Be Google-able

This image explains an important cultural shift. It used to be that young people lived closely to the “just do it” Nike slogan, but today, those in my generation and younger will almost always “Google it” first. Is your church Google-able? Have you tried searching for your church online? What comes up?

When you enter the name of your church, city, and state here is the least you should be able to easily find: Location and directions, phone number, worship times, and office hours if you have any. You’ll also want to check if your church comes up when you simply enter “churches near me”. If you have a website, Facebook page, or other online presence this should come up.

One of the nice things about Google Search is that it is editable. This is very important! Check out this screenshot of a search for Mt. Zion UMC in Salisbury. (Actually the church is on Highway D “in the middle of no where”. Not too many people are going to just stumble upon it and decide to attend worship.)

As you can see there is a link to “suggest an edit” after I complete my blog post, I will be adding missing information and changing the the phone number and the location of the church on the map. The address is correct, but the marker on the map isn’t in that location! If one used google maps to direct them to the church they would end up in the wrong place! By the time you’re reading this, the information should be accurate.

Matthew 7: 7 says, ” Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Is this true of your church both in person and online? Check out your church’s information and get it updated if needed. Once you have that completed, you might look into adding some additional, simple web presence like a public Facebook page.