Would you believe me if said you can build a brand new church website in less than five minutes? In a few moments, that is what I want to show you. Of course it is not going to be a complete church website, but it will be functional. I have built dozens of websites using Squarespace. It is the best website builder for churches because of it’s ease of use, beautiful design, and low cost. I want to show you how quick and easy it is to start building your own website with Squarespace. All you need is a laptop or desktop and a solid internet connection. Here are 3 steps to building your church website in less than 5 minutes.
Step 1 - Go to squarespace.com and select your website template
Find a desktop or laptop computer. Go to squarespace.com and click the “get started” button. Here you can browse a list of template options for your websites. The best templates for church websites are Bedford or Hayden. Select your template and follow the steps to setup your free Squarespace account. In less than a minute you have a fully functioning site. There is a lot of customization work to be done, but at this point, the site could go live if you enable your Squarespace subscription. It is insane how easy and quick it is to do this.
Step 2 - Create your custom Squarespace domain
Before you start customizing your site, create a custom Squarespace domain, so you have a memorable url to navigate to while building your new site. Click “settings,” “domains,” and customize your built-in domain by replacing the auto-generated name with your church name. To log out of your site, navigate to your account profile and select log out. To log back into your site, navigate to your custom Squarespace domain and press the escape key.
Step 3 - Customize your website
By now you are beginning to learn how easy it is to work within Squarespace. On the left side of the window, you can add or delete pages, change the graphic design, and customize other settings. I recommend spending a few minutes watching tutorial videos at support.squarespace.com. There you will the learn the basics of how the website builder works. Try uploading your church logo to the new site by selecting “design” then “title and logo.” Next, delete all of the demo pages you won’t be needing by navigating to pages and selecting the trash can icon. Add a custom banner image and a headline to your home page. Finally, underneath the banner add your service times and a map of your church.
What you've seen in this brief demonstration is why I love Squarespace. I did not have to know any code, and it took just a few minutes to get the basics of church website up and running. Realistically it takes a day or two to input all of the relevant content into your new website and have it be fully functioning, but there is no need to hire a professional web designer or developer to do this. Do not underestimate your ability to build and maintain a website. What is keeping you from building your new church website with Squarespace? What questions do you have about creating a church website? Let me know in the comments below.