For our free critique series, the first church website I have chose is First Baptist Church Hendersonville, a large church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. 

I'm going to break down this critique into different sections, and in each section, highlight what's being done well, what weaknesses there are, and offer some suggestions for improvement.  I'll then wrap things up with an overall impression of the effectiveness of the site.

After hearing my take, I encourage you to then add your feedback in the comments below.  After all, we can all help one another.

So, let's begin…and I'll be referring to the site as FBCH from hereon, just so I don't have to continually type the whole name out.

Appearance

• What's done well?
• Clean Layout – Not too busy, and focuses on the content of the site.
• Readable – Text is placed on contrasting backgrounds for easy readability.
• I See People – The images of members of the congregation help to show the personality of the church.
• What needs work?
  • Header Text/Image – The name of the church doesn't stand out in the header, and I don't find the animated text all that effective.
  • Inconsistent Layout – The Contact Information page doesn't have a side column, but The Connection Place page does.  This trend continues throughout the site.  While I understand that the latter page has more sub-sections, it would be nice to see some more consistent layout across the site.
• Suggestions
  • Get a new header image with the church name that is more readable and isn't so busy.
  • Work to make the page layouts more consistent across the site.

Organization

• What's done well?
  • Great Navigation Bar – The navigation bar ties the site together well.  It doesn't take over the site, but it's extremely functional.
  • Announcements & Upcoming Events – It's nice to have a section of the main page dedicated to upcoming church activities.  Visitors can then see what's coming up quickly and easily.
• What needs work?
  • Contacts vs. Service Times – On the other side of the main page, I think it would be more effective to put a listing of the weekly service times.
  • Labeling Documents – Some of the links on the site link to PDF files, but they have no indication that they aren't web pages.  These documents should be clearly labeled, so at least people need to have an external application (like Adobe Reader) installed.
  • Duplicate Navigation? – On many pages, the use of the navigation bar along with the sub-menu that sits right below it seems like a bit much.
• Suggestions
  • Put the service times on the main page (yes, this is a point of emphasis for me).
  • Make sure links that don't go to other web pages are clearly labeled.
  • Pare down navigation menus to a minimum.  There's no need for redundant links, especially when they're right next to each other.  (I'd combine this with the standardizing of the site layout.

Utility

• What's done well?
  • Something For Everyone – The site does a nice job at trying to provide information both for regular members (most of the When & Where pages) and for visitors (most of the About Us pages).
  • Interim Pastor's Blog – Having a place where the pastor can regularly share about his views and expound upon sermons is a great way for the pastor to be able to connect with visitors and even members.  Normally, I'd like to see this incorporated into the main layout of the site, but seeing as FBCH is using an interim pastor for the time being, it's probably appropriate for them to let him use his own blog site.
  • Resources – FBCH's Resources section is a great tool for both members and visitors.  Members can get the learning materials they need and even catch up on services they missed.  Meanwhile, visitors can preview the church by listening to recent sermons.
  • Staff Portal – Not that I can login or anything, but it's a nice feature to allow staff members to get into confidential (or at least protected files) anywhere that is convenient for them.  Especially if many of your staff members don't actually work in the church, this can be a big plus.
• What needs work?
  • What's In A Name? – Some of the names of menu items and pages wouldn't be clear to a first time visitor.  For example, the Homereach link and page didn't clearly tell me what Homereach was.  I'm assuming that they are a form of small group bible studies.
• Suggestions
  • Examine the names of links and “churchspeak” used on the site to make sure that all terms are clear to a first time visitor.

Overall, FBCH has a very nice site that covers many of the needed bases.  It's not flashy, but it does the job well.  There's a few details that could be cleaned up to improve the site.

In general, keep up the good work, and strive to take your site to the next level.