We continue Church Website Design Month at OurChurch.Com with more discussion of best practices for church web design.
Once you have created your logo and content map, the next step is to determine the design of your website.
Custom Design or Pre-Made Theme
In the past, a church would first need to decide if they wanted to have a custom theme (aka template) created for their website or if they would prefer to purchase an existing theme from a theme developer. Having a custom theme created for their site would give them complete control over all aspects of the design of their site. It would mean that their design would be completely unique. However, it would also mean adding significant cost and time to the website building process, because this would involve a graphic designer and a website developer (cha-ching!). Using a pre-made theme would save time and money but there were limitations to the design quality and features.
However, in recent years, the quality, features, and flexibility built into pre-made themes have improved dramatically. In fact, themes available for purchase have become so good, we no longer offer the option to create a custom theme from scratch.
Church Website Design Options
When selecting a church website design, we usually start by asking customers some specific questions about design options, providing some examples of each feature, so the customer can have a visual of what the feature looks like on a working website.
Some of the theme options to consider include:
- Where will your logo be displayed?
- What type of menu would you like?
- Will the menu be “sticky” and visible as visitors scroll down or not?
- Will there be a “hero” image, image slider or video at the top of your homepage?
- Will the content fill the full width of the browser or will there be margins?
Once you have decided on which features you want included in your design, it is time to find a few themes that have all of those features. There are quite a few companies that specialize in pre-made WordPress themes, but we primarily use the 3 listed below:
I will warn you in advance, the process of sifting through hundreds of themes/design options can be very time consuming, a bit exhausting, and somewhat overwhelming.
One of the many great aspects of OurChurch.Com’s custom website packages is that we do all of that work for you. After discussing the design features with our your, we find the designs that meet your criteria, and review them with your. All you need to do is choose. Doesn’t get much easier than that!
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. – Steve Jobs
Comment and discuss:
- What thoughts and questions do you have about choosing a theme for your church website?
If you are interested in talking to us about church website design, complete the consultation request form below.
