Leverage The Power Of Google’s Tools For Your Church (or any non-profit)
By Kevin Fontenot
When it comes to companies that are online today few compare to Google. Their name is so common that it is synonymous with looking for information online. They’ve also built the world’s most popular email service. Sure, their attempt at a social media network largely flopped, but who hasn’t had a few failures?
As a church, many of Google’s tools can help make your life easier as well as help you reach more people online. Let’s dive in and take a look at some of the various tools.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Since Google is a search platform first, we thought we’d mention search engine optimization for church. For most people SEO seems a lot like playing the lottery, you put up your content and hope that Google finds it. However, if we use a few of Google’s own tools church search engine optimization becomes a lot easier to navigate.
Google My Business
One of the easiest church SEO tricks is to submit your information via Google My Business. This allows you to create a business profile that will show up in searches in your geographic area.
** Note: You must verify your local address to use Google My Business. If you are a church that meets in a school or theater you will need to submit a Google+ Brand instead.
Google Webmaster Tools
Although Google My Business is the easiest ways to rank for church search engine optimization, you may occasionally need to rank for a certain keyword, such as, “Easter in Somewhere, TX.” Google Webmaster Tools allows you to tell Google that there is new content on your website that they need to include in their search results.