Introduction
In the digital era, an effective online presence is crucial for any organization, including churches. To enhance RCCG New Covenant City Church’s visibility and engagement with the community, we propose leveraging several Google services.
Google My Business is a free tool for businesses and other organizations used to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. By claiming (verifying) your Google My Business profile, your church is able to manage your information and interact with the audience that’s discovering your church in their local search results.
Unless your church location is brand new, you almost certainly can be found in a Google Maps search. Go ahead and search for your church at https://www.google.com/maps if you aren’t sure.
If your church can’t be found in a Google Maps search you have a big problem – but excluding brand new churches, this scenario is extremely uncommon. Even if you’ve never taken any explicit action, Google has probably figured out that your church location exists on its own and included it in Google Maps search results.
As you can see, someone viewing a local search result from Google Maps can be exposed to a lot of information about your church before they even reach your church website. This raises the question: where does Google get this information from? The answer is that it is aggregated from Google My Business and other authoritative third-party sources found online. If your church doesn’t have a Google My Business profile however, Google will be forced to rely entirely on third-party sources.
LOCAL SEARCHES AND THE LOCAL PACK
When unchurched people search Google to find a church, they inevitably use keywords that Google recognizes are requesting a location. This triggers Google’s local search algorithm, which almost always includes a local pack.
The local pack is a set of three results from Google Maps (marked on a map), that typically appear above all other search results. The local pack contains only results that are geographically near enough to the searcher to be relevant, and that Google is confident exist at the location they claim.
KNOWLEDGE PANEL SEARCH RESULTS
When someone performs a direct search or branded search (more on these below) using keywords that reference your church name explicitly, the first search result they receive is likely presented in the knowledge panel format. This panel behaves almost exactly as when someone clicks your search result or map pin in a Google Maps search as described above.
As we discussed previously, these results can contain a wealth of information about your church – the primary source of which (if available) is your Google My Business profile. Thus, even for people that already know about your church and search for you explicitly, their first interaction is likely to be with information drawn from your Google My Business profile, prior to them having the opportunity to reach your church website.
KNOWLEDGE PANEL SEARCH RESULTS
When a local search is performed, Google categorizes it in one of three ways:
Direct Searches occur when a user searches for your church explicitly by name or address.
Branded Searches occur when a user searches for a brand related to your church (for example, a branded ministry name).
Discovery Searches occur when a user searches for your church is or does, but did not mention your church or its brands explicitly (for example, “church near me”)
You can view analytics that track which search types were used to find your Google My Business profile using the Insights tool
People performing direct or branded searches rarely have difficulty finding the church they’re looking for – though in fringe cases there can be issues depending on nuances regarding a church’s name, etc. However, people performing these types of searches already know about your church.
The most valuable searches, however, are discovery type searches that are performed by people actively looking for a church. These searches help drive church growth by exposing new people to your church. Users that performed discovery searches may have searched for:
“church near me”
“[denomination] church” (ie. “Baptist church”)
“church in [city name]” (ie. “church in Phoenix”)
WHAT IS LOCAL SEO?
Local Search Engine Optimization (“Local SEO”) can be defined as the practice of optimizing your online presence to improve search result ranking in local type searches. This encompasses all search results from Google Maps (including the local pack), as well as the regular organic search results displayed in local type searches.
Google’s local algorithm uses several key drivers not typically considered to determine search rankings. Perhaps the most important of these is that Google wants to be supremely confident that the entity exists at the location it claims. Simply put, Google doesn’t want a user who searches for a bank to see a map pin for a bank on Google Maps, hop in their car and drive to the location expecting to arrive at a bank, only to end up at a park with no bank in sight. This example sounds a bit absurd – but we can tell you from personal experience that it happens.
While there are several important methods to increase Google’s confidence that your church’s location is correct, the simplest is to have a verified and actively maintained Google My Business profile.
LOCAL SEO AUDIT REPORT
This tool will produce an overview of your church’s local search presence. This includes factors such as your online citation profile, local search rankings, and online reputation profile. Local search results are a primary driver of new visitors to your church website and as a result Local SEO is of great important to churches.
HOW PEOPLE INTERACT WITH YOUR GOOGLE MY BUSINESS PROFILE
We’ve described above how closely linked your church’s Google Maps search result and Google My Business profile are. When your GMB profile is actively maintained, they may even be virtually synonymous.
When a user comes across your church’s local search result, there are several different ways they could choose to engage deeper. First and foremost, there are three primary actions that bring a user into closer contact with your church, which Google tracks within the GMB Insights tool:
Clicks to your website.
Directions requests.
Phone calls.
In addition to the simple actions above, there are most definitely other less common ways a user might interact with your search result such as:
View photos (managed via GMB – though users can submit their own).
Read or submit reviews.
Check out upcoming events (if Google is aware of them).
Check out your social media profiles (if Google is aware of them).
Suggest changes to your GMB information (for you to moderate).
Benefits to RCCG New Covenant City Church
- Increased Visibility: Enhanced online presence in local search results and maps.
- Community Engagement: Easier for the local community to find and connect with the church.
- Reputation Management: Build and maintain a positive online reputation through active engagement and response to community feedback.
- Data-Driven Insights: Utilize Google’s analytics to understand community needs and preferences better.
- Outreach Opportunities: Reach potential new members and visitors through targeted online advertising.
Conclusion
By implementing these Google services, RCCG New Covenant City Church will significantly enhance its online presence, making it easier for the Frederick community to connect and engage with the church. This digital strategy will open new doors for community outreach and engagement, furthering the church’s mission in the digital age.
This proposal is tailored to leverage Google’s powerful tools to enhance the church’s digital footprint, ensuring it reaches and serves the community more effectively.
Benefits to RCCG New Covenant City Church
- Increased Visibility: Enhanced online presence in local search results and maps.
- Community Engagement: Easier for the local community to find and connect with the church.
- Reputation Management: Build and maintain a positive online reputation through active engagement and response to community feedback.
- Data-Driven Insights: Utilize Google’s analytics to understand community needs and preferences better.
- Outreach Opportunities: Reach potential new members and visitors through targeted online advertising.
Conclusion
By implementing these Google services, RCCG New Covenant City Church will significantly enhance its online presence, making it easier for the Frederick community to connect and engage with the church. This digital strategy will open new doors for community outreach and engagement, furthering the church’s mission in the digital age.
This proposal is tailored to leverage Google’s powerful tools to enhance the church’s digital footprint, ensuring it reaches and serves the community more effectively.