Questions Web Designers Ask Parish Staff Before Creating a Church Website

Our in-house web designers at LPi have worked with parishes all over the country to get their websites looking beautiful and user-friendly. We understand that parish staff are often not equipped to design and manage their church’s website, but many are required to anyway. This can be frustrating for those involved, understandably so. To solve this problem, we’ve developed our web design tool, WeConnect, to make the process much easier and user friendly for any church staff member! We pride ourselves in making church web design and maintenance uncomplicated and approachable for everyone.

To kick off a new church website project, our designers meet with parish staff members to discuss their desires and goals for their website. This discussion is guided by some pre-determined questions that we’ve found to be super helpful to the initial process.

This week, we interviewed Kristen, one of our multimedia designers, about the LPi website redesign process and what questions church communities should be reflecting on to fully prepare for their first meeting with our design team. After the interview we also share a list of those initial questions so that you can start considering your answers in preparation for your parish’s new website sooner than later.

Q. Hi Kristen, Thanks for taking the time to explain a little more about this process! First off, why do we have churches consider some starter-questions before meeting with designers?

A. These starter questions give us a base knowledge of the needs of each individual community that we work with. The answers help us understand if the church already has a large online presence or if they are just getting started when it comes to a website. This knowledge helps us bridge any gaps that we may discover regarding the parish’s digital needs.

Q. How does this process guide our LPi design team’s decisions?

A. The initial question process helps us set the tone of what each church is hoping to achieve with their new website. We want to find out what they like, and don’t like, about their current site, what they hope their new site might be like, and if there are any features that they specifically are attracted to.

Q. Of the questions on the questionnaire, which question do you find is the most informative for the design team?

A. My favorite question is “Are there any other parish websites you are inspired by that we should know about?" Learning what church staff members like about other designs is super helpful to our team. It’s also fun to see what other people find valuable in other websites’ designs and what they might not find valuable. There are some great Catholic websites out there that are designed beautifully! Additionally, if someone likes a design that they’ve found on a secular website, no problem! We can take elements of any website and incorporate those features into a church’s new website.

Q. Have you ever encountered any surprising answers when working through these questions with churches?

A. Yes! One of the questions we always ask is “What do you like about your current church website?” I was originally surprised at how frequently we received an answer of “Nothing!” to this question from church staff members. Now, when I hear this answer, I consider it an opportunity for our team to swing wide the gate of creativity and design a fresh, vibrant website for them!

Q. What do you think is the most difficult part of the web redesign process for parish staff members?

A. The enormity of the project and process can seem daunting at first. We help churches get a jumpstart on everything so that they aren’t overwhelmed. This is one thing I love about WeConnect. We are able to build and design for churches on the backend so that we can give them the tools they need to easily get started, and to make sure they don’t get lost in the process! Creating or redesigning a website can be a large task, but we walk with them every step of the way.

Q. What do you think is the most enjoyable part of the web design process for parish staff members who use WeConnect?

A. One thing people have told us is that, when working with other website hosting companies, is that they don’t feel like they have access to talk to someone who can help them when they encounter problems. With WeConnect, they are able to talk to a real person when they need support. I hope that this becomes the most enjoyable part for parish staff members working with us to create a new website for their church — that we have a team available to support them through the entire process, and beyond!

Q. What can a parish staff do to make the design process run as smoothly as possible?

A. Doing the prep work of considering what is out of date on their current website and then doing their spring cleaning ahead of time can make the process run more smoothly. They should go ahead and delete any outdated pages and other unwanted items. Having a game plan in mind for how they want their website navigation to look or items to include in their site’s navigational menu is also extremely helpful.

Q. Anything else you’d like to share about the process from a designer’s point of view?

A. We love including photography of your community in our web design! Fresh photos are great because they really set the tone for the website so, don’t wait! Start collecting images of your parishioners celebrating Mass and engaging in community events now so that we have lots to choose from for your beautiful new website.

Reflection questions to consider before your next web design meeting.

• Is there something unique about your parish that makes you different than the parishes in your surrounding area?
  
• Are there any other parish websites you are inspired by that we should know about? Any non-parish websites that you like?
  
• Please describe what you like and dislike about your current website design.
  
  

Is your parish ready for a new website? Learn more about how we can assist you in updating your online presence here: https://4lpi.com/solutions/catholic-church-websites/

For more website inspiration, visit the "Web and Social Media" section of our weekly blog!

Updated on 03-18-2024

“So I recommend the enjoyment of life, for there is nothing better
on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life.
So joy will accompany him in his toil during the days of
his life which God gives him on earth.”

—Ecclesiastes 8:15