Developing a website for your church is a big investment, which is why it’s important to decide early on if you’re going to use a templated or custom website. While both will help you boost your digital presence and reach faith seekers online, each has its own perks and drawbacks. Following are some of the pros and cons of each type of website, but first let’s look at the difference between the two:

Templated Websites

A templated website is a pre-built environment where you can add your own content (images and text). The colors, font styles, size of elements, navigation, headers, footers, and individual modules (containers for content) are usually all predetermined.

Custom Websites

A custom website is created with colors, font styles, size of elements, navigation, headers, footers, and individual modules (containers for content) designed especially for a specific organization. A custom website can be based on a highly customized (through hard-coding) template, all the way to a digital environment built entirely from scratch.

Pros of a Templated Church Website

Cost-effective: Using a template for your church website requires a smaller upfront cost because you aren’t paying a developer to build a fully custom website. 

Quicker setup: Because the template is already built, you don’t have to wait for a developer to design something from scratch. You can go into the back-end of your site once a template is selected and begin adding content on your own right away.

Requires less technical knowledge: Templates often offer a back-end user experience catered toward people who may not have a deep technical knowledge of websites. This is great for church leaders and administrators who understand the necessity of a website but don’t want to learn the ins and outs of coding. It’s also simpler to make system updates to a templated website versus relying on a developer to do it for you on a custom site.

Quality built-in: The right template can check a lot of boxes in terms of intuitive CMS interface, pre-built and tested modules, plug-in compatibility and more. Templates can also work well for churches that need flexibility to distinguish themselves within a broader denominational context. 

Cons of a Templated Church Website

Limited flexibility: Templates do allow for the customization of certain elements, but not at the depth of a custom website. It can be tricky to make design or functionality additions and modifications to a template if you later find that you need something your selected template doesn’t allow for.

May look like other sites: Anybody who selects the same template as you will have a website that looks like yours, which could make it more difficult to stand out in a crowded digital environment.

Pros of a Custom Church Website

Unique branding and design: When developing a custom website, you have the ability to decide how everything aligns with your church’s brand. This means that it will stand out and remain consistent with the look and feel of your church.

Specific to your needs: While templated websites typically have the basics for what a church will need, there may be other functionalities you need to fit your church’s unique ministries and offerings. Custom websites are more scalable and flexible when it comes to developing unique modules, sections or pages.

Room for growth: Once your church website is developed, if you find you need your site to do something it doesn’t already, it’s much easier to add new functions to custom websites than templated ones.

Cons of a Custom Church Website

Upfront costs: Paying a developer to build a custom church website will cost more money than using a template that’s already been developed.

Longer development time: It will also take longer for your website to be ready if a developer has to build a custom site.

Build quality and shelf life: If a custom website is not built properly, you can end up paying a higher price for something that’s custom, but doesn’t provide the functionality or adaptability you need now and in the future. Be prepared to take steps to ensure the team you’re choosing has a reputation for building quality digital spaces that consider your needs and the needs of your users. Responsive design across devices, plug-in compatibility and an intuitive application of the CMS are just a few considerations.

The Beauty of a UCCE Website

Websites created on the UCCE platform share the benefits of both custom and templated sites, as the platform offers a templated approach with some flexibility built in. Churches that sign up for a website through UCCE get customized branding, incorporating the logo, mission, as well as images of the building, staff, and congregation. A contact page offers custom form capabilities so users can quickly and easily get in contact with leadership. Each page and all content is designed to optimize the user experience, with dedicated assistance from UCCE staff members. This allows for high-quality and enjoyable visits.

Churches that use the UCCE platform benefit from the gravitas of the UCC brand while being able to express their own unique traits. When users click between your UCCE website and other parts of the broader UCC digital ecosystem, they enjoy an intuitive and cohesive user experience, which has proven time and again to be valuable. And, the design is responsive for desktop and mobile phone display.

UCCE gives churches options, too. There’s a standard subscription that provides space on the host server (bringing with it all of the security and data integrity features needed) and access to the Church’s custom-designed template to begin building a website. UCCE also offers a content support package, in which the UCCE team provides an intake form to guide content organization and collaboration, including copywriting, editing, and SEO. 

The UCC Everywhere (UCCE) program is a state-of-the-art website builder for church leaders within the UCC. For a monthly or annual subscription fee, churches, Associations and Conferences get their own site along with other digital marketing tools. These UCCE sites, while templated, are designed for the needs of almost any church and come with technical support from developers at the UCC National setting if you need assistance of any kind.

There are many questions to consider when setting up a church website: 

How will this set us up for success in the future and accommodate our evolving needs? How quickly do we need a website? What will be the easiest to use and maintain? What works best with our budget? What will be best for telling the story of our ministry and of the UCC?

And whether a template, custom, or UCC Everywhere website ends up fitting your church’s needs best, we hope that this information helps set up your digital ministry for success!