What features do you need in your church website?

To answer that question, we start by thinking about the purpose of the website. What do you want it to accomplish for your church?

Most churches want their websites to:

• Provide information about the church to potential visitors
• Provide information about events, groups, and ministry opportunities to members

But there may also be other things your church wants to accomplish with its website:

• Provide materials for discipleship
• Provide an easy way for members to send their tithes and offerings to the church
• Help people connect with the church via email or social media
• Help people get in touch with staff, ministry leaders or other members
• Help people sign up for events
• Sell books, Christian gifts, or church merch (branded shirts, coffee mugs, etc)

Once you know what you want your church website to do, you can then consider the features and functionality to accomplish these things.

We looked at the features most requested by our Custom Web Design clients, feedback from our WP-EZ Church Website Builder users, and church website trends to put together this list of:

The Top 5 Must-Have Church Website Builder Features

1) Calendar

If you want church members to get more involved and better connected, they need to know when things are happening.  A calendar is essential.  Additionally, not every new person starts by coming to a Sunday service. Sometimes people start by going to a bible study, Celebrate Recovery, or some other event.

While it’s ideal to have a calendar feature provided by the website builder, another option is to integrate a 3rd party calendar like Google Calendar. If your church is already using another calendar system, it may easier to continuing using that. If you do, make sure that calendar can be embedded into a website, and make sure your website builder can embed the calendar.

2) Sermon Manager

Putting audio, video, and/or notes from your sermons online can accomplish several different goals. It helps prospective visitors get a better idea of what to expect, it helps members stay connected when they miss a Sunday, it can help with discipleship, and it can even help with outreach if you encourage people to share sermons or snippets of sermons online.

The best option is to us a website builder that has a sermon manager built into it. However, if your website builder doesn’t have a sermon manager, it’s also possible to use a blogging feature to blog sermon audio, video, and/or notes each week.

3) Online Giving

Most people pay their bills and manage their money online. By facilitating online giving on your website, you can help your members give more consistently.

Online giving is another feature where it is ideal if its integrated into the website builder. However, if you’re already using an online giving system, it may be easier to continue using that system as long as you can embed a “Donate” button into the header of your website and/or a give page.

4) Email Subscription

The number one form of communication for many churches is email. Yes, most churches still do announcements during their gatherings and most hand out a printed bulletin, but many people don’t hear/read these. Plus most people miss one or two Sundays every month. Email is the most reliable way to communicate with people during the week, so providing a way for people to subscribe to receive your emails is important.

While we used to advocate for choosing a website builder with a built-in newsletter feature. Today, 3rd party email service providers like MailChimp provide do a better job of combating spam and managing subscribers. So, we suggest using an email service and then embedding the “Subscribe” and “Archive” features into your website.

5) Social Media Integration

Another good way to help people stay connected with your church is through social media.  Having icons/links to your social channels on your website helps with this. And having social share buttons on pages and posts helps people share things from your church with their friends.

The bottom line is…

Make sure your church website builder has the functionality to connect and communicate effectively with visitors and members.

Build a website with website builder that supports all these features!

If you are searching for the best church website builder, we’re pleased to inform you our WP-EZ Church Website Builder has all these features and more.  Save yourself time and start building your church website now!

Or if you would rather have OurChurch.Com build your website for you, fill out the consultation request form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop).

Comment and Discuss… What are the most important features you want in your church website?

Continuing reading Church Website Builder Tips and Tools

Mark Steinbrueck

President at OurChurch.Com

Mark has served as the President of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, leading the Custom Website and Sales departments with dedication and expertise.

Over the years, he has managed hundreds of custom website, graphic design, and marketing projects for churches, non-profits, businesses, and schools.

Beyond his professional work, Mark is deeply committed to serving his community. He coordinates and packs over 700 meals each week for children through One Community Now’s Pack A Sack for Kids program, volunteers in the Children’s Ministry at Generations Christian Church, and participates in a weekly Bible study.

ourchurch.com

The post Church Website Builder Must-Have Features! appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Church website themes have changed a lot over the years.

When we developed our first church website builder more than 20 years ago, it was common to have Christian symbols in the header – crosses, doves, bibles, etc.  Every once in a while we still have people contact us and ask us if we have themes like that.  (No, sorry, we don’t.)

When selecting the theme for your church website, it’s important to understand that your goal is to help your website visitors understand who your church is and find the information they are looking for quickly and easily.

With that in mind, here are…

3 Secrets to Selecting the Best Church Website Builder Theme

1) Mobile-friendly

More than half of website visits are made using mobile devices.  Therefore it’s absolutely essential that when you build a church website, the theme is responsive and mobile-friendly.

“Responsive” means the theme responds to the device the viewer is using – phone, tablet, computer- and displays each element of each web page in a way that looks good and functions well.

2) Page templates

Page templates are pre-made pages you can add to your website. The page is all laid out for you, you just have to replace the sample text with your text and the sample images with your images.

Page templates are helpful because instead of creating each page from scratch, you start with a page layout that has already been designed by a website developer. If you use a church-specific website builder, its developers probably understand the needs and goals of churches and their website visitors and designed those page templates to meet those needs and goals.

3) Brand consistency

Branding is communicating the values and culture of your church through the way you talk about and present yourself.

When most people hear “branding” they think logo.  Yes, your logo is an important part of your brand.  But in addition to your logo, the colors, fonts, icons and images you use on your website also communicate your brand.

Colors – The colors used throughout your website should be consistent with the colors in your logo.  If you’re not crazy about your logo colors, learn more about the psychology of color. It might be time for a new logo with new colors that better fit the culture of your church.

Font – As with colors, the font used throughout your website should be consistent with the font used in your logo. The font you use communicates culture – serious, playful, casual, fancy.

And yes, I used the singular form of the word – font, not fonts. Don’t be using different fonts on different pages or multiple fonts on one page. Your website is not hosting a calligraphy festival.

Icons and images – The style, shape, and color of the icons and images used throughout your website also communicate something about your culture.

This is why website designs are called “themes” – because the colors, font, icons and images are all designed to communicate a specific theme.  So, choose a website theme that matches the style of your church – formal, casual, urban, country, artistic, or whatever.

The bottom line is…

The best church website builders have themes that are mobile-friendly, include page templates, and compliment your church’s brand.

Get the best church themes!

OurChurch.Com’s WP-EZ Church Website Builder includes a wide variety of church themes. All our themes are mobile-friendly, come with page templates, accommodate a logo and can be customized to match your logo’s colors.

If you prefer to have us create a custom church website design for your church, we can do that. And if you’re thinking about logo design or branding services, we’d be happy to talk more about that too.

Fill out the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to request a free consultation.

Comment and discuss…

• What do you think is important to look for in a church website theme?
• What questions do you have about church themes?

Continuing reading Church Website Builder Tips and Tools

Mark Steinbrueck

President at OurChurch.Com

Mark has served as the President of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, leading the Custom Website and Sales departments with dedication and expertise.

Over the years, he has managed hundreds of custom website, graphic design, and marketing projects for churches, non-profits, businesses, and schools.

Beyond his professional work, Mark is deeply committed to serving his community. He coordinates and packs over 700 meals each week for children through One Community Now’s Pack A Sack for Kids program, volunteers in the Children’s Ministry at Generations Christian Church, and participates in a weekly Bible study.

ourchurch.com

The post 3 Secrets To The Best Church Website Builder Designs appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

1. Hire a church website developer to build the website for you.
2. Build your website yourself from scratch (installing and configuring all the software yourself)
3. Use a church website builder to build the website yourself.

Let’s look at the pos and cons of each option…

1. Hire a church website developer

The benefits of hiring a church website developer to build a custom-designed website for your church:

• Time savings: It will save you time compared to building a website yourself.
• Completed sooner: Professional website developers usually have a process with timelines and will keep the project on schedule. If you build the website yourself, chances are its one of many responsibilities you have, and it could be delayed if other things get priority.
• Better results: A team of people that build websites for a living will be able to create a better looking, better functioning website than you can on your own.

The only negative to hiring a church website developer is that its the most expensive option.

2. Build the website yourself from scratch

The benefits of building a church website yourself from scratch include:

• Flexibility/Control: You get to choose exactly how the website looks and what functionality you build into to it.
• Cost savings: It’s the least expensive option.

The biggest drawback to building your own site from scratch is that it before it takes a lot of time, effort and research, especially if you’ve never done it before. That’s because it involves the following steps:

• Purchase a church web hosting account (15 minutes)
• Purchase a domain name (15 minutes)
• Install a content management system like WordPress in the hosting account (15-30 minutes)
• Research, purchase, and install a theme (2-4 hours)
• Research and install 20+ plugins (10-20 hours)

And all of this is even before you have created your first web page.  It could take another 1-3 hours per page depending on the content and layout of the pages.

Another drawback to building the website yourself from scratch is that once your website is built, you have to frequently check for updates to keep your website running smoothly and prevent it from getting hacked. If the developers abandon any of the plugins you’re using you have to find new ones and replace them. So, there’s a lot of ongoing maintenance.

3. Use a church website builder to build the website yourself

Using a church website builder is an appealing middle ground between hiring someone to build a site and building the site from scratch.

• Cost:  The monthly cost for hosting and a website builder is usually only slightly more than hosting alone and significantly less than a custom-designed website.
• Time: The time it takes to build a site with a church website builder is in between the previous two options. It’s dramatically less than building a site from scratch, but more than hiring someone else to build it for you.
• Updates: The developers of the website builder will maintain and regularly update the website builder software and keep it secure. But they typically won’t update the text and images on your pages for you unless you pay extra for content updates.
• No technical expertise required: Church website builders don’t require any coding and are usually pretty easy to learn.

If you’re leaning in the direction of using a church website builder to create your church website, we’ve got some tips for you…

5 Church Website Builder Tips and Tools

1. Use our WP-EZ Website Builder.

If you want a new church website and have the time to do it yourself, our WP-EZ Church Website Builder is easy to use, affordable and designed specifically for churches.  No need to install WordPress, buy a theme, or install dozens of plugins. WP-EZ does all of that for you.

2. Update Your Church Website Theme.

If your website looks a little dated or you just want to change things up, one way to do that is to switch to a new website theme.

If you are using WP-EZ 2.0, switching themes takes just a few clicks.

If you built your website more than 5 years ago with our original WP-EZ Website Builder, we strongly encourage you to switch themes and migrate to WP-EZ 2.0.  Your new website will look and function sooooo much better!

3) Use the Training Center and Video Tutorial Library.

Have you already built your website with our WP-EZ Website Builder and want to make it even better?

You have free access to our WP-EZ Training Center which has a series of courses that combine short videos with action steps that will teach you everything you need to know to build a great website with WP-EZ.

We also have an extensive library of web builder video tutorials in our knowledgebase.

4) Ultimate Guild to Church Website Photos.

The biggest problems we see with church websites has to do with photos – lack of photos, blurry photos, improperly sized photos, and more. Use the Ultimate Guide to Church Website Photos to improve your website.

5) Help Us Help You.

Share your thoughts on church website design in this month’s Listening Post.

Bonus: More church website builder tips!

All month long we’ll be blogging our best church website builder tips and adding links these articles below.
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1. 3 Secrets To The Best Church Website Builder Designs
2. Pablo Picasso’s Secret to a Beautiful Church Website
3. 10 SEO Features of an SEO-Friendly Church Website Builder
4. Church Website Builder Must-Have Features!
5. How Sermons Can Give Your Church Website Better Search Rankings

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The bottom line…

Using a church website builder, is a great option for churches that have a limited budget, limited technical experience, and limited time.

1. 3 Secrets To The Best Church Website Builder Designs

When choosing the best church website builder for your church, a big thing to consider is the themes or templates that come with each website builder.

We discuss 3 specific things to look for in a church website theme in 3 Secrets To The Best Church Website Builder Designs 

2. Pablo Picasso’s Secret to a Beautiful Church Website

Would you like to know the secret to a beautiful church website?

A secret straight from renown artist Pablo Picasso?

Once you know that secret, you’ll understand how even if you aren’t super-artistic and don’t have any training or experience building websites, you can still build a beautiful website if you have the right tool.

Continue reading Pablo Picasso’s Secret to a Beautiful Church Website

3. 10 SEO Features of an SEO-Friendly Church Website Builder

Just about every church website builder claims to be “SEO friendly” but what does that mean?

There is no standard for capabilities needed to call something “SEO friendly.”

In this article we list 10 specific things to look for in a church website builder that are needed for a well-optimized, top-ranking website.

Continue reading 10 SEO Features of an SEO-Friendly Church Website Builder

4. Church Website Builder Must-Have Features!

One factor to consider when selecting a church website builder is the features (or functionality) you want to have in your website.

To determine that, we start by thinking about the purpose of the website. What do you want it to accomplish for your church?

From the many, many conversations we’ve had with church leaders, we’ve been able to determine The Top 5 Must-Have Church Website Builder Features

Continue reading to learn the Church Website Builder Must-Have Features!

5. How Sermons Can Give Your Church Website Better Search Rankings

Posting sermons to your church website can dramatically increase search rankings and visitors… but only if you optimize them well.

In this article, we list 4 Ways Posting Sermons on Your Website Helps Your Church SEO and follow that with 9 Ways to Maximize the Church SEO Benefits of Your Sermons

Continue reading… How Sermons Can Give Your Church Website Better Search Rankings

Comment and discuss… What questions, issues and challenges regarding church web builders do you have? Post a comment so we can help you with them.

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post Church Website Builder Tips and Tools appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Located in Oak Cliff, Texas, the church has always sought innovative ways to connect with people and build relationships that reflect Christ’s love.

Originally, the church built its own website using OurChurch.com’s DIY website builder WP-EZ. However, they soon realized that to effectively reach younger generations, they needed a more engaging and dynamic website.

Instead of opting for a fully custom-built website, they found the perfect balance with Custom WPEZ – a professionally built website on the same platform, offering greater customization and expert design at a fraction of the cost of a fully custom website, while remaining affordable month-to-month.

“We Want People to Belong, Not Just Attend”

Pastor LaCedric Williams shared his heart for ministry and the digital shift the church has embraced:

“The church, the community—Greater Community First Baptist Church here in Dallas, Texas—we are a mid-sized church that desires to reach the community. Our focus is creating a place to belong. We don’t want people to say, ‘I go to this church.’ We want people to say, ‘I belong to this church.’ So, we’re really hyper-focused on connection, community, and building relationships.”

This vision of belonging is what led them to invest in a better online presence—one that speaks to both current members and future generations.

Why Upgrade the Website?

The church had an existing website, but it was limited in functionality and did not fully reflect its mission or brand. Pastor Williams explained:

“We had really a basic web page that told just a little bit of the story, but it really didn’t reflect our brand—what we do and how we do it. It was more of a platform-type website that gave just a little bit of information.

We knew that in order to reach this generation and newer generations, we needed to take some steps to think outside of the box, be creative, and build a better website for young adults and young people to interact with.”

This realization led them to seek the assistance of professionals while still maintaining the flexibility of the WP-EZ platform.

The Decision to Work With OurChurch.com

Pastor Williams shared why they ultimately decided to have OurChurch.com build the site for them:

“DIY is good for the moment. But at some point in time, you have to make the decision to use a professional—someone that does this every day, all the time, and understands the trends. What is going to cause people to click on your website? What is going to cause people to stay on your website? What is going to cause people to interact on that website?

When we use OurChurch.com’s professional website service, it helped us achieve our goals of reaching our youth and young adults. And we’re already seeing results from it.”

A Seamless and Impactful Experience

The process of working with OurChurch.com was smooth and stress-free. The team took the time to understand the church’s vision and execute it effectively.

“The experience was amazing! OurChurch.com made the process very simple. They already had a lot of information on our church from what we had there and through Facebook and YouTube. The things they didn’t have, they asked us through questions that were very simple to answer and helped give direction.

“We always have an idea of what we want things to look like, but they were able to really put into place what my thought was. They were able to draw it out and build it out exactly how I was envisioning it. That speaks to the synergy and the connection that OurChurch.com tries to have with the visionary of the church. They did a great job.”

Advice for Other Churches Considering a Website Upgrade

For churches and ministries that are unsure whether to invest in a professionally built website, Pastor Williams offers this advice:

“You really need to make sure that you place the website as a high priority in your goals for the church. It’s easy to decide, ‘Hey, we’re just going to build it ourselves and get our name out there.’ But when you just throw anything out there, it reflects your brand.

“We always ask God to give us His best. Well, why don’t we give God our best? And that’s not just in how we conduct service, but also in how we reflect Christ. The website is important because not only does it reflect the church—it reflects the God we serve.”

Looking Ahead

Greater Community First Baptist Church has embraced the digital age with a website that truly represents its heart for ministry. Their new Custom WP-EZ site allows them to connect with people in a way they never could before, bringing more engagement and visibility to their mission.

With the right digital tools in place, the church is excited about what the future holds as they continue to create a place where people don’t just attend—they belong.

Check out their new website at GreaterCFBC.org

Do you want a more impactful online presence that simplifies your life?

If you lead a Christian ministry,  business, or church that want to have a greater impact and reach more people online, and you realize that you’re too busy to do it yourself, talk to a member of our team about a custom website design and/or SEO services.

Complete the consultation request form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a call.

Comment and discuss…

• What most impacted you about Greater Community First Baptist Church’s story?

Erica Couture

OurChurch.Com Member Support Specialist

Erica is a seasoned writer and digital content expert with a talent for helping organizations tell their stories online. As a Member Support Specialist at OurChurch.Com, Erica has crafted engaging blogs and web content for faith-based organizations and small businesses, contributing to websites like AProperFarm.com, HolyTrinityTampa.org, and her own platform, MrsEricaandBoydee.com.

With an MFA in Media Design Management from the International Academy of Design and Technology, Erica combines creative storytelling with strategic communication. Her leadership as Owner and Creative Director of CornerStoneFaith.com (2010–2016) showcased her commitment to faith-based content and community engagement, building meaningful connections through her work.

Known for her personable and relatable writing style, Erica translates complex ideas into practical, inspiring insights. Beyond her professional pursuits, she shares glimpses of her life and passions on YouTube at Mrs. Erica and Boydee. Erica’s blend of expertise, creativity, and authenticity makes her a trusted voice in the digital space.

MrsEricaandBoydee.com

The post Spotlight: Church Reaching Next Gen Through Digital appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

I hope it was awesome!

I hope your gatherings or services glorified God, people heard the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection, and God revealed himself in powerful ways.

I also hope God has revealed some things through your church’s Easter communications.

Our blogging this month focused on Easter – preparing your church website for Easter, doing church SEO for Easter, preparing to tell stories and follow-up after Easter.

Now that Easter is behind us, what have you learned from your Easter communication? And what changes do you want to make?  To help with this, here are some more specific questions to consider.

Easter Communications Assessment Questions:

• What aspects of your Easter communications worked well? How can you build on them?
• What aspects of your communications didn’t work well? How can you improve on them?
• Have you reviewed your Analytics since Easter?
• Have you reviewed your communication cards?
• Have you debriefed with your team?

3 Easter Communications Revelations

1) Church Website Revelations

If your website experienced an increase in traffic in the week leading up to Easter but you didn’t see many visitors to your Easter services, that’s an indication you did some great things to get people to your website, but there are likely problems with your website.

Perhaps it’s outdated, hard to navigate or not mobile friendly, and needs to be fixed or redesigned.

If you’re not yet using the Plan Your Visit strategy, that might be something to consider.

2) Church SEO Revelations

If analytics indicate your website got lots of visitors from search, that’s awesome – your website is probably well optimized and your local listings well established. If you didn’t get many visitors from organic search, that’s an indication your website doesn’t rank well in search engines and SEO is an area that needs work.

3) Church Social Media Revelations

If analytics indicate your website didn’t get many visitors from social media, consider stepping up your social media engagement. If you put a lot of effort into social media but your analytics still show not many people visited your website from social, it’s probably time to re-evaluate your social media strategy.

If you don’t have any analytics and/or communication cards to evaluate, then perhaps your next step is to get those things going so you have a better idea of your strengths to build on and weaknesses to work on next time.

God speaks to our hearts through his Word. He also speaks to our minds through data and the insight of others.

Want to work with our web design and/or SEO team?

If you need a hand getting Google Analytics and Google Search Console integrated with your website, or if you’d like an analytics expert to review your analytics, or you’re ready to delegate the website design or search engine marketing of your Christian church, ministry or business to an experienced team, we’d love to talk with you.

Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a call!

Comment and Discuss

• What did God reveal to you this Easter?  (Spiritually or in your communications)

Read more articles in our Easter Communications series.

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post An Easter Revelation appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Ok, from the example above, maybe I’m not the best storyteller.

However, we all love stories.  That is why books and movies are so successful: they tell stories.  And before books and movies, people would gather in villages, around fires, and tell stories.  Even Jesus demonstrated the power of storytelling.

Why do we love stories?

Stories are engaging.  We identify with the characters in the the stories. Stories help us understand life and how the universe we live in works. Plus, good stories evoke feelings of joy, sadness, anticipation, fear, and other emotions.

Are you telling stories on your website?

People may visit your website looking for logistical details about your organization and its upcoming events. But they are also looking to connect with people (and hopefully God). They want to know that your church, ministry, or business understands people like them, and they want to hear how God is using your church or ministry to transform people’s lives.

The week after Easter is a great time to tell stories on your church website. 

You have the opportunity to share stories of what God has been doing by posting videos and pictures of the events that happened over the Easter weekend.

And because Easter is all about new life in Christ, post a story (or two, three) from people in your church, sharing their journey, and how the Church helped them draw closer to our risen Savior.

These real life stories are what people will identify with.  Although video is usually the most effective method of story telling, these stories don’t have to be video.  They can be written stories with a photo of the person who shared their story.

Storytelling is the single most powerful form of human communication. –Peg Neuhauser

Want some help? We can help you tell and share these stories.

If you are tired, overwhelmed, or busy with all the other things demanding your time and attention, the OurChurch.com can help lighten your load and get things right the first time.

Our website design and SEO services include content creation (writing web pages, blog articles and more). We can help your church, school, ministry or businesses tell your stories better, faster, and with less work required by you.

Complete the consultation request form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a call.

Comment and Discuss

• Do you have a great story you have shared on your church or Christian website?  Post a brief description of the story along with a link to it on your website.

Read more articles in our Easter series.

Mark Steinbrueck

President at OurChurch.Com

Mark has served as the President of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, leading the Custom Website and Sales departments with dedication and expertise.

Over the years, he has managed hundreds of custom website, graphic design, and marketing projects for churches, non-profits, businesses, and schools.

Beyond his professional work, Mark is deeply committed to serving his community. He coordinates and packs over 700 meals each week for children through One Community Now’s Pack A Sack for Kids program, volunteers in the Children’s Ministry at Generations Christian Church, and participates in a weekly Bible study.

ourchurch.com

The post I Couldn’t Believe My Eyes! But There it Was, Headed Right at Me… appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Today, I want to say how thankful I am for the gift that God the Father gave to me and everyone who is willing to receive it… His Son, Jesus Christ.

This past weekend we remembered the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus paid through his death on the cross.  And although His death is remembered in a somber way, His resurrection is a joyous event that promises new life!

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. -Matthew 28:6 

The same can be true about your website.

If you currently have a website that is frustrating, out of date, or difficult to work with, it doesn’t need to stay that way.  Your website can have new life.

Granted it will probably take more than 3 days to turn your site around but there’s no better time than the present to get moving.

Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a time to chat about website design and how it can help your organization live out its mission online.

Comment and discussion…

• How did you celebrate Easter this year? What was most meaningful about the celebration?

Read more articles in our Easter series.

Mark Steinbrueck

President at OurChurch.Com

Mark has served as the President of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, leading the Custom Website and Sales departments with dedication and expertise.

Over the years, he has managed hundreds of custom website, graphic design, and marketing projects for churches, non-profits, businesses, and schools.

Beyond his professional work, Mark is deeply committed to serving his community. He coordinates and packs over 700 meals each week for children through One Community Now’s Pack A Sack for Kids program, volunteers in the Children’s Ministry at Generations Christian Church, and participates in a weekly Bible study.

ourchurch.com

The post Happy Easter! He is Risen!! appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

That’s the short answer anyway.

Previously we shared with you 5 Reasons Your Church Should Use the Plan Your Visit Strategy.

If you haven’t read that blog article and watched the 13 minute video in it, go do that first.

Because there’s an online component to Plan Your Visit, some people mistakenly assume that Plan Your Visit is just a web page, a button, and an online form.  But there’s so much more to it than that!

In this next video, we explain the…

6 Parts to the Plan Your Visit Strategy

1. Traffic
2. Landing Page
3. PYV Form
4. Pre-visit communication
5. Hosted Visit
6. Follow-Up communication

Plan Your Visit online course

The video above the previous video (5 Reasons…) are the first two lessons in the Plan Your Visit online course available in our WP-EZ Training Center!

The Plan Your Visit course is available at no charge with all of our website packages – Gold, Silver, or Bronze.

Here’s an overview of the Plan Your Visit course

• Lesson 1: Why Your Church Needs Plan Your Visit
• Lesson 2: What is Plan Your Visit?
• Lesson 3: The Plan Your Visit Page
• Lesson 4: The Plan Your Visit Form
• Lesson 5: Pre-Visit Communication
• Lesson 6: How to Host Plan Your Visit Guests
• Lesson 7: Follow-Up Communication
• Lesson 8: Engaging Your Whole Congregation
• Lesson 9: 3 Ways to Take Plan Your Visit to the Next Level

Want to reach more people in your community this Easter?

The Plan Your Visit church outreach strategy can help your church reach more people with the gospel this Easter and beyond!

Plan Your Visit website themes

In addition to the the Plan Your Visit course, we also have two themes for our WP-EZ Website Builder specifically designed for Plan Your Visit – the Fluid Church theme and the Grow Church theme.

They have a Plan Your Visit page, Plan Your Visit form, and Plan Your Visit buttons pre-installed and ready to help your church start using the Plan Your Visit strategy in no time!

Work with our web design and SEO team

If you’d prefer to lighten your workload and benefit from our expertise, let’s talk about teaming up for your website design and/or search engine marketing.

Fill out the consultation request form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a call!

Comment and Discuss

• What do you think of Plan Your Visit?
• Is your church already using Plan Your Visit? Considering it?

Continue reading… Maximize your Easter outreach and communication

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post What is Plan Your Visit? appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

If not, let me give you a brief overview…

What is “Plan Your Visit?”

Most of the time when people are looking for a church, they search online, view a church’s website, and then maybe they visit on a Sunday… and maybe they don’t. If they don’t, you’ll never know.

Visiting a church for the first time can be kind of scary.

Take a moment to put yourself in the shoes of a first time visitor… they don’t know anyone, they don’t know what your services/gatherings are like, they don’t know where anything is. They might want to visit, but come Sunday morning decide, “You know… I’m just not up for it today.”

With Plan Your Visit, you give website visitors the opportunity to schedule their visit using a short online form. Then you have a Host who

• Contacts them to answer any questions before their visit
• Meets them at the front door
• Shows them around
• Introduces them to people
• Helps them get their kids where they need to go
• Sits with them during the service

Basically all the things you would do if a friend was visiting your church for the first time.

Why should your church use the Plan Your Visit strategy?

It’s all about people… the people in your community who don’t know Jesus… the people in your community who know Jesus but aren’t a part of a local church community.  Check out this video, in which we share 5 Reasons Your Church Needs Plan Your Visit…

Get a Plan Your Visit Website

Our team at OurChurch.Com is really excited about the Plan Your Visit strategy!

We have created some new website themes for our WP-EZ Church Website Builder designed with the specific tools and pages a church needs to implement the Plan Your Visit strategy.

• Check out the Fluid Theme to Support the Plan Your Visit Strategy
• Plan Your Visit pages and tools have now been added to all WP-EZ 2.0 church themes.

Free Plan Your Visit Training

It’s important to understand that Plan Your Visit isn’t just a web page and a form. It’s a church-wide outreach strategy.

We want to help you and your church make the most of this strategy, so we have also launched a new Plan Your Visit course in the WP-EZ Training Center (available from your MyOCC Dashboard).

The course includes 9 video lessons, along with action steps, and more to help you and your church implement Plan Your Visit.

Want to reach people in your community this Easter?

With the tools and training we’re providing, your church could be using Plan Your Visit before Easter, and see more visitors at your Easter Sunday services than ever before!

Just to be clear, we’re not trying to sell you anything. The Plan Your Visit themes and tools will be included in our WP-EZ Website Builder at no additional cost. The Plan Your Visit Training is completely free. It also takes very little time to set up and start using the Plan Your Visit strategy.

We’re giving you all of this because we want to see your church reach more people in your community with the gospel and get them connected in your church.

If you were looking for a school, a job, or a doctor you would plan your visit. Why not let visitors to your church plan their visit too?  

What’s your next step?

If you’re already using our WP-EZ Website builder, share this with your church’s leadership team. Watch the video, and decide if you want to start using Plan Your Visit.

If you’re interested in reaching more people through a better website design or better search engine marketing for your Christian church, school, ministry or business, we’d love to help guide you as you investigate options.

Fill out the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a complimentary call!

Comment and Discuss

• Which of the 5 reasons in the video resonates with you most?
• What questions do you have about the Plan Your Visit strategy?

Continue reading… Easter Communication tips, strategies, and more!

Paul Steinbrueck

Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com

Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.

An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.

Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication. 

steinbrueck.org

The post Why Your Church Should Use the Plan Your Visit Strategy appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Who is Mint4More?

At Mint4More.com, faith-based coaching meets personal transformation. Founded by Matt Bomar, Mint4More.com helps individuals—children and adults alike—grow spiritually through self-reflection, faith, and the Enneagram tool.

What challenges were you facing with your website? 

Before coming to OurChurch.com, Matt had built his own website but struggled with SEO, design, and functionality.

“I think I created a website probably a couple of years ago, but I don’t know much about SEO and how to get that kind of catered to what people need, what people want,” Matt explained. “So it was just a decision to let people that are more in the know handle some of those things.”

Beyond improving visibility on Google, Matt also needed a site that could house his collection of coaching videos in a way that was easy for visitors to access.

“It would have been too difficult for me to figure out how to put those on a website and what that would look like,” he shared. “So yeah, definitely more content to fit in. And actually, there will probably be even more content to come in the future. It’s just the process of getting there.”

 OurChurch.com Brought Mint4More to Life

When Matt partnered with OurChurch.com, he needed more than just a functional website—he wanted a site that was professional, engaging, and easy to navigate.

“They took all of my crazy and not-so-thought-out ideas and made them into something that’s a really beautiful website,” he said. “I’ve had lots of people see it and compliment on it, how easy it is to navigate—things that definitely just me on my own, I would have never probably had time to do.”

With OurChurch.com, Matt’s vision became a reality. The new website now serves as a hub for coaching materials, faith-based resources, and future expansion opportunities—all while maintaining a user-friendly and visually appealing design.

What was it like to work with OurChurch.com?

For Matt, choosing OurChurch.com wasn’t just about website development—it was about working with a team that understands his mission and faith values.

“One of the big reasons why I went with OurChurch.com, and I would definitely suggest this to other people, is having other believers, people of faith in Christ, working together,” he said.

He described the experience as an example of the body of Christ working in unity, where different people contribute their skills for a greater purpose.

What would you say to someone considering building a new website?

“If there was something that, like in my case, something I don’t have any kind of expertise in, or something maybe not in my skill set, I can pass it to another part of the body of Christ who excels at that,” Matt explained.

“And that’s what OurChurch.com does—they’re an amazing part of the Church body that makes really great websites.“

To learn more about Mint4More visit Mint4More.com

Are You Ready to Build a Powerful Online Presence?

If you lead a Christian ministry,  business, or church looking for a professional, user-friendly website, OurChurch.com can help. Whether you want a DIY website with our WP-EZ Website Builder, interested in having us build you a custom-designed website, or want better search rankings and more visitors with our SEO services,  we’re here to bring your vision to life.

Complete the consultation request form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a call.

Comment and discuss…

• What most impacted you about Mint4More’s story?

Erica Couture

OurChurch.Com Member Support Specialist

Erica is a seasoned writer and digital content expert with a talent for helping organizations tell their stories online. As a Member Support Specialist at OurChurch.Com, Erica has crafted engaging blogs and web content for faith-based organizations and small businesses, contributing to websites like AProperFarm.com, HolyTrinityTampa.org, and her own platform, MrsEricaandBoydee.com.

With an MFA in Media Design Management from the International Academy of Design and Technology, Erica combines creative storytelling with strategic communication. Her leadership as Owner and Creative Director of CornerStoneFaith.com (2010–2016) showcased her commitment to faith-based content and community engagement, building meaningful connections through her work.

Known for her personable and relatable writing style, Erica translates complex ideas into practical, inspiring insights. Beyond her professional pursuits, she shares glimpses of her life and passions on YouTube at Mrs. Erica and Boydee. Erica’s blend of expertise, creativity, and authenticity makes her a trusted voice in the digital space.

MrsEricaandBoydee.com

The post From Vision to Reality: How Mint4More Brings Faith-Based Coaching Online appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.