Our churches are constantly investing…
- When we preach the gospel, we are planting seeds that we hope will sprout in the future.
- When we disciple new believers, we are investing in their spiritual growth.
- When we hire a youth pastor, we are investing in teens who are the future of the church.
- When we serve in ministry, we are investing our time in God’s kingdom.
We understand the concept of investing time, effort, people and money into something now because we believe it will result in something bigger and better in the future.
However, when I talk with people about church marketing and specifically church SEO (search engine optimization), often people tell me, “We want our church’s website to rank better in search engines so we can reach more people, but we can’t afford it.”
Consider the parable of the hidden treasure
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. -Matthew 13:44
Could the man in the parable afford the field? No, he sold all he had because he knew that the field was worth the investment. Anytime we say we can’t afford something, it reveals we view it as an expense rather than an investment.
There are people in your community who are searching for God and looking for a church. You are probably already investing time, effort and money in church outreach to try to connect with them.
What if your church website was on the first page of the search results when people search for “church in [your city]?” Would that help you reach more people in your community? What that be worth the investment?
We’ve seen time and again those churches that invest in church SEO, experience more visitors to their website, more visitors to weekend services, people coming to faith in Christ, and people connecting with their church community.
Church Budget Time?
If your church is developing its budget for 2017, now is the time to think about investing in your church website and church SEO.
Measuring the Return
One final thought on investing… Good investments produce a good return. You would never think of investing in your retirement and then never checking your account balance. When investing in church marketing, its just as important to check the results. That means asking new people how they found your church, and tracking how many people found your church through searches and your website. When you do that, you know exactly the impact your investment is making (and you can tell congregation and church leaders about it too 🙂
Marketing is an investment. Done well you will get more back then you put in. -Kurt Steinbrueck
Comment & Discuss
- Do you think of your church website and church SEO as an investment? Why or why not?
- Are considering your website and SEO as a part of your church’s outreach budget for 2017?