We’ve been revealing our 10-step Church Website Design Process one step at a time.
And as we’ve said before, while our emphasis is on church websites, we use this same process when we develop a new website for a Christian business or nonprofit.
We’re up to step 4: design or select your website theme.
What is a website theme?
Almost all websites today are built using a Content Management System (CMS).
WordPress is the most popular CMS. Website builders like Wix, Squarespace and our own WP-EZ Website Builder are also CMSs.
A CMS separates the content of a website from its appearance using themes or templates. The benefit of this is that if you want to change the appearance of your website, you only need to change it in one place (the theme), and that change will take effect on all of the pages (content) of your website.
Custom Design or Pre-Made Theme?
There are two ways to get a theme for your website. One is to have a website developer custom design a theme or your organization. The second is to purchase an existing theme from a theme developer.
On the one hand, a custom theme would gives you complete control over all aspects of the design of your site. It means that your design is completely unique. But, the downside is that creating a custom theme adds significant cost and time to the website building process, because it involves a graphic designer and a website developer (cha-ching!).
On the other hand, using a pre-made theme saves time and money but limits the customization.
In recent years, the quality, features, and flexibility built into pre-made themes has improved so much and the variety of themes available has grown so much, that we no longer offer the option to create a custom theme from scratch.
Church Website Theme Options
When selecting a church website theme (aka design or template), we start by asking the client some specific questions about theme options and providing examples of each feature. This gives the client the ability to see what each 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 had these design decisions, it is time to find a few themes that have all of the desired design features. There are quite a few companies that create WordPress themes, but we primarily use these 3 WordPress theme developers:
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. – Steve Jobs
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Faster, easier, less stressful website design with a guide
I will warn you in advance, the process of sifting through hundreds of themes/design options can be very time consuming and overwhelming.
One of the great benefits that comes with OurChurch.Com’s custom website packages is that we do all of that work for you. After discussing the design features with you, we find the designs that meet your criteria, and review them with your. All you need to do is choose.
Doesn’t get any easier than that!
Interested in talking to us about your church website design?
Complete the consultation request form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop.)
Comment and discuss…
- What thoughts and questions do you have about choosing a theme for your church website?
Continue reading… The inside scoop on our 10 step church website design process
President at OurChurch.Com
Mark has served as the President of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, leading the Custom Website and Sales departments with dedication and expertise.
Over the years, he has managed hundreds of custom website, graphic design, and marketing projects for churches, non-profits, businesses, and schools.
Beyond his professional work, Mark is deeply committed to serving his community. He coordinates and packs over 700 meals each week for children through One Community Now’s Pack A Sack for Kids program, volunteers in the Children’s Ministry at Generations Christian Church, and participates in a weekly Bible study.
