5 Photos Every Church Website Should Have

Welcome to September! Or as we call it – Website Photography Month.

At the bottom of this post I’ll share several exciting announcement for things we’re doing for you during Website Photography month. But before I get to that…

Here’s a question for you…

What is the single biggest factor that makes a good website good?

I say it’s the website’s photos.

Think about it… What’s your reaction when you go to a website that is all text?  Boring, right? There’s no life to it. It’s hard to identify and connect with the organization.

What’s your reaction when you go to a website that has tiny, blurry or poorly taken photos on it?  Yikes!  It’s like wearing a stained t-shirt to a job interview. It indicates the organization is either clueless or doesn’t care.

But what’s your reaction when you see good, compelling photos on a website? It shows a vibrant group of people that have life, care about people, and want to invite you to be a part of what they’re doing.

To put it plainly:

Photos make or break a website.

5 Photos Every Church Website Should Have

1) Outside of the church building with people. Potential visitors want to know what the outside of your church building looks like so they know what to look for when they visit. It’s also important to show that your church is the people, people who are warm, inviting and full of life, so include people in the photo.

2) Worship service.  Potential visitors also want to know what the inside of your church building looks like during a worship service. How big is it?  How formal is it? They want to see what people are wearing, and what they’re doing. And whether people realize it or not, most will be looking to see if your church includes people like them – their age, their ethnicity, their gender, their style of dress, etc.

3) Safe, Engaging Children’s ministry.  A church’s children’s ministry is the most important part of the church for many parents.  First and foremost, parents want their children to be safe.  Second, parents understand that their children aren’t going to learn about God and grow in their love for him if they are not engaged.  So, it’s important to show that children at your church are safe and engaged.  Don’t resort to stock photography of happy kids. Parents want to see real children in your real church engaged with real adult teachers.

4) Your Senior Pastor.  People want to know what your senior pastor looks like.  Some pastors like photos of themselves that convey authority by showing them preaching or administering communion, but most people want a pastor that understands their problems, is friendly and cares about people.

5) Genuine Community.  People are looking for a place to belong, a church that doesn’t just get together on Sunday morning out of a sense of duty, but a people who genuinely love each other and enjoy spending time together.  It’s important to show the heart of your community through photos.

If you don’t have good, quality versions of these 5 photos on your church website, I challenge you to commit to making that happen this month!  Deal?

Website Photography Month Opportunities

Here’s a preview of what we’re doing to help you during website photography month:

1. Get a free domain namewhen signup for a new church web hosting account or upgrade a free site to Gold, Silver or Bronze. (Offer ends September 13^th)
2. Get WP-EZ 2.0.  Version 2.0 of our WP-EZ Website Builder with its amazing new themes, page templates and drag-and-drop editor is now available to websites with the Silver web hosting package.  If you have the Silver or Gold package, use the “Switch Theme” option in the WP-EZ admin menu to switch to a WP-EZ 2.0 theme.
3. Facebook Photo Contents.  Throughout the month we’ll be asking on our Facebook Page to post photos of your church, and we’ll be giving away cool prizes to those who do.
4. Get a free website review. Let our experts take a review your website, affirm what’s working well, and give you pointers on where you can improve, especially with your photos.
5. More blog posts with insight and examples to help you improve the photos on your website.

Also, we’d love to get your feedback (and give you points) for completing the September Webmaster Survey.

Post a comment!

• What questions do you have about website photography?
• Are you up for the challenge of making sure your church website has the 5 photos described above?