Just as you carefully research before buying a car or home, selecting the right website builder for your church requires the same strategic mindset. Here are some questions to thoughtfully consider when finding the perfect website builder for your church.
Is it easy to use?
I’m not talking about design. That’s right—not design. The design phase of your website should only be a week or so. What I’m talking about is whether the builder is easy enough for your team and volunteers to log in to and add sermons, update events, create new pages that match the existing design, and write new blog posts.
This is what you should focus on when choosing a builder. Ease of design is only relevant to a designer, which, if you have one, is amazing, but if not, it shouldn’t be the focus—of course designing should also be extremely easy.
Can I try it before I buy it?
This is a huge one. You’re either purchasing the tools to build or you are purchasing the final product. Both have their place, but if they are hiding the tools from you, then ask if you can see what it will be like to edit first because if a designer is building you something in a design tool, you need to make sure that your team will be able to easily make changes once that designer has finished.
Does it integrate with my Church Management Software?
An integration means you can pull data from a Church Management Software (ChMS) and display it on your website, not just link away to somewhere else. We’re not talking about a pop-up of a form or giving screen. We’re talking about reading information from your ChMS and displaying it as content on your website.
For example, if you are a user of Planning Center, PushPay, or ChurchSuite, when you connect them to The Church Co platform, all of the events, sermons, and small groups can show up on your website automatically.
Is it affordable?
Top of everyone’s mind is always budget. The builder itself will be based on the features available. What you want to avoid is a white-labeled system that is just marking up something you can buy elsewhere and calling it a church platform.
A typical domain costs around $14.99 a year.
A typical website platform is around $29-59 a month.
An app can be between $99 and $199 a month.
Does the company understand the Church?
If you are leaning toward a church-specific platform, then there are a few things to keep in mind.
- Has the company been sold to another company? This isn’t a bad thing if it has. What we want to figure out is if the team is still working on the product or if they have walked away from it.
- Do the staff members go to church or have they been part of a church? You’d think this goes without saying, but it doesn’t. We’ve found it’s helpful that our staff have all been on staff or key volunteers in their churches so that we can better understand the needs that churches face and work to solve them.
Does the builder have church-specific features, or is it just templates?
Templates are simply designs. A design can be built on almost any platform. What makes church-specific software great is that it is built to meet the needs of the church. This means that it should integrate with your ChMS. It should have features for sermons, events, giving, sermon notes, online streaming, small groups, and member communications.
Otherwise, there’s not much difference to using any website builder.
Can I edit things myself?
If the company says that you have to email them to make all of the changes, then run for the hills. It’s 2025—you should be able to log in and make changes on your own.
Do they have support that you can contact?
If you ever run into an issue, is there someone that you can chat with quickly to help? At The Church Co we have live chat, tutorials, help docs, and our Facebook Community so that you can always get an answer when you need it.
Do they have examples of real churches using the platform?
We’re not talking about case studies or links to demo sites that the builder has made themselves. We’re talking about real church websites that are live and can be browsed. This is important because it will give you the ability to see how well that church has been able to keep the website looking great after it’s been launched.
Demos and screenshots look like what the site is when the designer finishes it. The real test is 3 months later when someone starts making changes.
Are there any contracts?
While there might be terms of the agreement, like if you have us build you a website for free, we require that you stay with us for a year just so that we don’t go broke. What we are talking about here is whether anyone has said that you have to sign a one-, two-, or even three-year contract. They will likely offer you a discount to do so, but be aware that there are reasons for this. The contract legally requires you to stay with that builder. So if you find it’s not a good fit for your church, you are pretty much out of luck.
Try and avoid places that offer long-term contracts so that your church has the freedom to use the tools that best fit your church in its existing season.
Wrapping up.
Following these guides will help you get a good gauge of the tools at your disposal. If you have any questions, feel free to use us as consultants and send us an email at [email protected]. If we aren’t the right fit for you, we want you to find something that is. After all, we’re The Church Co, the company that helps churches.