Effective communication is an important goal in any church website strategy. Clear communication isn’t just what you say, but how you say it. One key thing is to be aware of the medium of your communication. In this case, you’re presenting a website that will be viewed on a screen, or screens of various sizes. People may be viewing your church’s website on a desktop, a tablet, or via their smartphone. Keeping that in mind is important, because you don’t want to just present one long text block.

Styling a page well can be simple if you know how. There isn’t a single right way to do things, but there are many things you can do wrong. Here are a few tips to make your web pages clearer and better looking.

1. Add Columns for Shorter Line Lengths

Full width pages are trending, but if your lines of text are too wide, it makes the entire text block hard to read. You could use an image to narrow your line lengths. Using columns is also a good way to show visual organization.

2. Use Block Quotes or Images to Break Up Space

You can break up long blocks of text with an important block quote or an image. Quotes can help the user scan the page to quickly pick up what the content is about. And images can help even more. This break in the text creates a natural place to slow down the reading, giving the viewer a comfortable pause in the content. It’s about creating room for the reader to “breathe.”

Styling a page can be easy if you know how.

3. Know The Importance of Headings and Subheads

A good way to help your visitors make sense of your web pages  is to have headers overviewing the content of various paragraphs. Don’t be afraid to use your different header styles. A header should be the overall subject of what the section is about. It is a good way to break up long blocks of text. A large chunk of text is intimidating, but having informative and catchy headers makes it more approachable. This creates clear hierarchy and makes navigating through your content easier. It also adds visual variety to your page and makes your content more dynamic.

4. Encourage Your Readers to Click on Buttons

Use links to create movement. At the end of the content, you should consider what you want the viewer to do next. After reading your page, what would you like the visitor to do?

• Do you want them to go to another page?
• Seek more information?
• Fill out a form?
• Sign up for something?

So there you have it, four key guidelines to make a well styled webpage. These tips will serve as a good starting point, but don’t feel restricted by them. There are many ways to execute these ideas, and that is up to you.