Growing churches’ websites include content marketing strategies designed for expansion and engagement.
Content marketing for churches is essential.
Here's why: People in your zip code are now considering churches to visit. A church website is the perfect place to become visible for those people as they search online and invite them in.
By building a robust church website with an intentional content marketing strategy, you can provide information about your church that will consistently attract new members over time.
What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a type of online marketing that involves creating and sharing content to attract and engage customers. It effectively builds relationships with potential and current attendees, helping churches grow their membership.
Some of the benefits of content marketing for churches include:
- Attracting new church attendees
- Engaging current church members further with discipleship-focused resources
- Providing conversation pieces that current church members can use with their friends
- Building relationships with other organizations and businesses in town through supportive content
Content marketing is a great place to start if your church is looking for ways to grow its membership. You can reach out to potential church members and build lasting relationships by creating and sharing high-quality content.
Why Is A Church Website Important To A Content Marketing Strategy?
A church website is vital to a content marketing strategy because it provides a central hub for all of your church's online content. Creating compelling and informative content can drive traffic to your church website and engage potential church attendees.
- Some of the things you should include on your church website:
- Clear and concise information about your church
- A calendar of upcoming events
- Blog posts or articles about your church
- Photos and videos of your church
- Contact information for your church
By including these things on your church website, you can create a resource that potential church members will find valuable. Social media has recently taken a disproportionate amount of focus for many churches' communications plans. But if you're looking for consistent long-term results for targeting, attracting, and engaging potential attendees, a church website should be the core hub of any content marketing strategy.
Here are five key things that your website should feature before you go off and start creating content across the board.
5 Critical Things Websites Of Growing Church Include:
1. Information about Jesus Christ.
Who he is, what he did, and why it matters. This is the most important thing your church website can include. I'm not talking about your beliefs page listing out the core doctrine statements your church lifts up. I'm not talking about a blurb or basic content pieces about Jesus Christ. The problem is most church websites assume that you'll attend and be a part of the church for you to really get educated on who Jesus is and what he has to offer.
Does your site meaningfully help someone exploring the questions about Jesus, God, and faith who visits your site today?
Churches, go beyond a general statement of beliefs on your website. Does your site meaningfully help someone who might be exploring questions about Jesus? It should! Click To Tweet2. An “About Us” page or section.
This should include your church's mission, values, and beliefs. It's essential for people to know what your church stands for and what you believe in before they decide to visit or become a member. Too many websites assume outsiders understand why we should be attending their church. In today's world, you cannot assume interest. You must demonstrate relevance. Generic messaging brings generic results.
Do you have a crisp articulation of why your church exists in your specific town, which approaches and programs you offer, and who leads each area of ministry to make that happen?
Design tips: 3 Impactful Tips To Create A Winning Church Website Design
3. Stranger-friendly invitations to upcoming events and church news.
The purpose and framing need to allow prospective visitors to taste and see what church life is like. Present your events and news in very stranger-friendly ways. So many of a typical church's promoted events use insider language, unclear expectations for someone that's never attended, and really isn't meant for outsiders–just in name. Are the events and programs positioned in a way that someone that's never been to your church might be excited about trying it out? Too often, church websites bury this information or make it too difficult to find for anything other than the main worship services.
If you want people to get involved, make it easy for them!
4. A “Plan Your Visit” page.
Include information on service times, directions, and what to expect when visiting for the first time. How long is the service? Who comes to the service? Where is it? What happens in a service? Is there child care? What do kids' ministry environments look like? You need to answer these questions.
This will help! 10 Essential Elements To Include In Your Church's Plan-Your-Visit Video
5. An active church blog.
Actively publishing articles regularly is a great way to keep church members updated on church news and events, but it's also a valuable tool for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Including a church blog on your website makes you more likely to appear in search results when people are looking for a church in their area. Plus, it allows you to share your church's story and what God is doing in your community.
One effective strategy is to publish about various felt needs the people in your area might be experiencing and make the connection with ministries in your church that they should know about. Case studies, or testimonials as we call them sometimes in the church, can show someone's journey from pain to peace as they became a part of your church. Your home page can't be all things to all people, but content across the site, like on your blog, can effectively target, attract, and engage people facing different circumstances and phases of life that live in your city.
Use this tip to elevate your church’s website so it targets and attracts more people: start a blog. Writing timely blog content provides a format for easily sharing your church's story and what God is doing in your community. Click To TweetGROWING CHURCH WEBSITES INCLUDE ENGAGING CONTENT
If your church website includes these five things, you'll be well on your way to having a successful online presence that will attract new visitors and help grow your church.
