What skills do I need to build a Church Website that is responsive?
ok so you have been placed over the media department of your church and you have the challenge to learn how to build a wordpress website for your church, but you have no experience in coding, html or website design.
Well you have come to the right place. Because in this blog I am going to show you how to build a church website. I will walk you through the process of WordPress website design and give you some up to date resources and some pretty cool tips. You will be well on your way to learn how to build a website from scratch. Not only that, but you are going to take your church media to another level. 
There are a few steps that you need to follow in order to build a responsive church website that will stand out from other websites.
I will cover all these “web design” website steps in detail and have you creating a website for your church in a fraction of the time. You are going to learn how to choose a domain name, how to install wordpress and how to build a website from scratch.
- Choose your domain name
- Choose your Web Hosting
- Install WordPress
- Install Plugins
- Design your website
- Optimize your website with SEO
- Keep your website updated
You thought building a church website was too difficult huh? You thought that you wouldn't be able to do it, but after reading this blog you will be well on your way to building a wordpress website for your church.
Ok Let's Go…
1. Choosing your Domain Name
The domain name is the name that people visiting your website will type into the search bar.
Note: You want your domain name to be as short as possible. A motto that I like to use when choosing a domain name is short, sweet and to the point.
When choosing your domain name you may want to have a few options just in case your first choice is not available.
Here are a few examples of a domain name:
Of course, you would choose a domain name that fits your church. There are many domain extensions you can choose from such as .com, .org, .net and so on, but the most popular is .com. So, if you can get a domain name that ends with .com that would be a good choice.
Click here to search for a new domain name.
2. Choosing your web hosting.
Now that you have chosen a domain name, the next thing you need to do is decide on your church website hosting company. Your web hosting company is the place that is going to store or in laymen’s terms “host” your website.
What is web hosting:
When you design a website, you need to store all your information, such as your files and folders. The place where you store this information is known as your “web host.”
There are many web hosting companies to choose from when you are looking to build a church website, but here are a few things to consider when choosing your web hosting company.
What to consider when choosing a “Web Hosting Company?”
Customer Service – How are their customer service reviews
Storage – For starters you can get by with 30 gb of storage spaces, but unlimited storage is the best.
Price – What is the price range? If you are barely starting out you should look to pay anywhere from $2.00 a month, but not more than $10.00 a month.
I know of a good web hosting company that has:
- 24/7 customer service
- Unlimited storage space
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Unlimited Websites
They also have a starter pack that is only $2.49 which is perfect for churches that are barely getting started: The Pack Includes:
- 24/7 Customer Service
- 1 – Website
- 30 GB storage
- Unmetered Bandwidth
Special Bonus: If you use the coupon code “churchwebsite” you will get 15% off.
3. Install the WordPress platform
Now that you have your domain name and your web hosting company, now you need to choose how are going to design your website.
Many people use a platform called “WordPress” for their church website design. WordPress is the most popular platform today and has been used to build millions of websites. WordPress is very easy to use making it the perfect platform to build a church website especially if you are new to church web design.
Installing WordPress
WordPress is very easy to install, but in order to install WordPress you must have your domain name and hosting service.
If you have not already purchased your domain name and hosting service you can do so by clicking here.
“Special “Get a FREE domain name when you purchase a year of web hosting”
Once you have purchased your domain name and hosting, you want to log into your web hosting control panel and install WordPress.
How to install WordPress:
Log into your account by going to the home page of the place you purchased your hosting. It should say something like log in or my account.
Once you are logged in you should see page that looks like this. Click on manage.
Here is a step by step video that will walk you through the process of installing WordPress to your webhost
Then click on cPanel admin
Then click on WordPress icon:
Then click on install this application
Here is a step by step video that will walk you through the process of installing WordPress to your webhost.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us or leave a comment in the comment section below and we will do our best to help you out.
4. Install your WordPress Plugins
A plugin is a software that is installed to your WordPress Dashboard that allows your WordPress website to perform certain functions and even add new features to your website. There are a ton of features that WordPress plugins can add to your website ranging from contact forms, to sermon managers, calendar events, and allowing giving on your website.
If you can think of a feature that you would like on your church’s website, I would dare to say that there is probably a WordPress Plugin that has that feature.
How to install WordPress Plugins:
Here is a step by step video of how to log into your WordPress Dashboard
Log into your WordPress Dashboard (you do this by going to your domain name followed by wp-admin
This is for Free Plugins that are included with WordPress
Once you are in your WordPress Dashboard go to Plugins > Add New > Choose your plugin
This is for plugins that you may have purchased
Once you are in our WordPress Dashboard go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin > Choose File – Choose the plugin from your hard drive > Install Now
Now you have a plethora of plugins that you can choose from to add amazing features to your WordPress Website.
Here are a few recommended plugins that you can use for your church website.
- Sermon Manager
- Give
- Event Calendar
- Thrive Architect (Which we will cover in the next section)
- SEO Press
5. Designing your website
Now comes the fun part and that is when you get to start designing and building a church website.
You may be thinking Fun Part? This is not the fun part, I don’t know the first thing about church websites, I don’t have any church website ideas, let alone knowing how to create a church website.
Well I have been there before, and I want to let you know that it is possible, even if you have little to no experience designing a ministry website. I was in the place where I had been given the challenge of taking on our church website and I didn’t have much experience with website design.
So, I started searching for web design tools and researching topics for church website builders such as “what is the best website builder software”, “best church website templates”, and I also started watching tutorials on how to build your own website.
I have come to find out that when it comes to web design tools there are a lot of good resources out there that are used by a lot of the top church websites,
Here are a few of the resources:
1. WordPress Themes
WordPress comes with a lot of Free Themes that you can use to get your website started.
If you would like to install the FREE WordPress Themes just go to your WordPress Dashboard > Appearance > Themes > Add New. Then choose the theme that best fits your churches website.
2. Website Builders:
Website Builders are very useful when it comes to building a website fast and especially if you are trying to build a website for the very first time. Some of the best church website builders can have you building a nice and professional looking website within a day.
There reason you can build a church website so quick when it comes to using a website builder to build a church website, is because they come with pre-made templates, stock photos, and click and drag options.
Here is a video of some short footage of me making changes to a website using a sitebuilder to make the changes:
Man, I wish they had these when I first started designing websites.
I have heard of someone being quoted $12,500 to redesign their website, but did you know that you can design your own website using a web builder for a fraction of that cost.
Here are some the prices ranges that you would pay per month depending on the features that you need for your church website, as each option has different features:
WHAT IS THE PRICE OF A SITEBUILDER?
Website Builder Personal
Share your passion online.
- Responsive mobile design
- Website hosting
- Rapid Page-Load performance
- Create a blog
- Security (SSL)
- 24/7 support
$5.99 /mo
LIMITED TIME SPECIAL PRICE
$2.00 /mo
Website Builder Business
Create an online presence for your business.
- Responsive mobile design
- Website hosting
- Rapid Page-Load performance
- Create a blog
- Security (SSL)
- 24/7 support
- PayPal Buy Now or Donate button
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
$9.99 /m0
LIMITED TIME SPECIAL PRICE
$3.00 /m0
Website Builder Business Plus
Attract more customers.
- Responsive mobile design
- Website hosting
- Rapid Page-Load performance
- Create a blog
- Security (SSL)
- 24/7 support
- PayPal Buy Now or Donate button
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Social Media Integration
- Share content to Facebook
$14.99 /m0
LIMITED TIME SPECIAL PRICE
$5.99 /m0
The Amazing thing about using Website Builders is that they come with pre-made web design layouts and all you have to do is update and customize the information for your church. In order to find the best church website builder you may have to experiment with a few of them yourself and see which one fits your need best.
3. Paid Plugins
Now you can use the FREE themes or the WordPress editor that comes free with WordPress and they will get you started, but if you want to take your church web design to another level, I would recommend the paid plugin called Thrive Architect.
Thrive Architect PlugIn
Thrive Architect is a “What You See Is What You Get” WordPress editor and it is easy to use. This is one of the best church website builders that I have used. I have designed many church sites using Thrive Architect and this is an amazing web design tool. It is one of the best Website Design tools that I have used. Let me put it to you like this, if I can learn how to design a church website using Thrive Architect, so can you.
Thrive Architect is not a FREE plugin, you need to pay for it but believe me it is well worth the money. This plugin will automatically make your church website mobile responsive so that is looks good on all devices.
If you would like to get your own copy of Thrive Architect, you can download your copy here. I am an affiliate so if you purchase Thrive Architect using my link, I will get a commission. Thank you.
If you do purchase Thrive Architect or you don't, I would like to give you FREE ACCESS to my online class that gives you tips and techniques on how to build a website from scratch.
4. FREE ACCESS TO MY ONLINE CLASS
This course will walk you through Tips and Techniques on how to build a Church WordPress Website from Scratch.
You will be well on your way to designing your very first website. I will teach you how you can design a professionally looking website using the PlugIn Thrive Architect.
Your website will be responsive and look great on all devices. (iPhone, iPad, Laptop and smartphones)
Even if you are a complete beginner, we will walk you through the step by step process on how to design your very first website using the WordPress platform. No Coding or previous web design Experience is Necessary.
I will be using the Thrive Architect WordPress Plugin to show you tip and techniques on build a WordPress Website from scratch.
This course is filled with WordPress Tutorials that walk you through each one of these topics below step-by-step:
- How to search and purchase a domain name
- How to set up web hosting
- How to purchase Thrive Architect (The Secret Weapon)
- How to install and use Thrive Architect
- How to install WordPress to your web hosting
- How to install a countdown timer (that can be used to countdown to your business special, CD release, or your church service (Live WebCast.)
- How to place a video on your website (YouTube, Vimeo, Twistia or your Hard Drive)
- How to add an image
- and so much more...
The good thing about this course is you can watch the lectures at any speed you want. You can replay, speed up or even slow down the videos if you like.
If you have ever wanted to design or make your very own website, then this course is just for you. So let me teach you how to design your very own website today!
Why should you enroll today?
There is a website and online revolution taking place. I am sure you have heard about it, whether it was by radio, television, browsed through it on the web or talked about it with a friend or co-worker. The way people do business and ministry is changing and if you don't have an online presence you may be looked at as outdated, but we have created this course to help make sure that you stay up to date with your business, Church, band or your music group.
This course is guaranteed to give you everything you need to design your own website.
6. Optimize your church website using SEO
What good is it to have a church website that no one knows about?
That is why you need to do what is called SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the process of optimizing your website to show up in search engines when people are searching for a certain topic or keyword.
You usually want to optimize your website for 2 or 3 keywords. They can be anything that you want, but whatever keywords you decide should be in your Title Tag, Meta Description and in your on-page SEO.
Example: You can optimize your church website to show up in the search engines when someone searches for “churches near me.” If you are on page one of google for this keyword, there is a good change that potential visitors will see your church’s website listing and click on it. Hence meaning this is an opportunity for them the get information on your church and maybe even pay you a visit. WOW!!! Who would have ever thought that even though you are new to church website design, now God is using the website that you designed to bring people into the House of God. That is good stuff right there.
How to do SEO for your church website
The basic process of optimizing your church website for search engines is basically 3 simple steps. Now there is more to it, but these are the basic steps. I have a blog that walks you through each one of these steps in more detail. If you are interested in reading that blog which has a lot of good information and SEO tips you can click here.
Step 1 – Optimize your Title Tag
Your title tag is the top part of your website listing that shows up in the search engines and is visible to potential visitors. You want the words of your Title Tag to be attractive and catch people’s attention because you want potential visitors to click on it.
Here is an image of a title tag in google:
You can change the information of your churches website by using the FREE version of the plugin SEO Press.
Step 2 – Optimize your Meta Description
Your Meta Description is the middle part of your website listing that shows up in the search engines and is visible to potential visitors. You want the information of your Meta Description to be attractive to potential viewers who will possible click on your google listing. You also want the information in your Meta Description to be relevant to the information that is on your website.
Here is an image of a Meta Description in google:
You can change the information of your churches website Meta Description by using the FREE version of the plugin SEO Press.
Once again you can find more information on this topic by visiting my blog entitled “Step by Step guide on how to improve your google ranking.”
Step 3 – Optimize your On-Page SEO
When you are designing your churches website you want to make sure that the content on your websites home page has your keywords in it.
Earlier I talked about optimizing your website for 2 or 3 keywords. Whatever keywords that you selected you want to make sure that they appear in the content on your websites home page.
Example: If I choose to optimize my churches website for the keywords:
- Churches near me
- Great church for you
- The on-fire church
I want to make sure that these words appear in my Title Tag, my Meta Description and in my home page content.
7. Keep your website updated
Well congratulations on learning how to create a church website.
Now that you have a good church website or should I say a great church website, it is important to make sure that you keep you church website updated.
What you don’t want is a website that looks really nice, but when someone visits your site, the information is outdated, it has a flyer from an event that was a month ago and it has old service times or there is a small group that has relocated, but your website hasn’t updated the information.
I know I am mentioning Thrive Architect a lot, but that is another cool thing about Thrive Architect it makes it so easy to update your website.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at pastordre@pastordre.com, contact us through our contact page or you can leave a comment below.
God Bless You Pastor Dre