-universal, and aims to settle some of them.

NewSpring Church | Anderson, SCWhat’s Valuable:• NewSpring’s focus is on

getting new visitors connected as quickly as possible. You can see this with the language they use, the email signup form, and the contact area.

• The imagery and content on the homepage are simple, helping convey their desire for connection.

Mannahouse Church | Portland, ORWhat’s Valuable:• Mannahouse went with

a very different approach for their homepage, and it pays off.

• The mosaic tiles help people find whatever they’re looking for. The purpose of their site is not primarily the first-time visitor (though they make sure to make first-time- related information easily accessible) but rather next steps and helping people stay informed.

Menlo Church | Menlo Park, CAWhat’s Valuable:• Menlo Church’s header

area makes the first step at building a relationship with the user. It strives to answer some of their potential guests’ apprehensions about visiting a new church.

• Menlo’s website makes great use of white, or negative, space. This allows content and images to breath and helps eyes focus on what’s most important.

Website by Tipping Media

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What’s Valuable:• Kensington’s website helps

potential guests feel informed right away.

• The focus of Kensington’s homepage is not trying to convince someone to come; instead, it helps them plan their first visit and have the knowledge they need when they show up.

Churchome | Kirkland, WAWhat’s Valuable:• I’ll be the first to admit that

I don’t love the new name, but Churchome (formerly The City Church) is creating a whole experience that’s focused on a more homey, family atmosphere.

• The homepage helps primarily point people to a location—whether a physical location or through the newly designed mobile app.

Mountain View Church | Fresno, CAWhat’s Valuable:• Mountain View is quick to

show exactly who they are and point to their mission.

• The desire of their homepage is to help give guests a peek into what they can expect if they choose to attend a Mountain View service.

Church of the Redeemer | Gaithersburg, MDWhat’s Valuable:• Redeemer’s site points

people right away to a Sunday service. Their video captures what visitors can expect on a Sunday, and the language and calls-to-action all help support the desire to get people connected to a service.

• The homepage also helps provide information a guest may want to know.

Kensington Church | Troy, MI

Website by Butler Branding

Website by Ekklesia360

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Ezra Church | Stoughton, WIWhat’s Valuable:• There’s one consistent call-

to-action button that you see displayed throughout the homepage: Plan a Visit.

• Ezra’s homepage is dedicated solely to the potential guest. They attempt to calm the nerves of visiting a new church while helping you learn more about who they are and their church culture.

Hope Covenant Church | New York, NYWhat’s Valuable:• Hope’s website gives a

good balance of images of people with images of the building—an iconic landmark on Roosevelt Island.

• Their homepage and website help make it clear that this is a multiethnic church, reaching many languages, races, and backgrounds.

The Meeting House Church | Carlisle, PAWhat’s Valuable:• TMH’s site shows that

they’re trying to bring a lighter side to the church experience. (Check out their staff page to see more of this!)

• They seem to find the right balance between light-hearted fun and helping people from any situation feel welcomed and part of the family.

Radiant Church | Tampa, FLWhat’s Valuable:• Radiant’s opening

headline does a good mixture of incorporating their mission statement while also communicating well to the new visitor.

• The homepage aims to help give the visitor a better understanding of who the church is before deciding to attend a service.

Website by Kyler Creative

Website by Gage Hunt Creative

Website by Ekklesia360

Website by Vibrant Agency

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Grace Toronto Church | Toronto, ONWhat’s Valuable:• Grace Toronto is all about

being a church for the city in the city. You see that displayed well through imagery and language displayed all over the website.

• Their website does a great job at helping you get an idea of what to expect—both visually, by the images and sermons on the website, and in the language and content they purposefully place on each page.

Elevate Church | Erie, PAWhat’s Valuable:• The homepage on Elevate’s

website does a great job at answering questions and alleviating fears right away.

• The major call-to-action on their homepage is not a “Plan Your Visit” or “Service Times” button; rather, it directs them to get more information on what the visitor can expect, which again, helps alleviate some of those nerves and answer questions.

Central Church | Henderson, NVWhat’s Valuable:• Central’s site is aimed at

a different audience than most. While they certainly have information for first-time guests, the main focus of the homepage is to help people get connected to their videos online.

• There’s not a ton of information on the homepage, so they incorporated a search feature that works really well.

Antioch | Salt Lake City, UTWhat’s Valuable:• Antioch SLC doesn’t try to

be over-the-top, flashy, or impressive. They’re consistent at wanting to show the church as a family and wanting Sundays to feel like home. Their language and imagery all back that up.

• A large section of the homepage is dedicated to getting people connected—through email and social media.

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Hill City Church | Richmond, VAWhat’s Valuable:• The imagery and language

used on Hill City’s website give a young, fun, and vibrant feel for potential visitors.

• They make an appeal to people who aren’t sure about the whole “church” thing right away.

Shandon Baptist Church | Columbia, SCWhat’s Valuable:• Shandon’s homepage is all

about providing basic details for potential visitors. Visitors get a grasp for what’s happening in and around the church, and then they can decide if it’s the right fit for them.

• The double navigation is a bit different than you normally see on websites. The top helps you dig deeper, while the side navigation helps visitors get important information.

Fellowship Church | Antioch, CAWhat’s Valuable:• We’re throwing it back to

my hometown on this one. Fellowship’s website is clear and simple. Everything on the homepage is aimed at providing information a first-time guest may want or need to know.

• Fellowship does a great job at using images of real people from their congregation.

Wellspring Church | Goodyear, AZWhat’s Valuable:• Everything a guest needs to

know is “above the fold.”

• Their opening headline appeals to a potential guest’s need.

Website by Ekklesia360 Website by Kyler Creative

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Engage City Church | Spruce Grove, ABWhat’s Valuable:• Engage’s website is clearly

directed at the initial steps for new visitors.

• From their main navigation to all of the information on the homepage, their audience is clear: helping new people take their first steps.

River City Church | Jacksonville, FLWhat’s Valuable:• The only call-to-action is a

Plan Your Visit button.

• The homepage isn’t bogged down with content, events, and details; it’s only the headline and a simple button calling people to dig deeper.

CrossPoint Church | Chino, CAWhat’s Valuable:• CrossPoint’s website

focuses on the first- timer. On the homepage, you see answers to FAQ’s (even though they don’t call it that) and can plan your visit right there.

• The homepage is well designed with a mix of icon graphics and photos.

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One of the biggest struggles with managing any group, organization, ministry, or business is coming up with a genuine strategy that is understandable to everyone involved.

Add to that the need for applicable, pertinent content that leads to genuine action, growth, and success, and the task becomes even more difficult.

While the lack of a clear-cut strategy and organization is often a widespread issue within a ministry, an area that tends to suffer the most from this lack is a ministry’s online presence.

With that in mind, here are my thoughts, formed into a checklist of sorts, in order to help you form your organization’s online strategy.

A CHECKLIST FOR YOUR CHURCH’S ONLINE STRATEGYBy Tyler Rominger

A Website Isn’t Good EnoughLook, I’m in the business of website design, and I like a beautifully functioning, trendy site as much as the next fella.

In my experience, though, building the site itself is too often treated as the “final step” in a process that is so much deeper and more complex than just having a swanky looking series of web pages.

Creating a good online strategy requires a lot of other little steps. Otherwise, all of that hard work that went into your website may go to waste, sitting in a dusty, unvisited corner of the Internet.

I never get tired of pointing out that a website is THE key to a ministry’s communication.

It can be a hub of information, as well as an outreach tool, that helps churches stay relevant to the world around them.

In many ways, a ministry’s website has become more important than their geographical presence.

Someone is more likely to stop and look at a Facebook or Google Ad than they are to look up and see that steeple as they drive by.

With all of this said, I’m going to start my checklist at the point AFTER your website is made.

An Online Strategy ChecklistThe bulk of this article is going to be condensing a much longer article I wrote titled “An Ultimate Church Plant Digital Marketing Guide.”

Let’s dig in. Here are four items that should be on your church’s checklist when you think about your online strategy.

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As I already mentioned, building your site is just the tip of the iceberg. Just because you’ve got that handy url (web address) to pass out, doesn’t mean people will automatically come flocking to check it out!

The best way you can “grease the wheels” of a new site (or an older one!) in order to help get more visitors is by making sure it’s fully optimized. Here are a few of my top suggestions for getting your site in tip-top shape for guests.

BrandingThe power of good, consistent branding is a crucial part of all marketing efforts, including those online. Make sure that no matter what part of your website they’re on, a visitor is made well aware of who you are.

In addition, you can use a site like knowem.com to make sure your brand is being properly represented across the internet.

You can find a full breakdown on branding and all of the benefits it brings in this Church Juice article, “Why Branding?”

Mobile DesignEvery day this one becomes less crucial for you to worry about. A good website builder should make sure mobile design is taken care of for you. But it’s worth taking a few minutes to look at your site and make sure that it’s mobile-friendly. Google uses Mobile First Index, meaning mobile-friendly sites get found first. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile users, you’re probably getting less traffic.

From my perspective, if your website is done correctly, your church doesn’t need a native mobile app. Now that websites have caught up there is no real advantage to having a native mobile app.

1. Fully Optimize Your Site Loading SpeedYou’ve been there, tapping your foot in a completely unreasonable lack of patience as a website takes seven whole seconds to load. It may seem crazy but the speed your website loads is something you need to take into account if you don’t want to lose traffic —and I mean serious traffic.

Neil Patel claims that you can lose 7% of your traffic from a single second delay in your site’s loading speed!

Patel has actually done a ton of great work on the effects of loading speed. Here’s an infographic from his site that highlights some of the worst effects of a lag in your loading speed. It’s business oriented, but many of the stats are just as true for the nonprofit world.

If your website has a slow load time, you need to make sure it:

• Prioritizes “above the fold” content • Uses correct image sizes • Utilizes browser caching • Includes gzip compression

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Structuring your siteTo make your website is as great as possible, structure and SEO-optimize your site’s content in a way that will encourage Google to send traffic your way!

Research appropriate keywords that relate to your ministry, but also to your geographic location. If you’re a Baptist church in Phoenix, check that your site has “Phoenix Baptist church” on it, not just “Baptist church.”

Utilize title and “H” tags, geotag your images, and include location-specific content to make your site shows up in local search results.

2. Setup Google Analytics (and Google Ads if You Can)

Now that you’ve gone through a lot of the hard work, let’s go over a few of the things you can do externally to help get that traffic flow going.

Setting up Google Analytics can be a really helpful way to track if you’re getting traffic and where it’s coming from. If you see that quite a few people are finding you through Facebook rather than Twitter, for example, it can help you pinpoint your outreach efforts.

In addition to Analytics, though, if you’ve got a budget, even if it’s a small one, you may want to consider setting up a Google Ads account. This allows you to create paid ads that you can then set to be promoted specifically to people in a certain geographic location.

3. Double-Check Your Google Business Listing

Another way to boost your online traffic is to make sure that others are talking about you accurately.

Check out your Google Business Listing (what Google is saying your ministry name, address, phone number, etc. are) and make sure it’s accurate.

4. Maximize That Social Media!

Finally—I can’t emphasize this one enough—get a plan in place for your social media.

If your website is the hub, the centerpiece, the “body” of your online presence, then social media is its tentacles. This is how you can get in front of people quickly and relatively easily.

It can be a bit of work coming up with content on a regular basis, but it really is worth investing the time to keep those channels of communication up and functioning well.

You can also take this approach with Apple Maps in order to double check that you’re showing up in local searches with the right information.

Finally, hop online and try googling your own ministry to see what comes up. If you find something inaccurate, reach out and ask the poster to fix it! You can also look for church directories or other mass information hubs to ensure your organization is listed with the proper information.

Your Online StrategyAnd there you have it—my take on what you should be focusing on with your online strategy this year.

To recap: • Optimize your website • Set up Google Analytics (and Google Ads if you can) • Make sure you’re properly listed in Google Listings, Apple Maps, etc. • Wield that social media like you mean it!

It’s so easy to ignore the myriad of little things you can do to increase your online traffic, but this is where the future of online communication is going more and more every year.

This year, more than ever, it’s important to have a good online strategy in place to help keep your website healthy and your traffic steady.

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5 THINGS EVERY CHURCH WEBSITE MUST HAVE

While scouring the web for the best church websites, I found that the vast majority of churches struggle in the website department. The church website needs to be a priority. Potential guests are going to find you online before ever stepping foot in your building. Your church’s first impression comes long before the service ever starts. In an effort to help you make your website a priority, here are five things that need to be on your church website.

1. A Clear FocusBefore you ever think about the design or the content of your church website, you need to have a focus. Who is the intended audience of your website? What does this audience need? Creating personas helps you know who you are reaching with your church website. The more detailed you can be about who your target audience is, the more you can tailor your website to reach your audience. Tailoring your website to your audience means you’re going to be more relevant to them. That helps clarify your message and delivery.

2. Location & TimesOften, we assume people know where our church is. They know how to get to our building on Sunday, and that we meet Sunday mornings. Because we make that presumption, a lot of churches bury their service information deep in the website. Instead, make that information easily available for the new person who has never interacted with your church. Think like a visitor. Making the location of your church and the times of your regular worship easily accessible helps people get the very basic information they need.

3. Ministry InformationRegardless of who you decide your target audience is, you need to have ministry information on your website. The way that information is displayed, and what all goes into these pages may look different, but at the very minimum, you need to have a basic overview of what ministries are offered—provide the 5 W’s that we learned about in elementary school (who, what, when, where, why). For the potential visitor, this helps determine if your church is the right fit for them. For the regular attender, this can be a good reminder about different ministries available, and is a way to keep them in the loop on ministry efforts they aren’t normally part of. Providing ministry information gives a deeper look into what your church is about, outside of Sunday services.

4. VisualsPart of what’s great about reading a novel is the ability to fantasize and visualize for yourself in your mind’s eye. But that’s not what you want people to do when reading about what to expect during a Sunday worship gathering. Visuals help me understand what’s going on, what’s being conveyed, and what the intention is. Don’t you agree? Your visitors are no different. Reading a description may be useful, but a visual help bring those words to life. Adding visuals give your website visitors a peek into what to expect, the life of the church, and small details like what to wear, worship style, and even the demographics of the congregation.

By Bryan Haley

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5. Consistent UpdatesA website is not a one-and-done element of your ministry. It needs to be updated consistently, optimized for your audience, and refreshed every so often. Allowing the website to go stagnant with outdated information, dated pictures, and old design all mean that you’re not reaching your audience well. Your website does not need to be a full-time job, but it does need to be a part of your job. Keeping the website updated can also be a great opportunity to find a volunteer. It’s another way we can view every aspect of ministry as a form of discipleship.

YOUR WEBSITE IS YOUR FIRST IMPRESSIONBy Owen Scott

A few weeks ago some members of our church family rallied together and painted the walls of the children’s ministry wing of our building. The color wasn’t a whole lot different than the previous color, and it mostly just covered up a few years-worth of grubby fingerprints. But our people saw that it was time to freshen things up a bit. A year ago, we did the same with our entryway and foyer.

Our church values our building, especially the impression it makes on guests. We want our church building to be appealing and inviting. We want people to be comfortable there; we want people to know where to go.

Many churches spend a lot of time and money making sure that the building makes a good first impression. It’s time that we invested some of that time and energy into our websites.

Your website is usually the first place a first time guest will interact with your church. And if they don’t like what they see online, there’s a good chance they won’t connect with you in real life.

But where do we start? There are questions we always ask about our physical spaces which would serve our digital spaces well. You don’t necessarily need to do an entire overhaul of your website, but if you address these questions, you’ll have a good start.

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1. Is it Inviting?We regularly ask if our church building is inviting. But is your website? Take an honest look at your website. Are there pictures of people? Does it load quickly? Does the content of your website connect with your audience? Does your website look great on a mobile device? Answering those questions will help make your website more inviting, and incidentally, bump your website up the Google search rankings as well.

2. What Impression Does it Make?Pretend you’re new to the church and ask yourself, what does this website tell me about this church? Do the images and content of the website make me feel like they genuinely care about me and our community? Or are they all about themselves?

3. Is it Comfortable? Do I Want to Stay There?If a website is designed poorly, if the content isn’t relevant, people bounce (leave the website after viewing one page). That means they won’t get the information they need, and likely won’t come to your church in real life. Take a look at your website and see if it’s laid out in a way that gives people relevant information when they need it. Are your service times listed in several prominent locations? Can I easily find the information I need? Do people want to stay on your website?

4. Is There Someone to Talk to?Just like we staff our welcome centers with real people, we should staff our websites with real people. There are a plethora of free, high-quality chat features that are easy to install, and help your team engage with visitors to your website.

5. Does it Help Me Take a Next Step?Okay, so a potential visitor has come to your website. Now what? A good website makes no difference if people don’t take a next step closer to Jesus. To help people take their next step you could set up a Plan Your Visit page that is easily accessible on your page. Again, make your service times and locations easily available and clear. And if you want to introduce people who are far from God to Jesus, consider partnering a with a service like CV Outreach, who’ll set up a page on your website dedicated to presenting the Gospel.

Your website is your first point of contact with first time guests. Just like your church building, you need to think about the first impression your church website is making on newcomers. Taking these first steps will help you make a great first impression online, so you can make a great first impression in real life.

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AUTHORSTyler RomingerTyler is the husband to Kate and dad to two beauti-ful little girls. When he’s not spending time with them, he’s working diligently to serve the Church through his company and website building tools, Ministry Designs.

Owen ScottOwen Scott is an associate pastor at Prairie Alliance Church. He has managed social media for churches for 8 years and loves seeing the church leverage technology and effective communication to proclaim the gospel to people who are far from God.

Bryan Haley Bryan joined the ReFrame Media team in 2017 with a passion to help churches reach people with the gospel using effective church communications. As producer for Church Juice, Bryan helps congregations energize their church communications by overseeing the Church Juice blog, publishing in-depth ebook resources, and developing training on topics like marketing, branding, social media, internal communications, and website development.

Bryan brings years of communication and outreach experience gained both in full-time church ministry and the field of church website design. Bryan and his wife, Denae, enjoy Michigan summers, Detroit sports, and family time.

At Church Juice, we’re passionate about church communications. Churches have more access to powerful media tools than ever before. As a nonprofit ministry, we’re

here to help churches to be intentional about how they use these tools to communicate with their congregations and communities. Whether it’s through

marketing, social media, internal communications, website development, or other avenues, we equip you to energize your church’s communications.

Since 2009, Church Juice has provided churches across North America with free online resources—including blogs, ebooks, white papers, and webinars. We also create virtual and in-person opportunities for church communicators to come

together, learn, and encourage one another.

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