Your website’s homepage is like an ongoing introduction to your church – an essential “first impression” for a new visitor, and an opportunity for your current members to get to know your ministries better and increase their engagement and involvement with the church.
Is your homepage a place people want to visit? Here are six improvements you can make to your church website homepage to make people feel at home:
Focus on responsive design
People may seek out your website through online searches on their laptops, tablets, or phones – however they find you, your homepage and your entire site should adapt to the device they’re using.
Clover Tip: All websites from Clover are responsive - which means they work on any device!
Give livestreaming a prominent spot
Your website is likely seeing increased traffic on Sunday mornings, as current members and new visitors seek out live worship services. Make sure they can find and activate your livestream with ease – there’s only a brief window of opportunity to get them watching and engaged before they seek out another church.
Clover Tip: You can link Churchstreaming.tv with Clover Sites to connect virtual guests to your church services.
Highlight your social media channels
If you have a presence on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter – which you should! – make sure to include links to your feeds on your home page. This will encourage existing members to become even better connected with your ministries, and help introduce first-time web visitors to more of your events and activities.
Clover Tip: You can link your social accounts to a Clover site so people can easily find and share your content, sermons, and announcements
Make new visitors feel welcome
Just as you would want guests in your church to feel at home when the visit on Sunday morning or for special events, it’s important to let first-time web visitors know that your church is a welcoming environment. A dedicated link with brief, specific messaging – “I’m New Here” or “First Time Guest? Click Here!” are two examples – will give those who are looking for a new church home and found your website a feeling of belonging, and allow them to quickly engage with your ministries.
Clover Tip: Clover offers customizable forms that let you target specific audiences for outreach.
Offer a Call to Action
Your website should make it easy and inspiring for visitors to quickly engage with your ministries. An option to sign up for emails, a contact form where people can seek out more information or ask specific questions, or a prayer request option can make your web visitors immediately feel like part of your church community.
Clover Tip: Clover website designs include a prayer wall to help churches keep track of prayer requests and allow site visitors to pray for one another.
Provide clear giving options
Especially when so many church members are kept away from services during the pandemic, people who can’t attend church will be visiting your website to support your ministries. Make it easy for them – offer a clear link to a secure giving platform, with an easy-to-use process that makes generosity simple. And be sure to include options for recurring, monthly gifts, which allows people to give consistent support to ministries even when they can’t attend church each Sunday.
Clover Tip: Clover Give allows your church members to support your ministries online, as well as through text-to-give, kiosks, and pledge options.
Make Your Church Website More Welcoming with CloverSites
Need help making your homepage and your entire church website the best it can be? Clover Sites has a team of talented design experts who would love to help you navigate through this process. Connect with us here to see our design concepts and set up a call to talk about your church website.
