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I am blessed to work part-time for my church Eden Prairie United Methodist Church here in Minnesota.
While my main job is to create engagement on social media, one of my duties is webmaster (duh!). This advent season, the church asked that I create a landing page for Christmas. This is a time of year when churches get a lot more visitors, be it in-person or online. I wanted to make sure our church sparkled.
Those Who Dream...
EPUMC's Advent Season is entitled "Those Who Dream..." The best way I can describe the branding for this season is, glowing.
I wanted to make the landing page fun with animation, hovers, and interactivity. Since it is Advent, I immediately thought of creating an interactive advent calendar.
To do this, I first created graphics on Canva. I made graphics for the initial image to look like a calendar and another graphic with details.
Then using a hover animation, I made the image flip to find out what is happening on that day of the calendar.
Other elements I used in the design, were an accordion faq section and a video for the hero image.
Elements of a successful Christmas landing page
If you are hired (or offer) to design a landing page for your church-- here are a few suggestions.
Service Times and Location
This might seem obvious, but unfortunately, churches do not include service times and locations in easy-to-find locations. On your Christmas landing page, make sure all your service times for that week (along with any special Christmas events) are clearly laid out.
If you include something like a map, also be sure to include a written address that a website visitor can copy and paste into their phone or link directly to Google Maps for directions. And lastly, be sure to include any virtual and church online experiences.
Childcare and Family Info
Many families will be interested in visiting your church Christmas service, so it’s important to provide any childcare and student info that might be helpful. Are children of all ages welcome in the main services with their parents? Is childcare provided and for what ages? Do I need to register my kids? Do you have any groups or events for Middle and High School students? In addition to answering these types of questions, this section is also a great place to include photos of kids singing in a children’s service, playing, or doing activities as it will show that their kids will not only be taken care of but they’re also likely to have fun.
Real Photos of Your Church
Photography is a great way to visually communicate what an experience will be like for a visitor, allowing them to imagine what it might be like if they decide to step into your building this week. If you have some photos from last year's Christmas service then be sure to include a few of those as well.
Special Experiences
One of the most popular Christmas traditions is the Christmas Eve candlelight church service. It’s a beautiful illustration and many visitors attend just for that, so it’s important to include whether it’s something your church does or not. It’s also worth sharing about any other activities or special experiences you might offer that week. Not only will it help draw them in, but it’ll give them something to look forward to that they might not have experienced before in a church setting.
FAQ
While you can share all of the above information on your Christmas landing page, sometimes it’s still helpful to have an easy-to-use FAQ. This allows you to answer any questions that might not have a dedicated place on the landing page you created. A spot to share about what to wear just in case the photos weren’t clear enough, or just simple things like where to park and how long service is. This is also a great place to include a contact form or some contact info in case a potential visitor has any questions not answered on the page. I utilized our Accordion block to display the info in a pleasing and easy-to-navigate way.
Landing pages are ideal to target specific goals, but your church still needs an active website for growth and online engagement. Contact me today to learn how I can help your church.