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Search Engine Optimisation, known as SEO, can help your church by increasing your visibility online, getting your message across to more people and increasing your ranking in search results. With more than forty thousand churches in the UK alone, you need to embrace church SEO in order to increase your congregation.
Genie Crawl has designed this page to provide you with valuable insights and tips to start your church SEO today.
Understanding SEO for Churches
SEO is the process used to improve your website visibility in search engine results, including Google, Bing, Yahoo and more. The more visible your church is in search results, the more likely you will be found. The goal of SEO is to attract more people to your website that will become a loyal audience and congregation moving forward.
In today’s digital world, it's essential to have a powerful online presence, this applies to churches as well. With most people relying on the internet to find local church services, it has become more important than ever to embrace church SEO and be seen on the internet.
Key Components of Church SEO
Church SEO is not one single technique, it involves numerous techniques that work together to help Google identify your pages and rank them accordingly. The aim is to push you to the first page of results when someone searches for a church or church service in your area.
The main components of an effective church SEO campaign includes:
- Website Optimisation – Website optimisation ensures your website is user friendly, easy to navigate and loads quickly. These days it is also imperative that your website is mobile friendly, making it easier for those searching on any device to read your site with ease.
- Keyword Research – Keyword research is an essential part of any effective church SEO campaign. Using targeted keywords ensure that potential new church members are able to find your website. Keywords help the top search engines identify and rank your pages, matching them to search queries.
- Local SEO Strategies – Local SEO is very important as a church. You want to reach your local audience, people that live in the area that will come and worship at your church. Local SEO strategies includes numerous tools and techniques including listing your church in local online directories, using local keywords in your content and creating a Google My Business page, offering accurate information and high quality images.
- Content Strategy – Content is king when it comes to church SEO. Content ranges from sermons and blog posts to event information. It is designed to keep your audience updated, provide valuable information and keep your audience engaged.
- High Quality Backlinks – High quality backlinks are an important part of any SEO campaign. It must be done manually, getting other relevant websites to link back to your website. This improves your credibility and authority as a church in your area.
Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Church SEO
Implementing SEO is one thing, but remember it needs to be monitored and updated on a regular basis. This is our recommended step by step guide to implement effective church SEO today.
1. Create a list of keywords and phrases used by your church members when searching for your church on the internet
2. Do a search of the keywords and take a look at the churches that appear on the first page of Google. Remember that seventy percent of people never look past the first page of search results
3. Identify your competitors
4. Create better content than your competitors to push your church higher in the rankings
5. Optimise your website for SEO success by adding keywords, internal links and backlinks to your pages
6. Focus on high quality content that offers answers to questions and provides valuable information to your members
7. Regularly monitor and improve your SEO campaign to help your church continue to grow and reach the first page of results.
Measuring SEO Success
The good news is that there are numerous excellent tools you can use to monitor your SEO success.
SE Ranking
Our team uses SE Ranking as a valuable SEO tool to track search visibility, keyword rankings and search volume. It also assists with keyword and competitor research, making it a useful and versatile dashboard for any church SEO campaign.
SEMrush
This is a very effective SEO tracking tool that monitors the performance of various aspects of your campaign including search visibility, backlink portfolios and keyword performance. It also offers powerful research tools to help you streamline your SEO campaign.
Google Search Console
This free tool, provided by search engine giant, Google, helps you monitor Google search performance and shows how Google sees the pages of your website. You are able to monitor your total organic search traffic with ease. It is easy to use and a cost effective solution to monitor your SEO success.
In conclusion, it is easy to see that if you have not already embraced church SEO, you are losing out on potential new members. SEO offers the opportunity to reach new members and engage with your existing members, encouraging them to visit your church services in the long run.
Contact the Genie Crawl SEO experts today and let us assist you with your church SEO strategy without delay.
FAQs about Church SEO
We have put together some of the most common FAQ asked by churches regarding SEO.
How Will Local SEO Assist My Church?
Many church leaders think they don't need to worry about church SEO because you serve your local community. Local SEO is very beneficial, helping you target a new audience. With a good strategy in place, we can help you welcome more new members through your doors each week. You gain more leads.
How Long Does It Take Before My Church Ranks on Google?
This is probably one of the most commonly asked questions and the hardest for us to answer. There are a number of factors that determine how long it will take for your church to appear in Google results. The best place to start is with an effective church SEO strategy. It usually takes anywhere from six months to a year before you see positive results. This is determined by how much time and effort is awarded to your campaign.
How Do I Find the Best Keywords?
Keywords and key phrases are those used by people searching for a church in your area. There are tools, such as the SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool that will provide you with information from the largest keyword databases. Our team conduct a thorough keyword analysis to find the best keywords to help you start benefiting as quickly as possible.
What Are the Important Google Ranking Factors?
The most important Google ranking factors include relevance, quality and usability. Relevance means the content should provide value to the person conducting the online search. Google takes the keywords you have used to match your site to the person conducting the search. Quality is the content you provide. Google will prioritise your website if you provide helpful content; backlinks are also taken into consideration at this page. Usability is how user friendly your website is. You should provide a great page experience with a fast loading website that is secure, easy to navigate and mobile friendly.
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