Church SEO

Every day people will search for a church on the internet, looking for someone where their family can connect with God, maintaining their faith. Some people search for a church when they are going through a difficult time. This means that having a good quality website that is Search Engine Optimised (SEO), they will be able to find your church. It's important when deciding whether to implement a SEO strategy that you understand the following statistics:

• Forty four percent of people prefer to pray in their own homes
• Fifty three percent of people stream their church services online
• Thirty three percent of new church members found their new church on the internet

When your church has a good search engaging ranking, you will experience a consistent number of new members finding your church. Continue reading below to learn more about church SEO and what you can do to boost your visibility on the internet.

Understanding SEO for Churches

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) helps people find your church when they search on the internet. It involves a number of techniques and strategies to be ranked effectively, ensuring Google and the other top search engines recognise your website. The aim is to improve your ranking in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), helping your church improve your visibility, reach new and existing members and turn those visitors into loyal church members. A SEO optimised website can increase your churches visibility, helping you expand your ministry.

Key Components of Church SEO

SEO comprises of a number of strategies and techniques, each one is important to helping you increase your ranking in SERPs and reach your new and existing members.

Website Optimisation

SEO pays close attention to your website, optimising it for success. This includes a number of different strategies, including technical SEO. Website optimisation includes a mobile friendly design, enabling people to find your church across all devices with fast loading times and a user friendly design.

Keyword Research

Keywords and phrases are those used by people searching the internet for a church in their community. Keyword research is an essential element to any effective SEO campaign. Using targeted keywords ensures you reach potential new members and existing members, increasing your church's visibility in search results.

Local SEO

The majority of people searching for a church will search in their local area. They may be new to the area or they are visiting and want to attend a service. Local SEO helps your church reach these people, through a number of different techniques including using local keywords, registering your church in local online directories and completing a Google My Business page.

Content Strategy

The content you publish is also a very important part of any effective church SEO campaign. Content must be high quality and informative. A content strategy includes a number of different strategies that can include event information, blog posts and sermons.

Backlinks

Another important part of a successful church SEO campaign is backlinks. Backlinks need to be the highest quality and created manually. They are when a website links to your church website. It helps search engines determine your authority in the religious sector, showing that other websites endorse your content.

Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Church SEO

Implementing an effective SEO campaign does take time and effort. It involves a number of techniques and strategies to ensure your online success, helping you reach new members on a daily basis.

Keyword Research

The first step to implementing church SEO is to carry out thorough keyword research and then implement it into your website content, blogs and other published content. Keywords should be placed throughout the page without stuffing them. They need to flow naturally within the content.

Publish High Quality Content

Content is king and has been an essential part of successful SEO campaigns. It is imperative that the content you publish is high quality, informative and answers a question. When publishing content ask whether it answers your member’s questions, does it provide them with valuable insights and information and will it add value to their experience?

Optimise Images

When it comes to publishing images they need to be the highest quality and optimised for SEO. This means using your researched keywords when publishing the content, helping the images appear in search results.

Page Speed

In today's fast paced world, people expect your church website to open within two seconds. If your site takes longer than three seconds to load, you could end up losing potential new members to your church. A two second delay can result in more than eighty seven percent of new visitors abandoning your church website. It is essential that you ensure your web pages are fast loading, taking no more than two seconds to load.

Mobile Friendly

You must also ensure that your website is mobile friendly. These days people use a variety of devices to search for a church on the internet. Your church SEO strategy should include a mobile friendly website, making it easier for potential new members to read up on your church on a small touch screen.

Measuring SEO Success

There are a number of excellent tools you can use to measure your SEO success. Some are free to enjoy, while others may enjoy a nominal fee.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is another popular choice to measure your technical SEO success. You can easily track your websites performance and health with this free tool. This tool can be used to improve your church's visibility on the internet. There is no denying that church SEO has become more important than ever before, helping you reach your members and attract new members to your church. Implementing an effective SEO strategy will ensure your church increases your ranking in SERPs, making you more visible to those searching for a church in your area. Download your free SEO check-list now or give the team at Cartoozo a call today and see how our expert team can assist you with your church SEO.

FAQs on Church SEO

What Are Important Google Ranking Factors?

There are a number of important factors Google takes into account when ranking your church in SERPs. These include:

• High quality content 
• Fast loading website pages 
• An easy to navigate website to ensure a positive user experience 
• High quality and relevant backlinks 
• A mobile friendly website 
• Fresh and updated content

What Are Organic Results?

Organic SEO results are those that are provided by search results. These results are based on quality and relevance of the content. Organic results are free results that come from natural search outcomes. These results appear under the sponsored results and cannot be changed or influenced. You can improve this ranking through an effective church SEO strategy and campaign.

What is a Bounce Rate?

A bounce rate is when a visitor to your church website doesn't look beyond the first page, known as the landing page. They are single-page visitors, sending only one page request to the Google Analytics server. You need to boost page engagement through internal links and call to actions, improve your page performance and promote consistent user interactions to reduce your bounce rate.