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2 © 2016 Pro Church Tools Inc.
Your church’s website has massive implications on your church as a whole, because your church’s first
impression is almost always going to be made on your website. You need your church to put your best foot
forward each and every time a new visitor checks you out online.
Let’s do an exercise together...I want you to imagine that instead of a multi-page website, just imagine that your
church’s website is only a single page. All your church’s website gets is a single page. How would that change
the design? How would that shrink the amount of features and additions that you would want to include? Now, let’s
take that even one step further. Instead of a whole page - all you get now is a single headline for your site. A
new visitor lands on your site - there’s a white background and a single headline - what does it say?
I truly believe that this is one of the most powerful exercises that you can complete. Because this will help you
drill down to the precise purpose of why your website exists. And the reason this is so important is because on
the average, 5x as many people read the headline of a website as read the body copy (Source). That’s right -
5x as many people. You have a very small time frame to make a good first impression on a new visitor to your
site (less than 10 seconds) and so you need to communicate clearly if you hope to cut through the noise - that’s
what this headline writing template will allow you to do.
PART 1: Address a Problem PART 2: Offer a Desired Result
The 2-Part Headline Writing Template
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The headline writing template consists of two parts (illustrated below). The headline begins by addressing a
problem that exists in your potential new visitor’s life. And the headline ends by offering your potential new
visitor a different path - a desired end result.
For your headline to impact someone, both of these elements must be present. If you have one without the
other the headline writing formula is broken.
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The most difficult part of writing your headline is determing the problem you want to address. And because
that’s the most difficult part, we’ve done all the heavy lifting for you (seriously, we’re making this super easy for
you).
We drilled down to three of the most common problems that the average person faces in their lifetime. All of hu-
mankind will confront at least one of these three problems in their lifetime. Moreover, the reason we specifically
chose these three problems, is because the Church is uniquely positioned to help people when they’re
confronting these problems.
Use the grid below to choose which of the three problems resonates most strongly with your church and who
you’re trying to help (choose just one). If you get stuck, browse through the examples on the following pages.
Problem #1I’m not good
enough
Problem #2I’m all alone and no one
understands me
Problem #3I’m wasting my life and missing out on my true
purpose
Desired Result #1Hope
Desired Result #2Community
Desired Result #3Purpose
#1 Address a Problem #2 Offer a Desired End Result
Determining The Problem You Want To Address
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Bad Example #1Don’t simply talk about yourself
Illustrated above, this is probably the most frequent mistake we see churches making with their
site’s main headline. This church is simply talking about themselves. It’s the equivalent of being
stuck in a conversation with someone who insists on only talking about themselves.
“We’re a church that does this...”
“We’re a church that believes this...”
Think about a car ad. Car ads don’t just list off the cool features of the car, instead, the ad will
get you to imagine what your life will be like when you own this car. This is marketing 101. You
need to invite your potential new visitor into the story. Don’t simply talk about yourself.
5 © 2016 Pro Church Tools Inc.
Bad Example #2Visual & written messaging need to be consistent
This headline claims this church is all about people, but instead of a photo of smiling & laughing
people, there’s a hero shot of their worship pastor. And this is another common mistake we see
churches make again and again.
The visual & written messaging on your church’s website need to be consistent. Don’t tell a
new visitor that “We’re all about people” and then show them a picture of your worship leader
standing on stage with a spotlight on him while everyone else in the photo is a blacked-out
silhouette. It’s completely inconsistent.
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Bad Example #3Beautiful design isn’t enough
This specific bad example is tough for me - because the website’s design is stunning. Here’s the
thing though...no amount of stunning design will make up for poor messaging.
Again, here we have an example of a church that is showing no regard for a potential new visitor.
They’re not inviting a new visitor to be a part of the story, they’re not engaging a new visitor in a
conversation, and they’re not resonating with any problems either. All we have here is a church
spelling out a very generic mission statement.
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Good Example #1 - Pro Church Toolsprochurchtools.com
We spent close to three months developing the main headline you see above. And you’ll notice
that the headline’s messaging isn’t about us, it’s all about you.
“You can feel like a pro.”
“You can learn creative skills.”
“Get your church noticed.”
When you focus your messaging on who you’re trying to serve, rather than your own wants &
needs & purposes, everybody wins.
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Good Example #2 - Grace Hills Churchgracehillschurch.com
Grace Hills is a smaller church, which just goes to show you don’t need deep pockets or a
massive audience to have a vibrant online presence.
The reason this headline is so powerful is that it isn’t really about Grace Hills Church at all - it’s
about you. And it’s about me.
This headline doesn’t list the church’s mission statement or vision. It simply aims to resonate
with an online visitor. This is the key. Don’t talk about yourself, talk about your people.
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Good Example #3 - Cornerstone Churchgo2cornerstone.com
Cornerstone’s headline is considerably longer than most, because it’s essentially condensing
the entire website into just two sentences.
Cornerstone recognizes that 5x as many visitors will read this headline than the other words
on their site and so they want everyone to know exactly what they’re about - even if all they see
is this headline.
In just a couple of sentences Cornerstone tells you about their community, their worship
experiences, and their demographics.
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Good Example #4 - Remnant Churchremnantrva.com
Instead of talking about themselves and telling you what makes their church great, Remnant is
using their website’s most prime real estate to be invitational.
Your headline can essentially serve two purposes: it can turn your visitors into spectators or
participants. If your messaging is inward-focused, it will turn your visitors into spectators. On
the contrary, if your messaging is outward-focused, it will turn your visitors into participants.
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Good Example #5 - Glad Tidings Omahagladtidingsomaha.com
If the prospect of writing a headline seems daunting, there’s an incredibly simple alternative.
And Glad Tidings is a perfect example.
Instead of carefully crafting a headline of their own, Glad Tidings has simply used a testimony
from their church community.
The technical marketing term for this is “social proof.” Instead of talking about yourself and
telling the world how great you are, let your church do the talking for you with an endorsement
written in their own words.
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Here’s the good news: you don’t need to build a new website or invest thousands of dollars to completely
upgrade your online presence. Using our 2-part headline writing template, you can craft a headline that instantly
resonates with new visitors to your site and immediately let’s them know, “We’re a church that cares about you
and understands you.” Truthfully, this is entirely more powerful than a new video slider, parallax scrolling, or any
other current/past web design trend.
Use the 2-part headline writing template below to make sure your new headline has both elements present. It
only works when both parts exist. And use the problem/result grid to choose which problem resonates most
strongly with your church’s identity. When you’ve done that, use the notes pages below to begin brainstorming
different options for headlines.
Remember, 5x as many people read the headline as read the body copy on websites (Source). So if you work
through the exercises in this template, you can drastically improve your church’s online presence. Visitors will
stay on your site longer, more families will visit your church, and more people will experience life change and the
hope found in Christ.
PART 1: Address a Problem PART 2: Offer a Desired Result
The 2-Part Headline Writing Formula
+Problem #1
I’m not good enough
Problem #2I’m all alone and no one
understands me
Problem #3I’m wasting my life and missing out on my true
purpose
Desired Result #1Hope
Desired Result #2Community
Desired Result #3Purpose
13 © 2016 Pro Church Tools Inc.
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