Purpose: Make an immediate, welcoming first impression and direct visitors to their next step.

Your homepage is the front door of your church. According to research, 75% of people judge a church's credibility based on its website — and most of that judgment happens in the first three seconds on the homepage. If a new visitor lands on your homepage and can't immediately understand who you are and what to do next, they leave. It's that simple.

What your homepage must have:

• Your church name and a clear, concise statement of who you are
• Service times — visible without scrolling, ideally in the top section of the page
• Your city and general location (critical for local SEO)
• A "Plan Your Visit" or "I'm New Here" button above the fold
• Real photos of your actual congregation — not stock photos
• Links to your most important pages: sermons, events, giving, contact

The most common mistake: Cramming too much above the fold. Pastors want to put everything on the homepage because they're proud of everything their church does. But a cluttered homepage confuses visitors. Lead with one clear message and one clear next step.

Purpose: Remove every barrier a first-time visitor might have before they walk through your doors.

This is arguably the single most important page for church growth, and it's the one most churches either don't have or do poorly. Visiting a church for the first time is intimidating. People have questions they might be too nervous to ask: What should I wear? Where do I park? What happens with my kids? What does the service actually feel like?

A well-built Plan Your Visit page answers all of those questions before they have to ask.

What to include:

• Service times and location with an embedded Google Map
• Parking instructions (especially if your lot isn't obvious)
• What to expect — describe the worship style, length of service, and atmosphere
• Children's ministry details — parents want to know their kids will be cared for
• Dress code (even "come as you are" is worth saying explicitly)
• A short, warm welcome video from your pastor if possible
• A simple "Let us know you're coming" form

The most common mistake: Treating this page like a logistics page. It shouldn't just be bullet points of facts — it should feel warm, personal, and inviting. You're not writing a FAQ. You're welcoming a guest.

Purpose: Build trust by telling your church's story, sharing your beliefs, and introducing your leadership.

The About Us page is consistently one of the most visited pages on any church website. When someone is considering your church, they want to know: Who are you? What do you believe? Who leads this church? Can I trust these people?

What to include:

• Your church's story — how it was founded, where you've been, and where God is taking you
• Your mission and vision statement in plain, accessible language
• Your core beliefs and statement of faith
• Denomination or theological background (people want to know where you stand)
• Leadership team photos and short, personal bios — not just titles, but real stories
• A warm, personal tone that sounds like a person, not a brochure

The most common mistake: Writing a statement of faith that reads like a seminary textbook. Most first-time visitors aren't theologians. Write for the person who's curious and exploring faith, not the person who already has a seminary degree.

Purpose: Let visitors hear your pastor preach before they ever set foot in your church.

Research consistently shows that many people will listen to at least one sermon online before deciding to visit a church in person. Your sermon archive is essentially a free preview of everything your church has to offer. It builds trust, demonstrates theological depth, and gives people a feel for your pastor's teaching style — all before they take the step of showing up on Sunday.

What to include:

• Audio and/or video for every sermon (both formats, if possible)
• Organized by series, topic, or date — easy to browse
• Short description for each message (2–3 sentences describing the topic)
• Social sharing buttons so congregation members can share messages
• Search or filter functionality for larger archives

The most common mistake: An outdated sermon archive. Nothing damages credibility faster than a sermon page where the most recent entry is from 18 months ago. If you don't have someone consistently uploading sermons, this page will work against you. Make it someone's regular responsibility — it takes about 10 minutes per week.

Purpose: Show the full breadth of your church's community life and give people a way to get connected.

First-time visitors are evaluating more than Sunday morning. They want to know: Is there a place for me here? Is there something for my kids? A small group I could join? A way to serve? Your ministries page answers all of those questions and gives people an on-ramp to deeper involvement.

What to include:

• A dedicated section (or sub-page) for each major ministry: children's ministry, youth ministry, women's ministry, men's ministry, small groups, outreach, etc.
• Brief description of what each ministry does and who it's for
• Meeting times, locations, and any relevant details
• Contact information or a sign-up form for each ministry
• Photos of real people participating — not clip art

The most common mistake: One long page that lists every ministry in dense paragraph form. Break each ministry into its own section or sub-page. People looking for a youth group don't want to scroll past three paragraphs about the women's Bible study to find it.

Purpose: Keep both visitors and members informed about what's happening and give them a reason to come back to your site.

An active, well-maintained events page does two things at once: it serves your congregation by keeping them informed, and it signals to new visitors that your church is alive, active, and worth attending. A church with a full calendar communicates health and momentum. A church with an empty or outdated calendar communicates the opposite.

What to include:

• All upcoming services, special events, conferences, revivals, and community outreach
• Clear dates, times, and locations for each event
• A brief description and any registration links or fees
• A calendar view option if your site supports it
• Regular updates — this page should never be more than a week out of date

The most common mistake: Listing events that have already passed. Review your events page weekly and remove anything that's already happened. An events page full of past dates looks abandoned and hurts your credibility with new visitors.

Purpose: Make it simple, secure, and frictionless for members and visitors to support your ministry financially.

Churches that offer online giving see an average 32% increase in donations. That statistic alone should make this a priority. People today carry phones, not checkbooks. If the only way to give to your church is by writing a check on Sunday morning, you are leaving a significant portion of potential giving on the table.

What to include:

• A simple, clearly visible "Give" button in your navigation menu — not buried in a sub-page
• Multiple giving options: one-time gift, recurring/automatic giving, and special campaign giving
• Clear explanation of what donations support — general fund, building fund, missions, etc.
• Secure payment processing that donors can trust
• A brief, genuine paragraph about why giving matters to your ministry

The most common mistake: Making the giving page feel transactional rather than worshipful. Giving is an act of faith. The language on this page should reflect that — it should feel like an invitation, not an invoice.

Purpose: Introduce the people who lead your church so visitors feel connected before they ever walk in.

People connect with people, not organizations. When someone is deciding whether to visit your church, knowing who the pastor is — seeing their face, hearing a bit of their story — makes an enormous difference. This page humanizes your church and builds trust in a way that no amount of polished design can replicate.

What to include:

• Professional (but warm and approachable) photos of each staff member
• Name and title
• A short personal bio — 100–150 words — that shares their story, their family, and why they love ministry
• Contact information or a link to contact each person
• Keep it current — an outdated staff page is worse than no staff page at all

The most common mistake: Photos that look like driver's license photos and bios that are just a list of credentials. People want to feel like they know your team. Write bios in first person or with genuine warmth — not like a résumé.

Purpose: Give visitors a clear, frictionless way to reach you and confirm exactly where and how to find you.

This sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many church websites make their contact information difficult to find. Research shows that roughly 20–30% of all church website visits are specifically looking for contact information — service times, address, or a way to reach someone. If that information isn't easy to find, those visitors leave.

What to include:

• Physical address with an embedded Google Map
• Phone number
• Email address
• A simple contact form (name, email, message — nothing more complex than that)
• Service times (yes, put them here too — this is often where people look)
• Social media links
• Office hours if applicable

The most common mistake: A contact form with too many required fields. Every extra field you require reduces form submissions. Ask for name, email, and message. That's all you need to follow up with someone.

Purpose: Create a personalized entry point specifically for people who have never attended your church.

This page goes by different names — "I'm New," "New Here," "First Visit," or "Welcome." Whatever you call it, it's one of the highest-converting pages a church website can have. It's a dedicated experience designed specifically for the person who is exploring your church for the first time, separate from the general information your regular members might need.

Think of it as a personal welcome from your pastor to someone who doesn't know you yet.

What to include:

• A short, personal welcome video from the pastor (even 60–90 seconds makes a huge difference)
• A simple overview of what to expect on a first visit
• Answers to the most common first-timer questions
• A prominent "Plan Your Visit" button or form
• Testimonials from real members about what the church means to them

The most common mistake: Not having this page at all. Many church websites assume that new visitors will navigate the same way regular members do. They won't. A dedicated "New Here" page acknowledges that a first-time visitor has different needs — and meeting those needs converts curious browsers into Sunday morning guests.

Once you have the 10 essentials in place, here are a few additional pages that can significantly strengthen your site:

Prayer Request page — A simple form that lets visitors and members submit prayer requests. This is a genuine ministry tool, not just a website feature.

Blog or Pastor's Corner — Regular written content from your pastor builds authority, improves your Google rankings, and gives people a reason to return to your site.

Testimonials / Stories page — Real stories from real members about how the church has impacted their lives. This is one of the most persuasive things you can add to any church website.

Missions page — If your church has a significant missions focus, a dedicated page shows prospective members that your church extends beyond its four walls.

Take 10 minutes today and go through your church website page by page. Check off each one on this list. For every page that's missing or out of date, you're potentially losing new visitors every single week.

If your website needs a complete overhaul — or if you're starting from scratch — we'd love to help. At Build My Church Website, we've been building fully custom church websites since 2004. We set up all of these pages for you, write the structure, migrate your content, and have your site live within one week.

One flat fee of $500. Then $45/month. Everything included.

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Or learn more about how much a church website costs and why a website matters more than your Facebook page.