Best Catholic Websites of 2019 [Vlogcast]

Dec 29, 2019 by

Diane Kern

Beautiful Catholic websites inspiring more beautiful websites.

We recently rolled up our sleeves and asked our team to identify their favorite website designs of 2019. As the list took shape, we realized the great progress our customers made this year. Together, we continue to work toward creating websites that truly reflect the beauty and vibrancy of our Catholic faith.

It is a great honor to help thousands of Catholic parishes, schools, dioceses, and ministries communicate and evangelize more effectively — beginning with a stunning Catholic website design.

Best Catholic school websites

More and more Catholic schools are creating incredible online experiences for both current and prospective families. These sites are certainly at the top of the pack.

Notre Dame Academy

Palisades Park, New Jersey - notredameint.org

What we love: Compelling imagery + subtle content animations

This site has a lot going on, yet it doesn’t confuse or overwhelm — it entices! Notre Dame Academy shows how utilizing a variety of horizontal sections with vibrant colors and compelling images can create a stunning design with dimension and diversity from top to bottom. Click around to also see their use of large interior page images as well as custom buttons for more effective navigation. The site’s interior is just as attractive as its homepage.

Visit Website

The Atonement Academy

San Antonio, Texas - theatonementacademy.org

What we love: Branding through imagery and color

Branding is about communicating an experience unique to your organization. Here is another site that uses inspiration from its campus architecture to create a unique online experience. Check out their integrated use of specific color tones, video, background images, stylish framing around content regions, and stunning photography. This site is probably the closest thing to visiting their actual school campus (Psst … click at the top to visit the similarly fashioned parish site as well.)

Visit Website

St. Matthew Catholic School

San Antonio, Texas - smcssa.org

What we love: Purposeful symmetry and color placement

Sometimes, the simplest approach is best. St. Matthew Catholic School used their two school colors with fundamental design elements to create a visually pleasing layout. Notice how the horizontal lines help frame content sections to direct attention down the page and differentiate types of content. Secondly, the left-to-right symmetry of the content within each section creates a pleasing layout across the homepage (and looks beautiful on any device).

Visit Website

Best Catholic parish websites

From custom website designs to our library of free themes, here are our team's picks for best Catholic parish websites of 2019.

St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church

Austin, Texas - stcatherine-austin.org

What we love: Unique colors and one-of-a-kind header region

Elements of this church’s architectural design are found nestled throughout the entire website. Even the hues from its structure are used to create a warm and unique color scheme that’s apart from the typical white background with contrasting secondary tones. A crisp header region features the parish logo while the design draws focus to the site name, complemented by bold quick link buttons that add balance and contrast.  

Visit Website

St. Andrew's Catholic Church

Roanoke, Virginia - standrewsva.org

What we love: Video and animation

This church fills its large homepage feature region with an elegant video montage that depicts a vibrant parish. In addition, look for the use of subtle content animation throughout the site. For example, the logo discreetly shrinks into the navigation bar as visitors scroll down the page. Button titles gently slide upward upon hover. This use of video and animation create a fun and engaging homepage.

Visit Website

Santa Cruz Catholic Church

Buda, Texas - santacruzcc.org

What we love: Top-notch free theme homepage

This parish’s homepage makeover turned out absolutely stunning. The imagery and colors create a warm and welcoming feel that perfectly compliments the church's brand. The golden color in the church logo appears throughout the content sections, which pulls visitors toward more information. Icon buttons under the feature region are purposeful and also act as a frame, highlighting a single impactful image above. Large custom buttons near the bottom of the page help visitors find the most commonly sought information.

Visit Website

Best Catholic diocesan websites

Working with diocesan teams to pull off major website makeovers is fun and inspiring for all. This year produced more great solutions and unique approaches to design.

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Catholic Schools

Houston, Texas - choosecatholicschools.org

What we love: Large (very large) images

This archdiocesan office website for Catholic schools is an excellent example of how large (very large) images can determine a design. 
Notice the homepage is mostly pictures: simple, large, crisp images separated by the right amount of negative space. Clear titles and animated buttons produce a clean and attractive layout. Other usual elements (lines, module titles, shadowing effects, and extra colors) are unneeded while the images tell the story.

Visit Website

Archdiocese of Dubuque

Dubuque, Iowa - dbqarch.org

What we love: Unique solution for a ministry directory

Some websites share a lot of information, especially a diocesan one. When it comes to large amounts of content, creating good site navigation can be tough. Mega menus work great for organizing and listing out dozens of ministries, but what about an entire directory? The Archdiocese of Dubuque accomplished an interactive and fun way to present its ministry directory online. And it all looks great within a new custom website design.

Visit Website

Diocese of Fargo

Fargo, North Dakota - fargodiocese.org

What we love: Beautiful video in the homepage feature region

When an organization invests in a beautiful marketing video, it's important to make sure the artwork gets seen. An excellent place to guarantee eyes land on your video: the homepage feature region. The Diocese of Fargo’s homepage video not only shows off the beautiful interior of its cathedral and liturgies, it includes scenes from the community, culture, and lifestyle of the people of North Dakota. It tells a story without the need for words or music. 

Visit Website

Best Catholic ministry websites

Catholic ministries have a beautiful and important role in the Church. These ministries have built websites that allow their message to shine.

FrassatiUSA

Nashville, Tennessee - frassatiusa.org

What we love: A design that tells a story

Devoted to further the canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, this ministry’s mission is Frassati’s story - an adventurer, mountain climber, tireless servant, and someone who saw Heaven as the greatest summit.  The site's design reflects these traits of Blessed Frassati through the use of angled lines, mountainscapes as background images, and a cool summit-like color palette. Pepper that with compelling imagery and inspiring quotes to draw you even deeper (or should we say higher).

Visit Website

Catholic Community Foundation

New Orleans, Louisiana - ccfnola.org

What we love: Bold contrast and imagery

A design hardly ever needs a lot of flashy colors or flair. Clean and crisp does the trick! The Catholic Community Foundation website is a great example with its use of deep blue and bright white. These simple colors create a contrast that is both sharp and eye-catching. This approach sharpens the page titles, custom graphics, and a unique homepage feature region with text, images, and two call-to-action buttons.

Visit Website

Catholic Foundation of Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - https://cfook.org/

What we love: The important things first

This beautifully arranged site has a lot to share; however, the homepage offers information in digestible chunks. Using various horizontal content styles, the Catholic Foundation offers the most important information to viewers first. It’s one of those sites where people always find what they are looking for. Go explore for yourself!

Visit Website