What every church website needs on its home page

Your home page has one job: to help someone decide whether to come through your door. Most people who land on it aren't browsing for fun. They have a question — when is the service? where is it? will I fit in? — and they want the answer quickly, usually on a phone.

The good news is that a church home page doesn't need to be clever. It needs to be clear. Here's what belongs on it, in roughly the order a visitor looks for it.

1. Who you are, in one line

Put your church's name at the top, followed by a single sentence that tells a stranger what kind of church you are and where. "A friendly Baptist church in the heart of Barnsley" says more than a paragraph of mission statement.

Avoid starting with a vision statement full of words like transforming, equipping or empowering. They mean something to your members, but a visitor can't picture them.

2. Service times — near the top

If you only fix one thing this week, make it this. Your main service time should be visible without scrolling, on a phone as well as a computer. Include the day, the time and the name of the service in plain words: Sunday, 10:30am — Morning Worship.

If you have several services, list them all, with a short note on what makes each one different ("traditional hymns", "children's groups during the service", "shorter, quieter service").

3. Your address and a way to get directions

Show your full address, including the postcode or ZIP code. Add a map or a "Get directions" button that opens in the visitor's map app. If the building is hard to find — round the back, up a lane, through the hall entrance — say so plainly.

4. A warm welcome

A short welcome makes a real difference to someone who feels nervous. Two or three sentences is plenty:

Whether you've followed Jesus for years or you're simply curious, you're welcome here. Come as you are — we'd love to meet you.

If your pastor or minister is happy to, a photo and their name alongside the welcome helps people feel they'll recognise a friendly face.

5. What to expect

People worry about the unknown. A few lines (or a link to a fuller "Plan your visit" page) answering the common questions removes a surprising amount of fear:

• How long is the service?
• What do people wear?
• Is there something for children?
• Is there step-free access and an accessible toilet?
• Will I be asked to stand up or say anything?

6. How to contact you

Give at least two ways: an email address and a phone number, or a simple contact form. Make sure someone actually checks them. A contact form that sends messages to a former secretary's old email address is worse than no form at all.

7. Something that shows you're alive

Visitors judge whether a church is active by how fresh the website looks. A "What's on" section with your next two or three events, or your most recent sermon, quietly says this place has people in it. If you can't keep events up to date, show regular weekly activities instead (toddler group, home groups, food bank) — they don't go stale.

8. A clear next step

End the page with one obvious action. For most churches that's Plan your visit. Make it a proper button, not a faint text link.

What you can safely remove

Home pages get cluttered over time. These are usually safe to cut or move further down:

• Long histories of the building. Move them to an "About us" or "Our story" page.
• Old news. Anything more than a month or two old makes the whole site look abandoned.
• Rotating image sliders. Visitors rarely wait for slide three, and they slow the page down.
• Lists of every ministry and committee. Members know where to find them; visitors don't need them on page one.
• "Under construction" notices. If a page isn't ready, leave it out until it is.

Make sure it works on a phone

Open your church website on your own phone now. Can you read the service time without zooming in? Can you tap the phone number to call it? Does the map work? Most people who look up a church will do it on a phone, often on the way there. If the home page only works properly on a desktop computer, a lot of visitors won't get past it.

Make sure everyone can use it

A few simple habits help visitors with sight loss, dyslexia or other disabilities:

• Use real text, not pictures of text, for service times and addresses.
• Make sure text stands out clearly against its background.
• Give every photo a short description (called "alt text") for screen readers.
• Use clear headings so people can skim.

These habits also help Google understand your page, so they're worth doing twice over.

A quick test

Ask someone who has never been to your church to look at your home page for ten seconds, then close it. Ask them three questions:

1. What time is the main service?
2. Where is it?
3. Would you feel welcome?

If they can't answer all three, you know exactly what to fix first.