Dean Cothill

Tag: pe churchnet

  • My local church and Google “Business”

    My local church and Google “Business”

    “Google SEO” and Google Business isn’t something that should scare us off the bat, I’m going to try and simplify as much of it as possible as we go here.

    “Google SEO” is important for a local community church in South Africa (or really any organization) because it helps to increase the visibility of their website in search engine results. This can be especially important for a small, local church because it can help more people in the community discover their church and learn about the services and events they offer. Additionally, having a strong online presence can help to establish credibility and make it easier for people to get in touch with the church or learn more about it. Overall, Google SEO can be a useful tool for helping a local community church in South Africa reach a wider audience and connect with more people in their community.

    Why is “Google Business” important for my local church?

    Having a Google My Business listing can be beneficial for your local church in several ways:

    1. Increased visibility: Having a listing on Google My Business can help your church’s website show up higher in search results when people search for churches in your area.
    2. Connect with your community: Google My Business allows you to share information about your church, such as your service times, location, and contact information, making it easier for people in your community to find and connect with you.
    3. Online presence: Having a listing on Google My Business can help to establish your church’s online presence and make it easier for people to learn about your church and the services you offer.
    4. Customer reviews: Google My Business allows customers to leave reviews of your church, which can help to build credibility and establish your church as a trusted place of worship in your community.
    5. Insights: The Google My Business dashboard provides insights about how people are interacting with your listing, such as how many people have viewed your listing and how they found it. This can help you understand the effectiveness of your online presence and make any necessary adjustments.

    How to setup Google Business for my local church

    To set up your church’s Google My Business listing, follow these steps:

    1. Go to the Google My Business website (https://www.google.com/business/) and click “Start now” to begin the process of creating a listing.
    2. Enter your church’s name and address. If your church has a physical location that is open to the public, you can also add your phone number and website.
    3. Choose the category that best describes your church (e.g., “church,” “place of worship,” etc.) and add any additional information about your church that you would like to include (e.g., services offered, mission statement, etc.).
    4. Verify your listing by choosing the option that is most convenient for you. This may involve receiving a postcard in the mail with a verification code, or verifying by phone or email.
    5. Once your listing has been verified, you can begin to manage it by logging in to the Google My Business dashboard. From here, you can add photos, update your hours of operation, and respond to customer reviews.

    I hope this help answer some of your questions around some “Google SEO” and how it links up with setting up your “Google Business”. Here is another article related to why SEO is so key in more depth.

    Look forward to hearing from you.

    Grace and peace

    Dean

  • Why is SEO important for my local church?

    Why is SEO important for my local church?

    I started in the Methodist Church as a bight eyes bushy tailed 19 year old, for 9 years being a youth, young adults and worship pastor in Johannesburg and then here in Port Elizabeth (South Africa). I then changed jobs a little and then found myself in a non-denominational church for 5 years being the Online Church Pastor. (A video for another day – LOL). One church had 1000 members a service, other services we were hoping for 20 people to arrive, yes, 20! and then pre pandemic we had 2000 people per service 3 times a Sunday…

    It doesn’t matter if you’re a large church or a small church—if your website isn’t getting traffic, it’s not going to be successful. And unfortunately, getting people to visit your website is not as easy as it used to be. Search engine optimization (SEO) has become more important than ever in order for churches to get the attention of their target audiences. That’s why I’ve put together this list of five reasons why SEO is essential for churches and online churches today:

    SEO is important for increasing traffic to your church website

    Search engine optimization is important because it helps you to rank higher in search engines, like Google. This will increase the amount of traffic your website gets, which is the most effective way to drive more sales and leads. Having a high ranking on Google can also help you get more exposure through organic traffic and social media channels.

    If you want to grow your church and online church, SEO is one of the best ways to achieve this goal. Because it takes time for results, it’s an ideal long term strategy for any church pastor and creative team who doesn’t want their success dependent on short term gains from promotions or paid advertising campaigns. (So much money spent on Facebook Ads, and sometimes even more now port pandemic)

    SEO provides a higher ROI than traditional marketing

    SEO is a long-term strategy, so it’s more cost effective. SEO provides better ROI than traditional marketing. Printing 5000 flyers at the robots or local mall will only go so far. There are only 5000 of them, we don’t know who actually sees these flyers and it ends there. We have all had that one post that goes a little viral, and it just goes much further than we ever thought it could’ve.

    SEO is more targeted than traditional marketing: When you use SEO to target your audience, you can reach them when they are ready to buy and convert on your website. This is not possible with other forms of advertising, which means that the people who see your ad are much more likely to visit your church or event in the future.

    Local Church SEO is more measurable than traditional marketing: Because Google Analytics tracks all of the information about how users interact with websites, it makes sense for us to know if our efforts are paying off or not! and here we can then innovate and pivot if we need to.

    SEO builds trust and credibility

    Search engines are known for their good taste. If a website is well-known and respected, it’ll rank higher in search results. This means that you will be rewarded for the time and effort you’ve put into building trust with your audience.

    After all, if you’re an established church that built a good reputation online, why would people not trust you and your team?

    SEO helps build credibility among potential congregation or community members and helps them see that you’re trustworthy—a church they can rely on.

    SEO increases your market share

    So terrible to think like this but, Jesus has called us to go fishing, and let’s catch so much fish that the nets break… Search engine optimization is a long-term strategy. You can’t expect to see results overnight. That said, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, SEO can increase your market share—and the amount of fish you catch. Peter, Paul and John spent many nights on the water… How many nights you spending online?

    It helps you reach new members through organic search engine placement. Not only do unique visitors come from local searches, but those who visit your website will be more likely to actually check you out online for a church service or visit you in person.

    Search engines help drive traffic back to your site so that visitors stay on it longer—which means they’ll get more value out of their experience with you and are more likely to return again later on down the road, online or in person.

    SEO has the best ROI over time

    SEO has the best ROI over time. We in ministry for the long run, yeah?

    While PPC can be a great short-term strategy, it’s important to understand that with SEO, you’re investing in your church online presence for the long term. In other words, as you grow and invest in your church online, so too will your investment in SEO grow and pay off over time. So if you’re looking for a quick win that’ll help you get started on this journey, look elsewhere—SEO is a long game that requires patience and dedication but will eventually reap rewards if you stick with it.

    There are many benefits to using search engine optimization (SEO) in your church.

    Search engine optimization is an essential part of every churches marketing strategy. It is the best return on investment (ROI) and has many long-term benefits to your church.

    SEO is a low cost marketing strategy that increases your “market” share, which will lead to more people attending church and getting connected to community in the long run.

    Conclusion

    As you can see, SEO is an essential part of any local churches’ marketing strategy. It provides many benefits that other types of marketing don’t have—including higher returns on investment and greater trust in your “brand”. If you still aren’t convinced that SEO is right for your church, then consider the fact that it has the best ROI over time because there are no upfront costs involved! That means you can start seeing results right away without having to spend big bucks first. So what are you waiting for? Start implementing these strategies today!

    Church leaders (and maybe even business owners), I hope this helps…

    Contact me if you have any questions about SEO and other online presence management things.

    Much love

    Dean