Is Your Church Hiding?
That’s a question most churches want to answer “NO” to, but unfortunately, some of those same churches don’t come up in the search results when someone is looking online for a church to visit. So, yes they may be “hiding.”
Have you ever heard the expression “the best kept secret in ___?” (fill in the name of your city) That’s a phrase you don’t really want to be said about your church. You want to be found easily in online searches and also have lots of word of mouth referrals. So, how do you accomplish those things?
Happy Members
First things first. It’s important to keep your members and regular attenders happy and cared for. If you make that a priority, out of that will naturally flow some great referrals and invitations to come to your church. And this isn’t something that should be done only to spread the word. That is one of the main purposes of the local church – to care for and connect those who go there.
SEO For Churches
SEO is a term that stands for search engine optimization, which means basically doing what you need to to get your website ranked in the search engines. And to take this a little further, there is also “local search, which is most likely what you want for your church. Local search refers to websites being ranked when searches are done locally. Today, many people use their cell phones to search for businesses, restaurants, and other establishments like churches. If your church doesn’t come up on the first few pages of the search (ideally you want to be on the first page), they probably will not find out about you.
While you will want to do some of both (seo and local search), local search will mainly be what your church will be concerned with. There are specific things you can do to help your rankings increase, both on your website and off. Read our SEO for churches post for more information.
When we create a website for you, we also offer an optional local search service (for an additional one-time fee.) While we cannot guarantee that your church will reach a particular position in the search results, our service will help your church website to be more visible. Ready to have a website designed? Call us at 1-800-615-8606 or email us. We look forward to hearing from you!
By Laurie Neumann