5 ways to make the most of an ugly website

I could get on my high horse and talk about how important it is to treat your digital presence much like you treat your physical location.

Mow the lawn…

Pick up the trash…

Plant new flowers…

Change your sign every week…

I could go on…

​

But, I’ll hold myself back… today. 😉

If you have an older site and it’s not a possibility for you to invest time or money in a new site right now, no shame.

Maybe you’d love to upgrade, but the decision is out of your control.

You can still make the most of what you have!

We all can!

1) Play a game of 80 Cards

Sit around a table with your faculty or staff. Put a stack of 80 index cards in the middle of the table. Challenge everyone to brainstorm all of the information that they might expect to find on a church or school’s website. Each piece of information gets written on one index card. Nobody leaves until all 80 cards are filled.

This exercise is done in silence. Ideally, there is redundancy between everyone’s ideas that happens organically.

When all 80 cards are filled, perform an audit to see if there’s any information that’s missing from your website. Pay the most attention to the things that come up multiple times.

​

2) Perform regular updates OR remove all time-sensitive information

When someone sees something that’s clearly outdated on your site, every other piece of information is called into question. You want to avoid this happening at all costs – especially if the graphics look a little sketchy to begin with.

If you know you can’t regularly devote time to updates on your website, go ahead and remove everything that’s seasonal or time-sensitive.

​

3) Create an “I’m new” page.

Create one page that acts as an orientation for brand new visitors. Introduce your staff, embed a recorded sermon or welcome video, explain your mission statement, and consider offering some sort of free resource.

Make this easily accessible from the home page. Ideally, the button to the “I’m new” page would be Above the Fold: visible without scrolling down.

​

4) Take new pictures.

Even an iPhone will do the trick! Smiling faces make everything look better!

​

5) Pepper the site with two key things:

One – Your service times

Two – Your city and state

Both of these things should be impossible to miss. Be a little obnoxious with how many times you state these two things.

I really want to encourage you that, even if your website isn’t ideal, you don’t have to throw in the towel. You can get a long way with solid messaging and organization.

Oh, what’s that? 👂

You are interested in updating your website?

…In combining solid messaging with nice-looking graphic design?

Did you know that’s something I do? 🫡

Check out my website if you’re curious. 🙂