Have you ever experienced a salesperson who talked too much, too quickly, overloading you with more information than you could possibly take in? Not a pleasant experience, right? Why would you want to do this to a potential visitor to your church?
The average person reads 300 words per minute. Since most only spend 10 seconds on a website page (be sure to check your analytics for the exact stats on your site) they’ll only capture about 50 words. That’s not much! Less is more in this case: less words can make your site more effective — especially on your home page.
While it might be true that the more someone knows about your congregation, the more they will find to like about it, your goal with a website is to get a website visitor to visit your church (usually for worship). And too many words can overwhelm the user, make it difficult to know what to pay attention to, and/or dilute your message. Be inviting without being overwhelming.
Streamlining your content in this way means that you really have to work to craft your text and focus its message — especially on your home page.
The users will read the headline first, so make that short and captivating. They will scan the rest of the page, so use section headings if needed, or use bold or italic fonts to make the most important information stand out. Create links to pages with more detailed information.