Today we’ve got a guest post by Rebecca Shipley. Read more about how you can guest post on Christian Web Trends here.
After all the hard work that has gone into forming a new ministry within your church, you want it to begin helping people in the community. Sure, you can rely on word-of-mouth and the announcements section of the weekly bulletin, but those channels of spreading the news can only get you so far. In order to reach a significant amount of people and to allow your new ministry to thrive, you need to use local SEO to its advantage.
Pay attention to title and meta description tags
The tags that you use on your website will give users and search engines alike a better idea of what the content on your site is about. Not only do they need to complement and be related to your domain name that is displayed, but you also want to be sure that they do not get cut off where they are displayed in SERPs. (You want your tags to be long enough that they are descriptive but short enough to fit within the 160 character limit.)
The text that you comes up with for these tags needs to be compelling and unlike that which already exists in order for it to stand out to search engines and rank well as a result. Getting your ministry’s site to even appear in SERPs is the first hurdle, but the second is getting people to actually click the link to it and pay it a visit. Use your tags to make this happen. Include the name of your city or area and a specific keyword close to the beginning of your tag to best reach your local target audience and present them with the opportunity to learn more about your new ministry.
Get online feedback
People view reviews and feedback of an organization online as trustworthy sources of information. Of web users, 84 percent consider online reviews to be as reliable as personal recommendations. Plus, when asked by a business, seven out of 10 customers will agree to leave feedback for it online. Get as much positive feedback as you are able for your ministry. This will help your local SEO by giving you more exposure online as well as instill a level of credibility and trust with those who encounter the ministry’s online presence.
Claim your Google My Business page
Google My Business is technically an online directory like others, but it is the biggest of them all and therefore the most important. Your ministry needs to claim its Google My Business page in order to gain invaluable exposure. Then, you can hopefully become part of Google’s list of three local businesses that it features in relevant searches.
To claim your respective Google My Business page, you must first visit the general Google Business page. From there, you will go through a verification process so that Google can ensure that you are in fact the coordinator of the ministry that you say you are. Once you have successfully claimed your page, optimize it! Your listing should have a clear description of your services, hours of operation, photos, etc. Be sure that your listing is fully completed so that it is informative and has the highest chance of being seen by the most people.
Keep local SEO in mind when crafting an online presence for your new ministry, and allow it to reach its full potential.
Discuss
- Is your church launching a new ministry now or in the near future? What are you doing to help people find out about it online?