Ministry Designs Church Audit
The Parish of St. Raphael the Archangel has a functional digital presence, but it suffers from significant fragmentation and a lack of visitor-centric design. The biggest hurdles are the confusing multi-site structure (merger of three parishes), the lack of a clear, welcoming path for new visitors, and a dated aesthetic that fails to communicate warmth or clarity. To grow, the parish must consolidate its digital identity and prioritize the 'first-time visitor' experience over internal administrative organization.
Your site is losing visitors right now.
A score below 50 means people are finding your site and leaving before they ever connect with your church.
Four Steps Framework Scores
How your church website performs across each step
Grow Your Church, Connect With Your Congregation
Ready to improve your score?
Ministry Designs helps thousands of churches build high-performing websites that reach more people for Jesus.
2,000+ churches trust Ministry Designs to grow their online presence.
Detailed Findings
Fragmented Digital Identity
The parish website represents a merger of three churches, but the navigation and content are confusing, making it difficult for a new visitor to know where to go or what to expect.
Fix: Consolidate the digital presence into a single, unified 'new visitor' landing page that clearly directs people to the correct physical location based on their needs.
Local SEO Optimization
The parish is competing with other similarly named churches across the country, making it difficult to rank locally in Pittsburgh without stronger, location-specific schema markup.
Fix: Implement LocalBusiness schema markup on the homepage to explicitly define the church's physical address, service hours, and geographic coordinates for search engines.
Inconsistent Visual Hierarchy
The site lacks a cohesive design system, with varying font sizes and spacing that create a cluttered, uninviting experience for the user.
Fix: Standardize the typography and spacing across all pages, ensuring body text is at least 16px and headings follow a clear, consistent hierarchy.
Fix: Include a pastor welcome video on the homepage
There is no personal introduction from the leadership, which is a missed opportunity to build immediate trust.
Fix: Fix: Include a pastor welcome video on the homepage
Fix: Add more photos of church culture to the homepage
The homepage lacks sufficient imagery of the actual congregation and community life to help a visitor feel welcomed.
Fix: Fix: Add more photos of church culture to the homepage
Fix: Include an FAQ or What to Expect section to answer questions and build trust
New visitors have no clear resource to answer common questions about what to expect during a service.
Fix: Fix: Include an FAQ or What to Expect section to answer questions and build trust
Fix: Highlight a recent sermon on the homepage
There is no easy way for a visitor to get a 'taste' of the teaching style before attending.
Fix: Fix: Highlight a recent sermon on the homepage
Lack of Primary CTA
The site lacks a clear, action-oriented 'Plan Your Visit' button that stands out to a first-time visitor.
Fix: Add a high-contrast, primary 'Plan Your Visit' button above the fold on the homepage that leads to a simple, low-friction contact form.
Accessible Contact Information
The phone number and address are present, which is a foundational requirement for local trust.
Fix: Ensure the phone number is a clickable 'tap-to-call' link on all mobile views to reduce friction.
What Churches Are Saying
"A game changer. Since launching our new website we have gone from 2,000 to 7,000 website visits a month!"
Pastor Ryan Keller
Church on a Mission, Kenner LA
"They helped us go from page eight for 'churches in charlotte' to page one above the fold on Google!"
Lauren Nowak
South CLT Pres Church, Charlotte NC
"Ministry Designs has changed the game for a church in a big city! The easy plugins for SEO and modern design allows us to stand out on Google."
Antonio Ramquar
New Life Rehoboth, Bronx NY
"I love Ministry Designs for a few reasons. Their customer service is the best I've ever seen — and I'm not saying that lightly!"
Molly S.
Church Member
"I couldn't be more thrilled. They understand what it means to be in ministry and are flexible, courteous, and most of all, talented!"
Anonymous Pastor
Ministry Designs Customer
"Our online giving increased by 40% within the first two months of launching our new site. Ministry Designs truly gets it."
Pastor James Whitfield
Cornerstone Community Church, Nashville TN
"We went from being invisible online to getting 15+ first-time visitor inquiries every single week. Absolutely incredible results."
Sarah Mitchell
Grace Fellowship, Austin TX
"The team at Ministry Designs doesn't just build websites — they build tools that help churches grow. Worth every penny."
Pastor David Okafor
Abundant Life Church, Atlanta GA
Reviews from ministrydesigns.com