What Do 76% of Visitors Want From Your Church Website?

When asked the most important factor in website design, 76% of people said "the website makes it easy for me to find what I want."

According to research done by Hubspot, website visitors care most about finding information fast and easily--more so than how the website looks or if the experience is memorable. So how should this information influence your church website's design? Here are three ways to make sure your visitors get the information they want.

Content is King

Before you start posting content on your church website, it is important to create a content strategy and ask yourself some questions about your visitors.

• What do they want to know about my church or ministry?
• What do I want them to know?
• What would make them want to come back to my website?

Start a list of pages or types of content visitors will definitely want on your website. These usually consist of your location, your mission and values, the latest news and events, and your contact information. As you develop your list of desired content, keep asking yourself if the content helps answer the questions above. If it doesn't, maybe it shouldn't be on your website.

Finding Your Content: Think Like a User

After you've determined what content visitors want, you should concentrate on making that content findable. A helpful exercise is to write out each page on your website on a Post-it note. Determine which pages include the most popular information and make them your top-level items. Try to organize each note under those top-level pages like About, News, Contact, and Location.

Now put yourself in your visitors' shoes--does this navigation make sense? Is it easy to find information as it's constructed? Ask someone not familiar with your website to find specific information. If they get frustrated or confused, reorganize your menu.

Here are a few other ways to help your visitors find the information they want:

• post ads and banners on your site that link to important pages
• embed links in your pages to connect users to other content on your site
• do regular content audits to make sure information is relevant and up-to-date

Visual Design: K.I.S.S.

Authors don't design the cover before they write a book. In the same way, you shouldn't pour all your energy in a website's design before determining its content. Only 10% of website users say that visual design is most important, but many website builders concentrate solely on making a website "look good." How can we maintain a balance between the two?

1. Simple is attractive.
Don't overcrowd your website with tons of ads, banners, links, and graphics. Just like we start to ignore commercials and billboards if we are oversaturated, so do your website visitors. Use white space and clean design to emphasize the information that most important.

2. Form follows function.
Graphics and banners are great, but only if they're useful. If they don't provide information or link to important content, you're better off without them.

3. Familiar is good.
A lot of how the Internet works is learned by users. Websites generally follow common practices that users pick up on as they visit different sites. You can use this to your advantage. For example, instead of creating a giant "Join us on Facebook" banner, you can post a simple Facebook icon on your pages. Little things like this (and utilizing common navigation principles) help you avoid clutter and keep your design looking good.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC

Content Strategy for Church Websites - iMinistries Blog
Cross-Linking: Search Engines and Website Visitors Love It - iMinistries Blog
Is Your Church Website Visitor-Focused? - iMinistries Blog