Did you know that a whopping 60% of church websites are considered dead because they only get updated once a month?? Sometimes it's even less often!!? The last thing you want is a dead church website. Your website should be a living, vibrant part of your church. It should help members be proud of the church they attend and potential get visitors excited about visiting your church.
If you're wondering how often you should update your church website, the answer is "as soon as something needs to be updated!"
But you don't want to update your church website just to make sure all of the information is current. You'll also want to make updates so that you can make a great first impression to visitors who come to your website for the first time. Chances are if they like what they see, they will be back. And more importantly, they will also be more likely to grace the doors of your church building.
If you want to make a BIG impression on those website visitors, you'll want to consider making the following updates to your church website.
Update Photos
Even if you can’t do a whole website redesign, updating your photos, or giving them a little change-up can give a whole facelift to your site. You'll want to be especially attentive to delete photos of church staff members who are no longer there. It's equally as important to add a photo when there is a new addition to church staff. As long as you're updating photos, make sure to include photos of some of the most recent church events.
Some other things to remember when it comes to updating photos on your church website include:
- Make sure you have appropriate permissions before using photos
- Reduce the size of your photos before uploading them to your site
- As you're updating photos, make sure captions and photo descriptions are also updated
One more thing to remember when you're updating your photos is that some parents might object to having their child's picture on your church website. Make sure you ask before hand or remove it PROMPTLY when you hear about a concern. As a side note, be especially careful about this in social media.
Update Information for the School Year
Many youth programs, Bible studies, or other small groups will be starting up again come September. Don’t forget to update your site. You can also feature any major events that you may have that kick-off the school year. If your website contains on online calendar, be sure this gets updated as well.
Choose a New Piece of Content to Feature
Instead of featuring the most recent event, try featuring the newest sermon, someone's video testimony, or even if it's your latest and helpful blog post. Putting something out-of-the-ordinary in the spotlight can give the user something new to to see, without having to make any major design changes.
Add More Whitespace
Remove the clutter. Do you really need a textured or patterned background? A clean look can make your church website look more refined. Whitespace can also improve both website performance and readability. If you have too many elements on your page such as images, colors, and animations, it can make things look too busy and actually cause readers to become uncomfortable.
By using fewer elements and more whitespace, you can improve the look of your website while keeping it easy on the eyes. One important note that should be mentioned here is that whitespace doesn't necessarily need to be white - it can actually be any color you choose, minus the texture or pattern.
Use Icons
You can put icons in the navigation, as part of your design, your logo, etc. Here are some benefits for adding icons when making church website updates:
- Icons can help sum up the content on your website
- Like pictures, icons are worth a 1,000 words and can help draw attention
- Icons can help structure your content and help separate it into different categories
- Icons can help to increase the readability of your content
When making church website updates, go ahead and replace all of those boring bullet points. Use something more engaging like checkmarks or arrows. We offer some more advice on how to use icons to communicate ideas here, and we also give you 48 free ministry icons!
Make a Bigger Impression With a New Theme
Can’t redesign a whole new website from scratch? A theme can be the answer to your prayers (no pun intended). When updating your theme, here are some things you'll want to keep in mind:
- Make sure it doesn't slow down the loading time for your website
- Make sure it looks great on different devices including smartphones and tablets
- Make sure you can easily customize the theme that you choose
If you're looking for a new theme for you church website, consider Elliot, our recently launched e360 church website theme. You'll be glad to know our newest theme contains some great features including sermons, blogs, and events. Elliot was designed simply, with clean lines and easy focus. This is the perfect e360 Theme to drive the story of your church. See for yourself!
