Check list for a Church/Faith website

17 Dec 2020

Are you creating a website or revamping an existing one? Here is a quick check list to consider: 

1. The Content: This is the most important aspect of the website. Think about what people want from a diocesan website and what you should be offering them.

2. Faith life: The Faith Life of the diocese should shine through in images of people rather than large grey buildings.

3.The Design: With WordPress it can be as simple as downloading a new template to refresh your website. Keep it simple. You already have an excellent template in the Armagh Diocesan website which is clean and visually attractive. The Diocese of Achonry is another good example. Most designers will cherry pick for their clients from websites that they like.

4. Good Menus: The menus on the website should be clear and concise. The language used should be user-friendly and easy to understand. Priority should be given to the most popular sections currently being used on the existing website.

5. Updating: In any revamp of a website it is essential to include the cost of training for future updating of the site in any costs incurred.

6. Responsiveness: Most people looking at a website nowadays are doing so from their phone or Ipad/tablet so any updates would need to ensure that the site is responsive across all devices.

7. Third party resources: Most dioceses and a significant number of parishes are hosting the CatholicNews.ie news feed as a live news resource on their home pages. We would recommend this is included in any revamp.

8. Embedding of social media: If there are relevant social media accounts to the diocese then these can be embedded on the home page as another source of up to date news.

9. Accessibility: When choosing fonts and sizes for sections and menus, you need to be mindful of people with accessibility issues.

10. Languages: While the primary content of the site will be in English, is there a need for any aspect of the website to be translated or made available in the Irish language?

For more see www.catholicbishops.ie/digitalhub