Can you recall a big yellow book with tons of names and numbers they use to leave on your doorstep many moons ago? It practically doesn’t exist anymore, but its concept still remains. When someone wants to find your contact info and locations, they look you up. Now, instead of a phone book, its online through your website and social media platforms.
Your VERY first impression is not the smiley faces at your building doors (though those are VERY important), the FIRST one, nowadays, is your website.
Side note: if you argue that Facebook/Social media is….just read this post first: Facebook vs Website.
Over the years, we’ve learned a lot from building, designing and walking with church leaders while completing their websites. We’ve also polled, questioned and received feedback from potential church guests looking for a church. Almost every one of them said that they go and search for churches on the internet before visiting. When they find a churches website, they specifically look for a few important facts and details.
1. Service Times
2. Locations
3. Who You Are
Those are the top three hotspots…but there are another three that come into play even before potential guest even give your website a chance. A pop quiz per say. Will your church website ace it?
1. Is it responsive?
Studies show that there are more mobile internet users than desktop internet users; 52.7% of global internet users access the internet via mobile, and 75.1% of U.S. internet users access the internet via mobile. Most likely, that potential guest visiting your church found out your times, location and who you are…on their couch or at a red light on the phone or tablet.
2. Does your website look like something from 1989, 99, or even 2009? If the design is like the virtual version of “nails on a chalkboard”…its one 10 second click away from being switched to Pinterest or Fantasy Football. Read more here
3. Can they find their way around within 2-3 clicks?
Is your location and directions buried within 4-5 drop down menus? Just say no and fix that real quick. Is your navigation friendly and straight forward? People don’t like to guess…make it easy for them to know where to go.
Bonus: Too much text is overwhelming. When you look at your churches site, is there a balance of text and graphics?
So, did your church website pass the test? If not, let us help, contact us here.
Need more tips? Our Website 101 series of post help with that! Check them out!
Design | Graphics are the Key | Target Audience | Why Maintenance Matters
