You can learn a lot about your church website in half an hour. Work through this checklist with your phone in one hand and your laptop in the other, and note anything that makes you hesitate. Those are the places visitors hesitate too.
First impressions
- Your service times and address are visible without scrolling.
- The homepage says clearly who you are and who the church is for.
- There is a clear “Plan your visit” or “I’m new” link.
- The site loads quickly on a phone connection.
- Photos are recent and show real people from your church.
Navigation and content
- The menu has seven items or fewer, in plain language.
- You can reach contact details in one click from any page.
- Ministry and group pages say who they are for and how to join.
- Events are current and old ones have been removed.
- Sermons or messages are easy to find and play.
Making it easy to act
- Giving is easy to find and works on a phone.
- Contact and sign-up forms are short and send a confirmation.
- Someone is responsible for replying to messages from the site.
- Each page has one clear next step.
Behind the scenes
- The site uses HTTPS and shows no security warnings.
- Plugins, themes and WordPress are kept up to date.
- Backups are running and have been tested.
- Page titles and descriptions are filled in for your main pages.
- Your church shows up correctly in Google when you search its name.
- Analytics are set up and someone looks at them.
How did you do?
Don’t worry if a handful of these are unchecked. Almost every church site has gaps. Choose the three items that would make the biggest difference for a first-time visitor and fix those first.
How to use this checklist
Print the list or copy it into a shared document and work through it together with one or two others. Mark each item as done, partly done or not yet. Be honest rather than generous. The goal is not a perfect score but a clear picture of where your website is helping people and where it is quietly getting in their way.
Scoring your results
A simple way to read your answers:
- Seventeen or more done: you are in good shape, so focus on keeping things current.
- Twelve to sixteen done: a few focused improvements will make a real difference.
- Eleven or fewer: you don’t need to panic, but a short plan and some support would help.
Why the small things matter
Many items on the list look minor on their own. Yet visitors rarely notice a single detail. They notice the overall feeling: whether the site seems cared for, whether it is easy to use, and whether it feels like it was made for them. An outdated event, a missing address or a slow page each chips away at that feeling. Fixing several small things together can change how the whole site comes across.
What good looks like
A strong church site is not flashy. It is calm, clear and warm. A visitor can see who you are, find a time and take a first step within a minute or two. Everything else is a bonus.
Fixing things in the right order
When the list shows a lot of gaps, work in this order:
- Correct anything that is wrong, such as times, addresses and contact details.
- Make the next step obvious on your homepage and your visit page.
- Improve speed and the layout on phones.
- Tidy the menu and remove pages nobody needs.
Make it a habit
Schedule this review every six months, perhaps at the start of the school year and again after Easter. Assign each section of the list to a different person so that no one carries the whole load. Keep a short note of what you changed and when, so the next review can start from where this one ended.
When to ask for help
Some items, such as security, backups and search listings, are technical, and it is perfectly reasonable to ask someone who does this every day. Knowing what to ask for is already most of the work, and this list gives you the words to do that.
A note for small teams
If your church has one part-time person or a handful of volunteers, a list of twenty items can feel heavy. Remember that nobody expects you to fix everything in a month. Treat the list as a map rather than a to-do list: it shows you where the ground is solid and where it is uneven. Pick one item each week, finish it properly and move on. In six months you will have worked through the whole list without it ever feeling like a big project, and your visitors will notice the difference long before you reach the end.
What to do next
If you would like a second pair of eyes, request a free audit and we will go through this list and more, then send you a short, prioritised plan in writing. Not sure you need a full review yet? Start with our three-minute scorecard.
