Improving your synagogue website doesn’t always require a complete redesign.
Sometimes the biggest difference comes from fixing a handful of things that have gradually accumulated over time: outdated information, a cluttered homepage, photographs that no longer represent the congregation or a mobile experience that’s harder to use than it should be.
If your website could use some attention but you’re not ready to start over, here are four relatively simple places to begin.
1. Look at Your Website on Your Phone
Don’t just resize your browser window.
Actually pick up your phone and use the website.
Try to accomplish some of the things your visitors are likely to do.
Find Friday night’s service time.
Look for an upcoming event.
Find the synagogue’s address.
Make a donation.
Register for a program.
Contact the office.
How easy was it?
Nearly every modern website is technically responsive, meaning the layout adjusts to different screen sizes. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the website is pleasant to use on a phone.
Look for text that’s difficult to read, buttons that are too small or too close together, awkward navigation, oversized images, complicated forms and information that requires too much scrolling to find.
Pay particular attention to the things someone might need quickly while they’re away from a computer — service times, directions, event details and contact information.
For many visitors, the mobile version of your website isn’t a secondary experience.
It’s the website.
2. Clean Up Anything That’s Out of Date
This may be the easiest improvement you can make.
Go through your homepage and remove anything that’s clearly past its useful life.
Last month’s event.
A holiday that ended weeks ago.
A registration deadline that has passed.
An announcement that is no longer relevant.
Then look beyond the homepage.
Are your clergy and staff listings current? Are service times accurate? Does your membership page describe the way membership actually works today? Are there programs being described that haven’t existed in years?
Old information tends to accumulate quietly because everyone who works at the synagogue already knows what’s current.
A visitor doesn’t.
Outdated content makes the website less useful to members and can leave prospective members wondering whether the congregation itself is as inactive as the website appears to be.
You don’t need to rewrite everything.
Start by making sure what’s there is accurate.
3. Give Your Homepage Some Breathing Room
Over time, synagogue homepages tend to collect things.
Another event gets added. Then another announcement. A committee wants a flyer displayed. Someone wants a button for a fundraiser. Another person asks for an important notice at the top.
Individually, each request makes sense.
Collectively, they can turn the homepage into a bulletin board.
Take a look at yours and ask a simple question:
Does everything on this page really need to be here?
Feature some upcoming events, but link to the calendar for the rest.
Highlight important announcements, but don’t make every announcement equally prominent.
Move information intended for a very specific audience to the section of the website where that audience is likely to look for it.
Most importantly, leave enough room for the homepage to introduce the synagogue itself.
Who are you? What kind of Jewish community have you created? What matters to your congregation? What might make someone who doesn’t know you want to learn more?
Your homepage needs to serve current members.
But it also needs to make sense to someone who’s never been there before.
4. Replace the Photos That Aren’t Helping You
Photography has an enormous effect on how a synagogue website feels.
Take an inventory of the images you’re currently using.
Are any blurry or badly lit?
Are they obviously outdated?
Do you have photographs that are so tightly cropped they don’t work well in the available space?
Does the homepage primarily show empty rooms and buildings rather than people?
Replace the weakest images first.
You don’t necessarily need to hire a professional photographer or replace every photograph on the website at once. Look through photographs taken at recent synagogue events. Ask staff and congregants what they have. Start building a collection of strong images you can draw from over time.
And when choosing among them, look for photographs that show relationships.
People talking. Learning. Celebrating. Volunteering. Praying when appropriate. Spending time together.
A beautiful photograph of your sanctuary can show visitors where your community gathers.
A photograph of your congregants can show them the community they might become part of.
Start With the Things You Can Fix Today
It’s easy to look at an aging website and conclude that the whole thing needs to be replaced.
Sometimes it does.
But sometimes a website simply needs attention.
Remove what’s outdated. Simplify what’s become cluttered. Replace the photographs that aren’t doing you any favors. Use the site from your phone and fix the things that frustrate you.
Then take another look.
Those relatively small improvements may make a surprisingly noticeable difference.
And even if you ultimately decide that a larger redesign is needed, the exercise is still valuable. You’ll have a much clearer understanding of what’s working, what isn’t and what you’d want the next version of your synagogue website to do better.