Your church website is often the very first interaction someone has with your community. Before they visit on a Sunday morning, before they call the office, before they ask a friend. They Google you. And what they find in those first few seconds determines whether they keep looking or move on.
Here are seven mistakes we see on church websites every day, and what to do about each one.
1. Burying your service times and location
This is the number one reason people visit a church website: to find out when and where you meet. If a visitor has to click through multiple pages or scroll past a wall of text to find your service times, you've already lost them.
The fix: Put your service times and address on the homepage, above the fold. Make them impossible to miss. Include a direct link to Google Maps so visitors can get directions with one tap.
2. An outdated design that looks like 2012
First impressions are visual. Research shows that 94% of first impressions are design-based, and 75% of people judge an organization's credibility by its website design. A church website with clip art, tiny text, and a layout that hasn't changed in a decade tells visitors that your church might be stuck in the past too.
The fix: You don't need to redesign every year, but your website should look clean, modern, and welcoming. Use high-quality photos of your actual community. Make sure your color palette and typography feel intentional, not accidental.
3. Ignoring mobile users
Over half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. For churches, that number is often higher, since people searching for a church on Sunday morning are almost certainly on their phones. If your website isn't responsive, the text is tiny, buttons are impossible to tap, and the layout breaks on smaller screens.
The fix: Test your website on your own phone right now. Can you find service times in under five seconds? Can you tap the phone number to call? Can you read the text without zooming? If not, a mobile-responsive redesign should be your top priority.
4. No clear "Plan Your Visit" page
A first-time visitor has a hundred small questions: Where do I park? What should I wear? Is there childcare? What will the service be like? A dedicated "Plan Your Visit" or "I'm New" page answers these questions and removes the anxiety that keeps people from showing up.
The fix: Create a dedicated page for newcomers that covers parking, dress code, what to expect during the service, children's programs, and how to connect afterward. Include a short, friendly video if you can. Even a 60-second walkthrough filmed on a phone can make a huge difference.
5. Making online giving difficult or invisible
If your congregation has to hunt for a way to give online, or worse, if you don't offer online giving at all, you're leaving generosity on the table. The shift to digital giving accelerated dramatically and isn't going back. Members expect the same ease of giving they experience with every other online transaction.
The fix: Put a "Give" button in your main navigation. Make sure the donation flow is simple, mobile-friendly, and takes fewer than 60 seconds. Consider offering recurring giving options so members can set it and forget it.
6. Letting content go stale
Nothing says "we're not paying attention" like a homepage featuring an Easter event from two years ago, a staff page with people who left six months ago, or a blog that hasn't been updated since 2023. Stale content tells visitors that your digital presence isn't a priority, and makes them wonder what else might be neglected.
The fix: Set a monthly calendar reminder to review your website. Update events, remove outdated announcements, and keep your staff page current. If you have a blog or news section, either commit to updating it regularly or remove it entirely. An empty blog is better than an abandoned one.
7. No clear next step for visitors
A visitor found your website, liked what they saw, and wants to take the next step. But what is that next step? If your website doesn't guide people toward a specific action like visiting on Sunday, signing up for a newsletter, joining a small group, or sending a message, you've built a digital brochure instead of a digital front door.
The fix: Every page on your church website should have a clear call to action. The homepage should prominently feature "Plan Your Visit" or "Join Us This Sunday." Your about page should link to your contact form. Your sermons page should invite people to subscribe. Guide visitors toward connection at every turn.
Your website is your digital front door
These seven mistakes have one thing in common: they create friction between a potential visitor and your church community. Every unnecessary click, every outdated detail, every confusing layout is a small barrier that makes it easier for someone to close the tab and move on.
The good news is that every one of these issues is fixable. Start with the highest-impact changes first: service times on the homepage, mobile responsiveness, and a Plan Your Visit page. Then work your way through the rest.
If you're not sure where your church website stands, we offer a free website audit that covers all of these areas and more. No sales pitch, no obligation. Just an honest look at how your digital front door is serving your community.