Church SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can be very challenging and frustrating to master. You just paid $8K for your church's new “hip” website. It has all the bells and whistles: the eye-catching photography, the bold in-your-face font, the flashy animations, colors that just pop off the screen, and a sleek sermon library that’ll put YouTube and Netflix to shame. A few weeks later you search, “churches near me,” on Google. Your church is nowhere to be found. Hmm, that’s kinda odd, you think to yourself. You then conduct more search combinations, but you get the same results. Finally after googling your church’s name, it shows up in the results. But even then, it’s number 7 on the list. At this moment, you feel hopeless and you feel like you wasted your money.
But there's still hope. Here are 8 tips to improve the SEO for your church.
1. Prioritize Local SEO
Did you know that there is more than one type of SEO? I won't name them all here, but the 3 main types are: On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, and Technical SEO. All three are very important to your church website, but there’s one that is more important and often forgotten about; local SEO. The popular SEO company Semrush describes Local SEO this way, “Local SEO is a set of techniques that can help your local business appear more prominently in unpaid, location-based search results on Google Search, Google Maps, and other search engines.” To break it down further, local SEO is focused on making your business (your church) appear higher on search engines when a user is in a specific location. Most SEO types are going to be your business (your church) vs the rest of the world’s businesses (churches). It’s estimated that there are over 37 million churches in the world. With numbers like that, your church is highly unlikely to ever see the top of Google. By prioritizing local SEO, you’re only focusing on churches in your city, which is a much lower number than 37 million. If you were to google phrases like, “church,” “churches near me,” or “churches in [Insert city, state],” a local search result always shows up. The first thing that you see at the top of the page is a map and a list of 3 churches. This is called the local pack. This is prime real estate for local businesses. While users have the ability to click the ‘More Places’ button, a lot of them will make their selection based on the 3 options that Google gave them. The 3 options aren’t random either. Like social media platforms, Google has an algorithm too. Before you roll your eyes and begin losing faith, understand that Google’s algorithm is much easier. Remember that it’s not your church against the world, it’s just your church against the churches in your location. By following the tips listed in this article, your church has a great chance of landing in the local pack, especially since a lot of churches aren’t focusing on local SEO. The remainder of this article will break down how to have good local SEO.
2. Set up Google Business Profile
What is a Google Business Profile? It used to be called Google My Business. It’s a free tool that allows you to manage how your church appears on Google. For all the people born prior to 2000, it’s managing how your church looks in the phone book, except it’s Google. Remember the local pack that I mentioned earlier? If you click on one of the churches that show up, it displays that church’s Google Business Profile. A Google Business Profile has all the important things that you need to know about that business like: name, address, phone number, website, hours of operation, business description, photos, reviews, social media profiles, products, services, and updates. In order to manage all of this, you need to create a Google Business Profile account. Your church probably has one already, but you might not have claimed it.
How to see if you have claimed Google Business Profile
- Head over to Google Business Profile and log in. If you've claimed your location, it will be listed here.
- If not, you'll need to claim it by clicking the 'Claim this business' link in your Google Business Profile.
- If your location has already been claimed, request to claim ownership.
Once you have access to your Google Business Profile, you will need to fill out as much information as possible. The more information, the better. Make sure that all the information that you are adding is correct and accurate. Having any missing or wrong information can lower your ranking on the local pack. If the name of your church is Life Church Atlanta, don’t put your name as Life Church ATL. Though it looks cooler, it’s not the name of your church. Also, be very detailed when filling out your business description. You can use up to 750 characters. Make the most of it and fill it with valuable information that visitors are looking for like: what to expect when visiting, service times, information about kids, mentions of your city, etc. Having location-based keywords should be included too. Ex: “We’re a church in Tulsa, Ok” or “We’re located to the left of the Empire State Building.” Upload high-quality pictures of your church and make sure you’re actively getting reviews which I’ll be talking about next.
3. Get Google Reviews
Asking for reviews for your church seems kind of odd when you think about it. It makes it seem like the church is a product. But, people like reviews. These days most people will visit your church website before they step foot at your church. But, there’s another step that happens before your website; the Google search (or ChatGPT since AI is taking over). Reviews are a big part of Google’s algorithm. They play a big part for customers too. According to NiceJob, “97% of customers say reviews impact their buying decisions.” While people aren’t making a purchase when trying to decide to go to your church, they are still making a decision. Most people are going to choose the place that has the most and the highest reviews. People want to make sure they make the right choice. They need to build their trust. Google is all about giving people trustworthy information. Do a quick search of ‘restaurants near me’. I can almost guarantee that the 3 restaurants that pop up on the local pack will have a rating of 4+ stars and hundreds of reviews. Your church can be in that same position too.
How to get people to leave reviews for your church
So how exactly do you go about getting people to leave reviews? What exactly are they even reviewing? The preaching? The worship? The people? All of the above. Tell your church members to be honest and talk about their experiences. If they have been going there for a while, there must be a reason why they keep coming back. You can ask people to leave a quick testimony of what God has done for them since they have been going to your church. Encourage them to add pictures or videos to the review, as well as leave a 5-star rating. Remember a lot of high ratings are what Google likes to see. Here are some ways to get people to write reviews:
- When first-time visitors go to the visitors' area at your church, ask them what they thought about the church. If it was a positive experience, ask them to leave a review. Have a QR code for the review link.
- Send an automated email or text message the following day after filling out a connect card.
- Put a Google Review link as your signature in your weekly newsletters
- Make a slide with a QR code encouraging people to write a review. You can have this play between services or in the lobby area on your TV’s
- After a church event, send an email to everyone who attended and ask them to write a review of their experience on Google.
- Send an automated text message every few months or so asking people to write a review.
- Have a dedicated review page on your church’s website.
When asking for reviews, never offer any incentives. This is against Google’s policy. Simply encourage your church members how a review can open the door for more people to discover your church and experience Jesus.
Make sure to respond to reply to Google reviews
While we hope to have nothing but 5-star reviews on our Google Business Profile, someone will leave a bad review. If you're anything like me, you like to find reasons to avoid buying a product so you focus more on the negative reviews. As crazy as it sounds, depending on the reason, a small batch of negative reviews can steer people away from buying a product. As a church, It’s important to respond to the negative reviews. Responding to negative reviews allows potential visitors to see that the church cares. Make sure to have a gentle response and show empathy. Encourage the person to contact you for further conversation. A response from your church can negate a bad review. But don’t just respond to negative reviews, respond to positive reviews too! Treat every online encounter as if someone were on your stage talking about their experience.
4. Have Consistent NAP
No, I’m talking about taking consistent naps every day (though that isn’t a bad idea). NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. Believe it or not, your church’s NAP is displayed in many places throughout the internet. Just to name a few: Apple Maps, Bing, Facebook, Instagram, MapQuest, Waze, Yelp, etc. Here’s a list of the most popular citations for local SEO in the US. If your information isn’t the same on these sites as it is on your Google Business Profile, it can hurt your rankings on Google. As stated before, Google is all about providing users with Trustworthy information. If your information is outdated or inconsistent, that is a red flag for Google. While you could go in manually and change each citation yourself, doing so can be very time-consuming. A better way to fix NAP inaccuracies is to use a citation builder site like BrightLocal. It costs money, but it can get fixed at a fraction of the time.
5. Post updates on your Google Business Profile
Did you know that you can create posts on your Google Business Profile? You should utilize it differently than posting on Facebook or Instagram. The main purpose of posts on your Google Business is to keep your audience informed, engaged, and connected. Google states, “You can connect with existing and potential customers through your Business Profile on Google Search and Maps through posts. You can create and share announcements, offers, new or popular items in stock, or event details directly with your customers.”
What Google Business Profile posts can do for your church
- Enhance local search visibility - Posting updates on a consistent basis signals to Google that your church is active and relevant. This can increase the chances of appearing higher on the search results and Google Maps.
- Share relevant and timely information - Whether you have an event coming up, new service times, or a special announcement, posting updates can keep potential visitors and current members informed.
- Build trust and credibility - In case you didn’t catch the other times it was stated in the article, Google wants to give trustworthy information to all users. Frequent posts are another way of building trust. Google sees that your church is an actual church and that your church still exists.
- Drive traffic to your website - With posts you can include a call-to-action button (Ex: Learn More, Sign up, Register Now) to encourage users to visit your website.
6. Check the on-page SEO on your church website
While local SEO should be a priority, on-page SEO is also a must. On-page SEO focuses on optimizing individual web pages to improve their rankings on search engines and attract more traffic to your website. This is a lot more advanced than Local SEO, so if you’re unfamiliar with web design and development, reach out to a professional web designer.
On-page SEO checklist
- Conduct keyword research - I know research sounds like a tedious process, but it can really pay off. Look up location-based keywords using free tools like Google Keyword Planner or WordStream, or paid tools like Semrush or Ahrefs. Most users will search for churches using location keywords.
- Include target keywords strategically throughout your website - The keywords that you targeted need to be placed naturally in header tags (H1s, H2s, H3s, etc.) and in the first paragraph of your web pages. While ‘Welcome Home’ sounds good to put as your H1 header, it doesn’t help your search rankings. Use one of your keywords there instead.
- Have the proper site structure - There should only be one H1 header on each web page and it should be at the top of the page. Any header after that should be an H2 header, and if a point needs to be broken down further, you should use a H3 header. I’ll use this web page as an example. The H1 header is: 10 Tips for Better Church SEO. The H2 headers are: Prioritize Local SEO, Set up Google Business Profile, etc. The H3 headers are: How to see if you have claimed Google Business Profile, How to get people to leave reviews for your church, etc. Everything is clean and organized.
- Write a title tag that has your target keyword in it - The title tag is what the title of the web page is. Whatever you put as the title is how your webpage will be displayed on search engines, social media posts, and in the tabs of browsers. Title tags help Google and users know what your web page is about. Having the word ‘church’ is a must for your title tags. You should also include your church’s location. Make sure to keep the title tag between 50-60 characters. Google cuts it off if it is longer than that. Also, avoid using the same title tag for each page. Each individual page should have a unique title.
- Write meta descriptions that will cause users to click on your site - Meta descriptions are the short descriptions that you see below the title tags on Google. They have no impact on ranking on Google, but they are still very valuable. Think of them like what thumbnails do on YouTube. Oftentimes a really good thumbnail can be enough to cause you to click on the video. A really well-written meta description can cause users to click on your website. A lot of stores will usually advertise a sale or some kind of call-to-action phrase that will make users click. You should use a similar tactic for your church (Ex: “Find out how we are making a difference in the city of Richmond,” or, “Join us for a new sermon series this week for people struggling with addiction.” Make sure to keep it under 155 characters as Google will also cut it off if it is any longer than that.
- Use simple URLs - Make sure your URLs are clean, short, and keyword-rich. Your about page should be /about instead of /page?id=456. The first option makes it clearly known that this page is an about page. You have no idea what the second option is even about. Don’t make Google or people have to guess what your pages are about. If you do, Google most likely won’t rank it high and people most likely won’t click on it.
- Use alt text on images - Alt text is a brief description of an image included in the HTML code of a web page. It helps people who are visually impaired understand what the image is about by using screen readers. It also can allow images from your website to appear in search results. Sometimes images on websites fail to load. When this happens, alt text is shown so people can still understand what the image was supposed to be. Every image on your website should have alt text (except decorative images). Make sure your alt text is concise but also descriptive.
7. Monitor SEO
There are so many tools you can use to monitor how your website is doing. BrightLocal is an SEO app specifically for local SEO. Google Search Console is a free tool to see how your site is performing on Google. Semrush and SE Ranking are both robust SEO platforms that can pretty much do anything when it comes to improving your SEO.
8. SEO takes time
Please understand that improving your church’s SEO is a long-term process. It takes time. Most people tend to think after you fix a few things that your website will instantly pop to the top of Google. That is a get-rich-quick philosophy. Think of SEO as investing money in mutual funds for 40 years. It’s a very long and slow process, but in the end, if you keep being consistent at it, it will pay off. It might take 3 months, it might take 6 months, or it might take 2 years. Don’t give up. Keep being consistent and keep finding ways to improve your church’s SEO.
Take your church SEO to the next level with professional help
We help churches get found on Google by designing websites and managing their local SEO. We want you to continue to focus on the mission of making disciples. It's our goal to help bring the people to you. Book a call with us today!
Evan Smith is the owner of Two Ten Creatives, a creative design company specifically for churches. He strategically finds ways to bring more visitors to churches by designing church websites and focusing on local SEO. He is a follower of Jesus, a husband, and a father.
