1. Make sure you have the following information on your site

Chaplaincy name and location, your beliefs and mission, a welcome invitation for all to join you, how people can get involved, how people can get in contact. This is not an exhaustive list.

2. Give every page a purpose

Church websites have a lot of moving pieces. There’s service information, sermons, events, about content, and ministry groups. While some pages will combine a few different topics, it’s best to plan one clear purpose per page.

3. Provide clear navigation links

Visitors won’t always know the right terminology that your church community is use to so make sure your navigation uses naming conventions that anyone can understand. Keep each link simple and clearly labeled to tell your visitor where they will land.

4. Guide visitors to a logical next step

Creating a great website experience means thinking through your users complete journey. The goal is to learn what people are looking for and make it as easy as possible for them to find it. 

5. Make your pages skimmable

Website visitors are busy these days. As much a we’d love to have their full attention, we don’t. It’s important to make your website pages as scannable as possible. The best way is to use larger headlines and space that break up paragraphs and sections so readers can skim the page.

6. Make your fonts count

Speaking of headlines, the fonts you use can have a major impact on the look and feel of your website. In fact, the right fonts can stand completely on their own as a strong design element. But don’t go crazy! Keep your website limited to 1 or 2 standalone fonts.

7. Keep a consistent colour scheme

No matter your style, you can carry your church’s brand colour through your entire site to create a polished look. 

8. Let images do the talking

Images speak louder then words! Use real-life images so you can to show off your community.

9. Remove the clutter

Keep pages simple, light and void of any distractions. 

10. Add a “junk drawer”

Simplifying you website can be tricky! Just because something doesn’t belong in your navigation or on your homepage, doesn’t mean you have to completely forget about it. A solution for this is to create an organised footer menu so website visitors have full access to all of your site’s content.