Most church websites fail the same way: they were built for the people who already attend, not the people deciding whether to visit on Sunday. A first-time visitor lands on your site and asks three questions in about 15 seconds — where, when, and what should I expect. If your homepage doesn't answer all three above the fold, you've lost them.
Here's the page-by-page checklist we use when we build a ministry site at HLPR. Use it to audit your current site or scope a new one.
The 12 pages every church site needs
1. Home
Service times, address, and a "Plan Your Visit" button visible before the user scrolls. One clear photo of your actual people — not stock images of a generic worship band.
2. Plan Your Visit
What to wear. Where to park. What happens to my kids. How long is the service. This page converts more visitors than any other — treat it like a landing page.
3. About / What We Believe
Two short paragraphs on your story plus your statement of faith. Don't bury this in a 2,000-word essay — most visitors scan.
4. Sermons / Messages
Embedded video or audio of recent messages. Searchable by series. This is the #2 most-visited page after the homepage.
5. Ministries / Get Involved
One card per ministry (kids, youth, small groups, worship, outreach). Each card links to a short detail page with a contact.
6. Events / Calendar
Upcoming events with date, time, location, and RSVP. If your calendar is empty, hide this page rather than show a stale 2024 event.
7. Give
A dedicated giving page with one primary "Give Now" button. Keep the form on-page where possible; every redirect loses ~30% of givers.
8. Contact
Address, phone, email, embedded map, and a contact form that actually goes to a real human inbox (and gets answered within 48 hours).
9. Staff / Leadership
Photos and short bios of pastors and elders. People want to know who's leading before they walk in.
10. Kids / Youth
Parents check this page before they ever set foot in your building. Photos of your space, your check-in process, and your safety policy.
11. Small Groups
A searchable or filterable directory of groups with location, day, and a contact for each leader. The #1 connection point for new attendees after Sunday service.
12. Prayer Request
A simple form. Optional anonymity. Goes to a designated prayer team — not a black hole.
The technical details that quietly matter
- Mobile-first. Every page should look right on a 5-inch phone before it ever looks right on a 27-inch monitor.
- Fast. Aim for under 2 seconds to first paint. Compress every image. Remove autoplay video.
- Accessible. Alt text on every image, real headings (not bold paragraphs), 4.5:1 contrast on body text.
- SEO basics. Unique title and description on every page. A sitemap submitted to Google. LocalBusiness or Church schema with your address.
- SSL certificate. If your URL still says "http://" and not "https://", Google is actively penalizing you.
What you can skip
- A live chat widget. Nobody is staffing it on a Sunday.
- A blog you'll update twice and abandon. Better to not have one than to have one that says "Welcome to our new site! — March 2022."
- An app. For 95% of churches, a great mobile site does everything an app does, costs nothing extra, and doesn't require downloads.
The 30-second test
Pull up your church website on your phone right now. Time how long it takes you to find:
- What time the service starts this Sunday.
- The street address.
- A button to plan your first visit.
If any of those took more than 10 seconds, your site is costing you first-time visitors every week. Fixing those three is a one-day project — start there before anything else on this list.