What’s the first thing you see when you go to your church website? It’s likely some sort of image with text or your logo over it. This graphic is called a website banner, and it’s a crucial part of any successful church website design.
Creating an effective church website banner is so easy, nearly anyone can do it! We’ll walk you through the basics of a good banner and how you can create one for free with no design skills.
The Basics of a Church Website Banner
What is a website banner?
A website banner is a horizontal image that extends the full width of your website and features text or your logo on it. The background of this image could be a photograph or a solid color.
Where does it go?
Website banners are placed at the top of your website’s home page, and it is the first thing a visitor to your site will see.
What is it meant for?
This design asset is meant to welcome people to your site, give them a sense of who your church is, and sometimes provide important information.
How do you know that you have a good one?
The most important part of a good church website banner is that it’s clear, simple, and easy to understand. You shouldn’t put everything in your church website banner, because you don’t want to overwhelm visitors with information. Only include a few important pieces of information.
Your church website banner might need improvement if the information is crowded, hard to read, or the image is low quality and pixelated.
What makes a good website banner for churches?
Creating an effective church website banner doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, simple is often better! Let’s dive into the specifics of what makes a good church website banner.
Components
Your banner should include only a few key elements, such as your church’s name or logo and a line or two of text. The background of your banner could be a solid color that matches the rest of your church website or a high-quality image that makes sense for your church. If you choose to use an image, we recommend using a photo of your actual church building, congregation, or city.
Best Practices
There are a few best practices you should abide by when creating your church website banner. First, ensure it follows your church branding, using the correct colors, logo placement, and more.
The best aspect ratio for a website banner is 3:1. We recommend a resolution of 1200×400 pixels to ensure you avoid low-quality pixelation.
Lastly, avoid the temptation to put too much text in your banner. At the most, you should have two short sentences of text on your banner. Save your paragraphs for farther down the page on your website!
How do you make one?
The easiest way to make a church website banner is in a website like Canva, a free and easy-to-use design tool. Canva even has free templates you can use to get started. Once you log in, click “Create a design” in the top right corner, and search “blog banner” for a good place to start. Feel free to browse around the provided templates there, swapping out the colors and fonts to match your church branding. Remember: keep it simple!
An alternative way to create a banner is to create it directly in your church website builder. This option takes a little more technical knowledge, but if you or a volunteer has the skills, it can be a great option. This allows you to put text directly into your site, rather than an outside image, which can help improve your church’s SEO (search engine optimization, aka, the likelihood of a web browser giving your website as a search result.)
How often should it be updated?
Your church banner can be updated rarely or often—depending on your strategy!
If you are new to building a church website, we recommend hardly ever updating your banner to keep things simple and consistent. If you choose this option, make sure your banner is evergreen, meaning it is not attached to any season or temporary event. It should just feature your church’s name and logo and a sentence about your church as a whole.
However, you can also choose to update your banner seasonally. For example, you could have a unique banner for Advent and Lent, featuring your midweek service times. Or, if your church doesn’t follow the liturgical calendar, you could have a new church banner for each sermon series you do. No matter how often you update it, make sure it stays consistent with your church’s overall branding.
Don't have a church website with banner capabilities? Sign up for a free trial of Church360° Unite and fine-tune your banner today!
