How to Run a Mid-Year Website Health Check for Your Church

A Quick Mid-Year Checkup Can Save You Hours Later

Taking time mid-year to run a church website review helps you catch outdated content, fix navigation issues, and ensure your message is reaching people effectively. This blog walks you through an easy checklist to evaluate your website’s health and make meaningful updates.

A healthy church website isn’t just a bonus—it’s the digital heartbeat of your ministry. It’s where first-time guests form impressions, where members look for updates, and where seekers encounter the Gospel for the first time. Yet in the midst of sermons, outreach, and everyday responsibilities, it’s easy for your website to fall to the bottom of the to-do list.

Months can pass before you realize event banners are outdated, links lead to nowhere, or mobile users can’t even find your service times. Outdated content not only creates confusion but can also cause visitors to lose trust or interest altogether. In a culture where digital communication often precedes personal interaction, letting your website grow stale can unknowingly hold your church back.

That’s why a mid-year website review is so critical. It gives you a natural checkpoint to align your online presence with your ministry’s current direction. By taking this time now, you can resolve pain points before they become problems—ensuring every page supports your mission, vision, and values.

Think of it as digital stewardship: maintaining what God has placed in your care to better serve your people. This blog will walk you through a practical step-by-step audit to evaluate your site’s health and refresh it with confidence—without needing a tech background or massive overhaul.

Let’s get started with a clear framework to renew your site and reignite your church’s digital presence.

1. Review Your Homepage for Relevance

Your homepage is your digital front door—and it often determines whether a visitor stays or leaves. Ask yourself: does it reflect the mission, priorities, and personality of your church today? Or is it still echoing last year’s messaging?

Use this in-depth homepage audit:

• Is your welcome message still relevant and warm to both members and first-time visitors?

• Are seasonal banners (Easter, Christmas) or major event promotions current and properly displayed?

• Does your homepage include an immediate call to action (CTA) like “Plan Your Visit,” “Watch Online,” or “Get Connected”?

• Is your latest sermon series or a highlight video visible near the top?

• Are you using updated images that reflect your congregation and culture?

Many people decide within 5–10 seconds whether to explore further, so a homepage must be visually clean, emotionally engaging, and clearly organized.

Don’t forget to:

• Preview your homepage on both desktop and mobile

• Use clear headings and buttons to guide next steps

• Keep primary info—like service times—above the fold

Small changes can significantly increase engagement and trust.

Prioritize the top third of your homepage as it’s where most mobile users will stop scrolling. Also, use tools like Google Analytics to track where people click most often.

2. Audit Key Pages for Accuracy

Even when the homepage gets regular attention, inner pages often go untouched for months. Yet, they carry essential information your visitors and members rely on. 

Take 30–45 minutes this week to audit the following critical pages:

• Staff Page: Ensure staff names, roles, and photos are current. If someone has joined or left your team, make the changes visible. Bonus: include short bios to build personal connection.

• Events Page: Remove past events and add upcoming ones with clear titles, dates, and CTAs like “Register Now” or “Learn More.” Use images or icons for visual interest.

• Contact Page: Double-check your address, service times, email, and phone number. Consider embedding a Google Map for easy directions and accessibility.

• Giving Page: Test links on both desktop and mobile. Ensure the giving process is smooth, secure, and clearly explains how contributions support ministry.

• FAQs or Ministries Page: If your church has multiple ministries (children, youth, outreach), make sure descriptions, contact leads, and schedules are accurate.

A quick mid-year church website review of these pages boosts clarity and avoids confusion, helping visitors feel confident about getting involved.

With ChurchSpring’s Church Website Builder, editing content on any of these pages is fast and intuitive—even if you’re not a designer or tech-savvy user.

 “I believe you are an excellent resource and have already referred your services to others. It is so so so easy to set up! It did take me longer than expected, but that’s because I wrote out our own content in most places. But the fact that you provided content made it easier to write/change the content. Thank you,”

Jill L. from Growing Faith Ministries, highlighting the flexibility and support offered by ChurchSpring’s platform.

3. Check Mobile Optimization

More than 60% of visitors will view your site on a phone. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, they’ll likely bounce within seconds, especially first-time guests who are researching where to worship.

Don’t rely on your desktop version alone. Take these simple yet powerful steps to ensure your site is truly mobile-friendly:

• Load your homepage and 2–3 key pages (e.g., events, sermons, giving) on your phone

• Check font sizes for readability—tiny text discourages engagement

• Make sure buttons are large enough to tap without zooming

• Ensure images resize properly and don’t break the layout

• Tap every link and fill out at least one form to test functionality

Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to instantly spot major issues. Also, ask a friend or volunteer to walk through the site on their phone and report back.

If your mobile experience feels clunky, outdated, or hard to navigate, it may be time to switch church website platforms.

ChurchSpring’s Church Website Builder templates are optimized for mobile from day one—no coding or special redesigns needed, so your church looks good on any screen.

4. Evaluate Image Quality and Page Speed

Site speed and image quality have a direct impact on trust and engagement. A slow site can frustrate users. Blurry or outdated images can unintentionally communicate disorganization or lack of attention.

Ask these questions:

• Are all images crisp and free from distortion on desktop and mobile?

• Do photos reflect your actual congregation, ministries, and building—not just generic stock photos?

• Is your page load time under 3 seconds across devices?

• Are you using compressed, appropriately sized image files?

Helpful tools:

• GTmetrix – Shows detailed breakdown of what’s slowing your site down

• Google PageSpeed Insights – Offers mobile and desktop optimization scores and tips

• TinyPNG – Great tools for compressing images before upload

Pro Tip: Use consistent formatting and orientation for staff headshots, ministry highlights, and event banners. This creates visual harmony. Also revisit your church website color palettes to ensure your visual branding feels clean, warm, and professional.

5. Check for Clear, Active Calls to Action

Every page should guide visitors toward meaningful next steps. Whether someone is new or returning, clear and intentional calls to action (CTAs) build connection, increase conversions, and drive ministry engagement.

Ask yourself:

• Does every page include a specific, action-oriented CTA?

• Are buttons visible and strategically placed (e.g., top of page, after content sections)?

• Is the language direct, benefit-driven, and consistent with your church voice?

Examples of effective CTAs:

• Homepage: “Join Us This Sunday” with a link to service details

• Events Page: “Register Now” or “Invite a Friend” next to the event image

• Sermons Page: “Subscribe to Our YouTube” or “Listen on Spotify”

• Giving Page: “Give Online in 2 Clicks” or “See How Your Gift Makes a Difference”

CTAs should:

• Stand out visually (color, font size, spacing)

• Use active verbs that align with your ministry culture

• Offer clarity—avoid generic phrases like “Click Here” or “Learn More” without context

Real-World Tip: Try running an A/B test for two variations of your homepage CTA using a simple website heatmap or analytics tool. See which button generates more clicks and adjust accordingly.

With ChurchSpring’s Church Website Builder’s drag-and-drop interface, creating and updating CTAs is fast and intuitive. You can place buttons, link forms, and highlight next steps—all without touching a line of code.

6. Confirm Search Visibility and SEO Basics

If your church website isn’t discoverable on Google, you’re missing major outreach opportunities—especially for people actively searching for a church in your area. A strong SEO foundation helps you reach seekers, support members, and boost online visibility.

Run through this mid-year checklist to ensure your site is SEO-ready:

• SEO-optimized page titles that clearly describe the content on each page

• Meta descriptions that are concise and contain relevant keywords

• Alt text for all images so search engines and screen readers can interpret visuals

• Proper header structure (H1 for main headings, H2 for subsections, etc.) to guide readability

• A submitted and updated sitemap in Google Search Console

• Clean, keyword-aligned URLs (e.g., /ministries instead of /page123)

• Internal linking between key pages to boost navigation and SEO authority

Bonus Tip: Look up your church name in an incognito browser. Does your website appear as the first result? If not, review your content for location-based keywords like your city and ministry focus.

ChurchSpring’s Church Website Builder helps you manage SEO settings right within the dashboard—no plugins or extra software needed. You can easily edit meta tags, descriptions, and slugs for each page.

7. Review Your Social & Media Integration

Your church’s digital presence extends beyond your website—it lives in your social media, livestreams, and video content. That’s why seamless integration between your site and digital channels is essential.

Mid-year, evaluate how well your site connects to your broader media presence:

• Are all social icons (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.) visible, correctly linked, and placed in your header and footer?

• Are your livestreams and sermon videos embedded correctly and easy to access?

• Are you featuring recent YouTube content ideas, blogs, or devotionals?

• Do you have a “Media” or “Watch” page that’s updated with your latest sermon series?

• Are your video thumbnails, titles, and descriptions aligned with your church’s brand?

• Do you invite visitors to follow, share, or subscribe across platforms?

Consider embedding a social media feed or syncing your church calendar with Facebook Events. Use your social media planning calendar to drive consistent promotion and cross-channel engagement.

8. Refresh Content for Current Ministry Season

Stale content can unintentionally tell visitors that your church isn’t active. Make it a mid-year habit to refresh the words and visuals on your site to reflect your current ministry focus.

Key areas to review:

• Pastor’s Welcome Message: Is the tone still aligned with your current goals? Update seasonal phrasing and refresh any outdated references.

• Sermon Series: Add current series titles, descriptions, and thumbnails to keep your media section vibrant.

• Weekly Events: Highlight upcoming VBS, youth camps, outreach days, or small groups.

• Volunteer Opportunities: Keep your Get Involved page updated with active serving roles.

• Blog or Devotionals: Add a new post or invite a ministry leader to write a short reflection.

Encourage your church volunteers or communications team to take ownership of certain sections. Assign someone to oversee announcements, write short event recaps, or take fresh photos.

9. Validate Contact Forms and Links

Functional forms and links are foundational to a healthy church website. If a contact form fails or a giving button leads to an error page, you risk losing trust, engagement, and ministry opportunities.

Thoroughly click through and test the following items:

• Prayer Request Forms – Ensure forms are receiving submissions and are routed to the correct inbox.

• Volunteer Signups – Confirm the form is live, fields are correct, and the assigned team receives notifications.

• Giving Buttons – Test the entire giving flow for both desktop and mobile. Check for mobile responsiveness, load times, and clarity.

• Newsletter Subscriptions – Verify users receive a confirmation message or email, and are added to your mailing list.

• Ministry Inquiry Forms – Make sure ministry-specific pages (youth, small groups, outreach) have working inquiry buttons or contact info.

• Event RSVPs – Test embedded forms or third-party links to ensure guests can easily register.

“ChurchSpring has been wonderful to work with. They are very helpful and the website is so easy to update. Another bonus is that once you sign up with them, your contract price will never increase! How many things can say there will never be an increase in cost? That is huge in this day and age. Thank you, ChurchSpring, you are awesome!”

Karen B. from Central and East Freeborn Lutheran

Even one broken form can disrupt someone’s next step toward connection—test regularly and address errors immediately.

10. Secure and Renew Your Domain

Your domain is your church’s digital foundation. Without a secured and renewed domain, your entire online presence can vanish or appear untrustworthy.

• Renewal Check: Look up your church domain name and note the renewal date. Set a calendar reminder to renew early.

• SSL Certificate: Your site should display “HTTPS”—a sign of security and trust. Without it, browsers may flag your site as unsafe.

• DNS Accuracy: Ensure your DNS records are pointing to the correct hosting platform, and that email forwarding (if used) is functional.

• Auto-Renew Setup: Wherever your domain is registered (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap), enable auto-renewal and update billing info to avoid lapses.

• Backups: While reviewing, check if you have recent backups of your site and domain settings, in case you need to restore it.

A few minutes of domain maintenance each year can prevent hours of crisis management.

Finish the Year Strong with a Healthy Site

Your church’s digital presence is a reflection of your ministry’s heart. When your website is up-to-date, secure, and welcoming, it shows excellence and care for the people you serve—both inside and outside your church.

Mid-year is the perfect time to reset, refocus, and refresh. A well-audited site supports ministry growth, makes a strong impression on new visitors, and empowers your congregation to stay informed and connected.

With ChurchSpring’s Church Website Builder, these updates don’t require hours of tech setup. Our user-friendly platform allows non-technical teams to make changes confidently—whether it’s swapping out banners, fixing links, or updating sermon content. 

Start your free Churchspring trial for 7 days or join our next demo webinar and discover how stress-free it can be to maintain a powerful, ministry-ready website that truly represents your church.