If you manage a parish website (or 5), you’re probably balancing between limited time, limited budget, and rotating staff. Most parish and pastorate sites aren’t beyond help or broken. They’ve been built up over time, with new announcements, programs, and structures being added, but content is rarely removed.
Over time, this turns a website that was once simple into something that is busy, inconsistent, and harder to use, especially on a phone. The aim of this article is to help you identify and fix the most common issues without a full rebuild. These are the first five issues we see repeatedly, and the fixes that make the biggest difference quickly.
Too Many Priorities at Once
Many parish and pastorate homepages try to represent everything equally: every parish, every announcement, every ministry, every season. The result is a page where nothing clearly stands out. Visitors (and potential parishioners) see boxes, buttons, and banners competing for attention, but no obvious starting point. It's overwhelming.
This shows up differently on parish versus pastorate websites. Parishes often stack announcements and calls to action. Pastorate sites often default to grids of parish tiles. In both cases, clarity gets sacrificed in the name of completeness.
- • Choose one primary action for the homepage. For parishes this is usually "Mass Times" or "I’m New". For pastorate sites, it’s often "Find a Parish" or "Mass Times".
- • Limit the hero section to one clear message with one primary action and, at most, one secondary option.
- • Avoid low-value hero elements like generic welcome copy that does not guide the user with clear next steps.
The Homepage Tries to Do the Whole Website’s Job
Often, homepages try to explain the entire parish or pastorate at once: history, mission, schedules, ministries, school information, fundraising, and seasonal messaging. Most visitors are not reading closely. They are scanning for a specific answer.
When the homepage tries to be the whole website, it becomes harder to use. Important CTAs get buried, long paragraphs go unread, and visitors struggle to find the information they need.
- • Break content into short sections with short headings that match real questions people ask.
- • Move history and longform explanations to separate pages and link to them clearly.
- • Ensure that "I’m New", "Mass Times", and "Contact" are reachable within seconds on mobile.
Visual Inconsistency Quietly Erodes Trust
Mixed fonts, mismatched button styles, inconsistent spacing, and uneven photo quality do more than look messy. They signal that no one is clearly responsible for the site. For new visitors, that uncertainty can reduce trust before a word is read.
This problem is common on sites maintained over many years by different volunteers or vendors. The good news is that it is one of the easiest issues to improve without rebuilding anything.
- • Define a single font system and apply it consistently to headings and body text.
- • Limit colors to a small, intentional set and use them the same way across pages.
- • Replace old, inaccurate, or low-quality images with a smaller number of consistent photos, even if they are taken on modern phones.
Mobile Reveals the Cracks
Most parish visitors view the site on their phones. Long pages and stacked sections that feel manageable on desktop can be overwhelming on mobile. What looks fine on a large screen can turn into endless scrolling and buried information on a phone.
This is usually not a platform problem. Most site builders allow mobile adjustments without a rebuild. The real issue is content volume and prioritization.
- • Review "Home", "Mass Times", and "Contact" on your phone and trim anything non-essential.
- • Increase spacing and tap targets for navigation links and buttons.
- • Hide, restructure, or remove low-priority content on mobile instead of forcing everything to fit.
Information Is Present, Direction Is Missing
Many parish websites succeed at sharing information but fail to guide action. Visitors often understand what the parish offers, but not what to do next or how to reach someone easily.
Parish websites should help people take a next step, whether that is planning a visit, asking a question, or getting in touch with the office. If ways to move forward are buried or inconsistent, people often give up.
- • Add one clear next step near the top and bottom of key pages.
- • Repeat "I’m New" and "Contact" CTAs across the site rather than hiding them in a single menu.
- • Make phone number, address, office hours, and email visible in the footer on every page.
If this kind of breakdown is helpful, we offer free one-page visual audits for parishes and small nonprofits. They are designed to clarify what to fix first, without committing to a full redesign or rebuild.
- In Christ, The Ekkino Team