Hopefully, your church’s website is a vital part of your communication strategy. But the idea of maintaining a website—or worse, building a new one!—can also be intimidating if you don’t feel trained or qualified on the latest web design trends and developments. That’s why it’s critical to pick a platform that helps you build a great church website.
Thankfully, content management systems (CMS) have come a long way over the last few years, making website builders more accessible and easier to use. And for church websites, there are tons of great options to ensure you have an easy-to-use, well-designed website for any potential visitor. Below, you’ll find ten of the most popular options ministries use to build great-looking church websites. But before we give you a list of options, let’s look at some helpful advice.
What to look for in a church website builder
When evaluating different church website builders for your next church website, it’s essential to consider a few things that might be important to you—like costs, features, and usability.
Cost
Of course, monthly and recurring costs are often one of the most significant factors in determining what company you will use for your next church website. Most website builders offer different pricing tiers. When reviewing a platform, look at the company’s pricing tiers and what each level offers. Don’t settle for the cheapest or automatically go with the most expensive (or anywhere in between). Consider options or features most important to you and what elements within each price point are unnecessary for your church’s website. Another factor to consider when building your new website is startup costs—some platforms have them, and some don’t. Some companies offer migration services, which may or may not be part of the startup fees. Make sure you have a good idea of both the short- and long-term costs of maintaining your website before landing on any church website builder.
Features
Before you look at the vast array of church website builder options, take a moment and determine what elements, features, or options are most important for your new church website. What frustrates you with your current website? What do you hope to be able to do with your new site? Once you have your list of must-haves, look around and evaluate which website platforms best meet your needs.
Usability
One of the most important factors to consider when you review the multitude of options available for your church’s website is the website builder’s usability. Chances are, whoever will maintain your church website is not a web developer. They probably don’t know programming languages or coding. So the service you use to build your website is much more critical—it must be easy to learn, use, and make sense to you. Every platform will have a learning curve (anything new does!), so pick a system that works for you and your team. When reviewing a website builder, see if the company offers a demo or trial that allows you to get your hands dirty, so to speak, and experience the back end of the website (where you’ll make changes and build the site).
Important terms to understand when building a church website
It can be overwhelming if you’re just starting to manage your church’s website. Websites come with a new library of terms, phrases, and acronyms. So if you feel like someone is speaking a different language when they talk to you about your church’s website, here are some popular terms to help you get up to speed quickly.
Domain name
A domain name, or domain, is the unique name of your website. It’s what comes after “www.” in a web address or after the “@” in an email address. The domain name includes the domain extension—such as .com, .org, or .church. No two websites can have the same domain.
Domain name example: churchjuice.com
Domain registrar
You will need to purchase the domain from a registrar to get your website’s unique name (domain). You can search for a domain name and extension, and a registrar will provide you with available options and their associated costs. A registrar is how you purchase and own a domain name.
DNS Hosting
A DNS Hosting company, or host, manages your domain and website records to ensure when someone looks for your address, they’ll go to the right place. Some DNS Hosts also offer registrar services; some church website builders will serve as your DNS host.
Migration
Some website builders include migration as part of their startup services. These offerings can vary widely from company to company, but migration services generally take content from your old website and copy it to your new site as-is.
URL
The Universal Resource Locator, better known as URL, is the complete address to find a particular page on the internet. While a domain name leads someone to your general address, a URL leads someone to an exact page—any page within your website.
URL examples: https://churchjuice.com, https://churchjuice.com/blog, or https://reframeministries.org/ministries/english
Website
A website is a collection of everything that goes together to create a visual presentation for website guests. It includes all the content, text, images, colors, and design for all the pages located on your domain. Your website host manages all the content to ensure people view the correct information at the right time.
Webpage
While “website” and “webpage” are often used interchangeably by people outside the web development field, the terms are pretty distinct. A website is a collection of all the pages and content for the whole domain. On the other hand, a webpage is a singular page or document using a unique URL.
Example: (Website) churchjuice.com; (Webpage) https://churchjuice.com/home
WYSIWYG
A few years ago, developers built most websites using coding languages. But today’s website builders have come a long way to make website creation and maintenance more accessible to broader populations. Most website builders now offer What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editors—meaning you see changes in real-time without knowing complex coding.
Popular church website builders
While certainly not an exhaustive list, here are ten popular church website builders. Some platforms are built specifically for churches, while others serve a broader customer-base. XXXXX
The Church Co
Built-for-you websites designed to grow your church. The Church Co.'s goal is that more people visit your church and they're using websites to make that happen.
Church website built with The Church Co:
Cascade Fellowship in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Divi
Divi is more than just a WordPress theme, it's a completely new website building platform that replaces the standard WordPress post editor with a vastly superior visual editor. It can be enjoyed by design professionals and newcomers alike, giving you the power to create spectacular designs with surprising ease and efficiency.
Church website built with Divi:
Hill City Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado
FaithConnector
The church website builder that anyone can use. Church websites with integrated app and giving. An easy-to-use, drag-and-drop, system. Built specifically for churches and ministries.
Church website built with FaithConnector:
St. Luke's United Methodist in Dubuque, Iowa
Ministry Designs
At Ministry Designs the goal is simple, to provide the absolute best church website tools on the market and help your ministry reach more people for the Kingdom. They know that people are tired of jumping through corporate hoops and having to worry about paying someone to code their website for them. That's why Ministry Designs set out to make building a church website easier than ever.
Church website built with Ministry Designs:
Church on a Mission in Kenner, Louisiana
Nucleus
Nucleus is unlike any other church tech platform. The team at Nucleus grew up on the internet, and they’ve experienced its best (and its worst). So Nucleus was created to give churches a better option. Powerful tools that don’t compromise on principles — and are easy for everyone to use.
Church website built with Nucleus:
The Harvest Church in Lexington, South Carolina
Squarespace
Squarespace Is the all-in-one platform to build a beautiful online presence in no time. Whether you're just starting or are already established, the Squarespace platform helps you grow.
Church website built with Squarespace:
Mosaic Roosevelt Island in New York, New York
Subsplash
The Subsplash platform equips churches of all sizes with mobile apps, websites, online giving, and more to engage and grow their audiences.
Church website built with Subsplash:
Heartland Alliance Church in Sherwood Park, Alberta
Tithe.ly
Create your church website in minutes using Tithe.ly Sites. It's the best website builder for churches - perfect for beginners or expert web designers on any budget.
Church website built with Tithe.ly:
Willoughby Church in Langley, British Columbia
Wix
Create a website with Wix's robust website builder. With 900+ strategically designed templates and advanced SEO and marketing tools, you can create, design, manage and develop your web presence exactly the way you want.
Church website built with Wix:
Transform Church in Andover, Minnesota
Webflow
Create professional, custom websites in a completely visual canvas with no code. Learn how to create a website by trying Webflow for free.
Church website built with Webflow:
