This is one major advantage an email service like MailChimp has over using an email account like Gmail, Outlook or the webmail tool that comes with our email addon service.

With an regular email account, it’s up to the sender to manually manage the list, and the only way a person can get added to the list is by contacting the sender, giving them their email address, and hoping the sender remembers to include them on future emails.

With an email service like MailChimp, you can put a subscribe form on your website, which makes it super easy for anyone visiting your website to subscribe to your future emails.

Adding a MailChimp subscribe form to any page of your website is simple with our WP-EZ Website Builder. Watch the video below to see how it’s done.

Your emails will only be effective if people get them, so make it as easy as possible for people to subscribe.

Focus on growing your [email] list all the time. -Karl Murray

Partner with Us

If you need a better website to help you live out your mission online, one that is easy to use and integrates with MailChimp, build your new website with our WP-EZ Website Builder or we can create a custom-designed website for you.

Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a discovery call!

Comment and Discuss

• Do you have an email subscribe form on your website? Why or why not?

Continue reading: Email Communication that Works

The post How to Add a MailChimp Subscribe Form to Your Website appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Why is it so important?

Because as Benjamin Franklin once said…

People don’t plan to fail… They fail to plan.

In this lesson, we share with you the 5 Steps to Create Your Email Plan, but we also provide 3 sample plans – one for a church, one for a business, and one for a ministry.

If you prefer to read the highlights…

5 Steps to Create Your Email Plan

1. Define your audience.

Who are you trying to reach with your email newsletters? What are they interested in? Why do they subscribe? How can your emails help them?

2. Determine your goals.

What do you hope to achieve with your email newsletters? Your email goals should be directly related to your church, ministry or business’s overall goals.

3. Develop a content strategy.

Create a plan for the type of content you will include in your email newsletters. This could include educational content, special offers, or links to register for upcoming events. For each goal, there should be content designed to reach that goal.

4. Establish a schedule.

Decide how often you will send email and create a consistent schedule. This could be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, depending on your goals and audience. If you’re working with a team, determine content deadlines.

5. Determine responsibilities.

If you have a team working on your emails, determine who is responsible for each aspect of the email. Who will edit and send them? Who will create the educational content? Who will create graphics? Who will provide info about upcoming events or special offers?

By following these steps, you can develop an effective plan for your email newsletters that engages your audience, achieves your goals, and strengthens your relationships with your subscribers.

To see examples of a church email plan, a business email plan, and a ministry email plan, you’ll have to watch the video above.

Part of a Larger Communications Plan

Your email plan should be a part of a larger communications plan that includes your website (whether you create it with a website builder or get a custom designed website) where visitors can subscribe, and your emails can link to so subscribers can get more info.

And it should include search engine optimization, so that people searching for what you provide can find you and subscribe.

Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop), to schedule a call with one of our web design or SEO experts!

Comment and Discuss

• Does your organization have an email plan? Why or why not?
• What comments or questions do you have about creating an email plan?

Continue reading: Email Communication that Works

The post 5 Steps to Create Your Email Plan appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

If you missed Lesson 1, 5 Reasons Why Email is Still Incredibly Valuable. I strongly encourage you to go watch or read that lesson now.  This lesson builds on that one.

Then come back and watch the video below…

Why Branded @YourDomain Email Matters

If you prefer to read, here are the highlights…

What is Branded Email?

Branded email, or @YourDomain email, is when you send your email to and from an email address that uses your domain name.

For example, if my organization is First Christian Church and the domain name of my website is FirstChristian.org, a branded email address would be pa**@************an.org. Contrast that with a non-branded email address like pa*****@***il.com or fc******@***oo.com

Why Branded Email Matters?

It comes down to one word:

TRUST

You receive emails from your bank, right? Well, chances are you’ve also received phishing or scam emails from someone pretending to be from your bank. I know I have.

How do you tell the difference?

The first thing I check is the “from” address of the email. If the from address is my*******@***il.com, I immediately know it’s not legit.  But if the from address is so*******@****nk.com, I know I can trust the email is legit.

The same is true for your church, ministry or business.

If someone receives an email from your organization and the from address is something like Fi************@***il.com, they’re going to wonder if it’s legit or not. They might be hesitant to click any links, send money or purchase anything.

But when someone receives an email from your organization and the from address is Yo******@********in.org, it instantly gives them a warm fuzzy feeling that they can trust your email. It builds trust with your subscribers, with the people that you communicate with.

So, yeah…

Branded @YourDomain email matters if you want to build trust with your subscribers and increase engagement and clicks. 

How to Get Branded Email

If you built or host your website with OurChurch.Com, we offer branded email as an add-on service. It’s extremely affordable.

1. Select the number of email accounts you want
2. Place your order
3. We’ll add @YourDomain email to your account within 1 business day

The choice is simple… do nothing and continue to make your email recipients anxious. Or place the order and start building trust and clicks with your branded emails in less than 24 hours.

BTW, most web hosting companies don’t offer branded email 

Your Branding Partner

If you want branded email and your current web host doesn’t offer it, check out our Christian web hosting services.

In addition to email and web hosting, we also help Christian ministries and business with a full array of branding services, including logo design, custom website design, and search engine optimization (SEO). Interested? We’d love to talk more!

Compete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a discovery call!

Comment and Discuss

• Do you use branded email? Why or why not?

The post Why Branded @YourDomain Email Matters appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Spammers have given email marketing and email communication a bad rap. And with the more recent rise of other forms of communication like social media, texting and mobile apps, some people have wondered…

Is email dead?

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Email communication and email marketing continue to provide incredible benefits for businesses and nonprofits.

If you are struggling to reach people, some of your people aren’t very engaged, or you’re not growing as much you would like, making better use of email can help address these challenges.

To help you understand how to do that, we provide an online course – Email Communication that Works! – to all our clients at no extra charge.

Watch the video from the first lesson…

5 Reasons Email Is Still Incredibly Valuable

If you prefer to read, here are the highlights…

1) Nobody checks websites regularly.

It’s really important to keep your website up to date with news and information, but it’s rare for someone to visit a website unless they’re already aware of something and want more info. You have to notify people (and usually multiple times) to keep them informed.

2) 92% of American adults use email.

According to a this 2023 report by Statista, more than 90% of adults in the US use email.  This compares to 71% of adults who use Facebook (reported by Pew Research) and 50% who use Instagram (also reported by Pew Research) And it goes down from there with other platforms and means of communication.

3) Email open rates are better than social media.

Open rates for emails sent by faith-based organizations are around 29% (as reported by Nonprofit Tech for Good). While this is down from what it once was, it is still dramatically better than view rates for social media posts.

Only about 4% of followers see an Instagram posts and 2% of followers see a Facebook post (via Social Plus).  Social media sites continue to show fewer posts from your friends and the organizations you follow, and more ads and short videos.

4) You own your email list.

With social media sites, you don’t own your list of contacts/followers. If FB, Insta, or X were to shut down, ban you, or limit your communication, you would lose all your contacts.

5) Your people want your emails.

Church leaders – your people want to know what’s going on. Ministry leaders – your supporters want to know what you’re doing and how they can help. Business leaders – your customers want to know about new products, special offers, and professional insight.

Bonus: If you’re a church leader and your main form of communication is the Sunday bulletin, keep in mind that on any given Sunday half your people are not there. And of those who are there, half don’t read the bulletin and the other half forget what was in it the minute they step out the door.

So, yeah, your people need to be reminded via email of what’s going on… multiple times.

The bottom line is…

Email is still a powerful tool to make connections, build engagement, and grow your ministry or business. -Paul Steinbrueck

But it’s also possible to do email badly

Ever been subscribed to the email list of an organization that frustrated or annoyed you to the point where you stopped opening their emails or unsubscribed?

Just about everyone has had that experience.

So, in future videos in this course we’ll be sharing best practices, mistakes to avoid, instructions for setting up your email systems and more.  Stay tuned!

More insight into how to use email effectively

• Why Branded @YourDomain Email Matters
• 5 Steps to Create Your Email Plan
• How to Add a MailChimp Subscribe Form to Your Website

Click and share your perspective on email, in this month’s Listening Post survey.

Partner with someone who’s got your back

Email can be one of the most challenging aspect of online communication. Spammers, filters, and blacklists are all working against you. It’s become so challenging that most most web hosting companies don’t even offer email service anymore.  But OurChurch.com does.

And our Christian, US-based support team will actually pick up the phone, respond to your email, or do an online chat with you whenever you need it.

And if you would like a guide to help with Christian web design, SEO or building your own DIY website, we’d love to talk with you!

Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a discovery call!

Comment & Discuss

• Is your organization using email to communicate with members, supporters and clients? If so, how?

The post 5 Reasons Email Is Still Incredibly Valuable appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

To reach their goals!

3 Reasons for a Website Redesign

Years ago, I had a conversation with the owner of Grand Vista Pools, Kevin Shipp, about their website.  They liked their existing website but it had several major flaws

1. They could not update the website themselves.  Each time they wanted to add pictures of a completed pool or a video customer testimonial, they needed to pay someone to make the changes for them.
2. Their email through their hosting company was unreliable.  Because many potential and current customers communicated to their company through email, it was crucial that email was always up and running.
3. Their website was not ranking well in the search results.  This was causing them to miss out on many potential projects.

Website Redesign vs New Website from Scratch

Kevin didn’t want to change the look of the website or how it functioned, so we came up with a solution that would streamline the site building process:

• Build a new website on the easy-to-use WordPress platform.
• Use their existing design.
• Keep the same features of their existing website.
• Transfer all their current video, pictures, and text from the existing website to the new website.
• Train Kevin so he could edit his site without assistance.

There were several advantages to taking this approach:

1. Minimal work from Grand Vista Pools.  Kevin and his staff are very busy with their business.  They didn’t want to be bogged down in creating new content or making tons of decisions about a new website.  Taking this approach allowed Kevin to focus on what they do best, building gorgeous pools.
2. Keep cost down.  By keeping everything much like it is on their existing website, it allowed OurChurch.Com’s design team to build Kevin’s new website without a lot of emails and meetings.  This kept the cost of the new site to a minimum.
3. Quicker build time.  Because Kevin kept things like they were on the exiting site and with minimal communication needed during the site building process, the OCC team could build Grand Vista’s new website is a much shorter time than normally required for new website.

Since launching their new website, Grand Vista Pools has been able to better communicate the services they provide to prospective clients, and they are busier than ever!

Website Design and SEO Bundle

Another smart, strategic decision Kevin made was to have OurChurch.com do both their website design and search engine optimization.  The benefits of doing this include:

1. Our website design team built their website using best practices for SEO.  This means ensuring all pages can be crawled by search engines, optimal internal linking, good Core Web Vitals, and optimized PageSpeed.
2. Our SEO team did the keyword research for their website before it was launched. The design and SEO teams coordinated their schedules so that the overall time needed for both the design and optimization was less than it would have been if separate companies had performed the services.
3. Our web design and SEO teams play well together.  It’s shocking how often web designers “de-optimize” a website after its been optimized, and how often SEOs break the design of a website. By having our team perform both services, we prevented these problems.
4. Bundle and Save.  Because of the efficiencies we experience when providing both services, we were are able to pass those cost savings on to Grand Vista Pools.

Watch this 90 second video to see what Kevin has to say about the impact our search engine optimization service has had on his business:

The big take-away…

The results [of OurChurch.Com’s SEO services] have been amazing! Our web traffic has increased significantly which has turned into a lot of new business! -Kevin Shipp, Grand Vista Pools

Partner with our Team!

Read more about OurChurch.Com’s custom web design services and SEO services. If you are interested in discussing how OurChurch.Com can help you live out your mission online, we’d love to talk with you!

Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a discovery call!

We invite you to visit the website of Grand Vista Pools.  Please let us know what you think about their website by posting a comment below.

Read more of our 30 Stories from 30 Years.

The post Why did a thriving custom pool builder change their website? appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Earth Day is an annual awareness day observed on April 22 to focus attention on environmental protection and stewarding our planet. It’s a good time for Christians and Christian organizations to consider what we can do to protect and care for creation.

What the Bible Says about Protecting the Environment

After God created human beings, the first job he gave us was to care for creation.

Genesis 1:28 says, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.‘”

Just after that in Genesis 2:15 it’s recorded, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.“

Clearly God has given us responsibility to care for creation and steward it wisely.

7 Ways Your Website Can Help You Go Green

There are many things Christian churches, schools, ministries and businesses can do to protect and care for the environment. Because we here at OurChurch.com are focused on websites and online communication, we’re going to focus on the ways your website and online tools can help your organization be environmentally-friendly.

1) Streamline the Sunday bulletin.

Some churches require a small forest each week to produce all the bulletin inserts for every ministry and event in the church.

We strongly recommend a communications strategy that makes your website the hub of your communications.  When you do this, you don’t need to print every detail about every event. Just put the basic info for each event – name of the event, when, where and why someone would want to participate and then, “See the website for more info” Boom – end of bulletin inserts!

Some churches have even completely eliminated their print bulletins in favor of an online bulletin.

2) Do registrations and signups online.

Get rid of the printed signup sheets and registration forms lying around on tables in the lobby of your church or school. Online event registration will simplify your life, make it easier for people to signup anytime and anywhere, and save paper and ink. Online event registration can be done on your website with a plugin, or with Google Forms.

3) Use online forms.

Just as you can replace paper signup sheets with online signups on your website, you can also replace all kinds of paper forms with online forms. Online form builders are easy to use and can be used to create any type of form you currently have in print.

4) Put your manuals and handbooks online.

Do you have an huge employee handbook you print and give to each member of your staff? Do you have written policies and procedures for your church, school or business?

These things can be uploaded and placed in a staff-only section of your website.

Or even better, they can be put into an online file-sharing service like Google Docs. Another great feature of Google Docs is when a document needs to be updated, you can do it quickly and easily online, and when you do everyone with access instantly has the updated version. No more need to distribute updates or wonder if everyone is using the latest version.

Putting instructions in Google Docs is also extremely helpful for training new staff and volunteers. No need to get people to remember everything or carry around paper instructions. Google Docs can be accessed anywhere on a smart phone.

5) Replace your paper newsletter with an online newsletter.

The printed monthly newsletter has been one of the most prevalent forms of communication for churches, schools and nonprofits for decades. How many pages of newsletters you print every month?

Depending on the size of your organization, switching to an online newsletter could save thousands of pages of paper a month. If you mail your newsletter you could save lots of money on postage (and the fuel used to deliver them.) Put an electronic copy of your newsletter on your website and send it out via email.

If your church has a lot of older people who don’t go online much, you may get some pushback. So, you may need to compromise a little by mailing the printed newsletter to those who specifically request it or having a handful of print copies available in the foyer of your church.

6) Forgo direct mail ads for SEO and/or Google Ads.

Some Christian churches, schools, and businesses use direct mail postcards to try to reach people in their community. While this can be effective, eventually the vast majority of them will end up in your local landfill.

Search Engine Optimization and Google Ads are a most cost-effective way to reach people in your community AND there is no waste.

7) Partner with a Green Web Hosting Company.

We at OurChurch.com love the outdoors and do everything we can to care for creation. We have already taken all of the steps above.

Additionally, our entire team works from home offices, which means no corporate office to build, furnish, heat, cool and clean. We’re also not consuming gasoline or polluting the environment on our commutes to work.

The bottom line…

How you use your website can have a big impact on how you care for creation.

Partner with an eco-friendly website design and marketing agency

If you share our concern for the environment, we hope you’ll consider the 7 ways to protect the environment listed above and consider OurChurch.com for your Christian web hosting, web design and SEO.  We’d love to talk more with you!

Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a call!

Comment and Discuss

• How are you using your website to reduce pollution and protect the environment?
• What other ideas can you share?

Continue reading… Church Outreach Ideas and Events for Every Holiday and Season

The post 7 Ways Your Website Can Help You Go Green for Earth Day appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Grace Baptist Church of Tyler, Texas has been partnering with OurChurch.Com since 2010 with the Custom Pro website package. As a part of their Custom Pro package, they receive church SEO services and a free redesign to their website every three years.

In fact, we we just launched a newly redesigned website for them in January 2026.

Grace Baptist is a very traditional church, yet has done a fantastic job embracing the web as a way to help achieve their mission. Below are a few highlights of how Grace is using their website effectively:

• New updated design: Keeping with their church colors, they have created an updated look and feel to their website. The new design is still traditional, reflecting the style of the church itself.
• Audio and Video Sermon: They have made it very easy for someone to either listen or watch a sermon from a previous service. The services are indexed by date on a page that is easy to navigate and well presented.
• Live streaming: For those who want to watch a service live, they also offer live streaming of their services. Simply click on the menu titled “Live Broadcast” and if a live service is available it automatically connects to the video stream.
• Bible Conferences: They host an annual Bible conference, brining in speakers from around the country. They use their website to provide information about past conferences and upcoming conferences (when details are available).

All of these elements allow Grace Baptist Church to accomplish their mission online.

Hear what Johnathan Johnson, web administrator of Grace Baptist Church, has to say about their website and working with OurChurch.Com in this 90 second video:

The big takeaway…

Partnering with OurChurch.Com has been extremely vital to the success of our web ministry. -Jonathan Johnson, Grace Baptist Church, Tyler, TX

We invite you to visit Grace Baptist Church in Tyler, TX.

Partner with OurChurch.com

You can read more about OurChurch.Com’s custom web design services. If you are interested in discussing how OurChurch.Com can help you achieve your mission online, we’d love to talk with you!

Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a discovery call.

Comment and Discuss

• What do you think of their new site and the design choices made?

Continue reading 30 Stories from 30 Years

The post Website Spotlight: Grace Baptist Church of Tyler, Texas appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

That means Mother’s Day is an excellent opportunity to reach out to people your community and show how the love of Christ compels us to love moms and families – those who are already a part of our congregation and those outside our community of faith.

If you’re looking for new church outreach ideas for Mother’s Day, we’ve got a bunch of them grouped into two categories: first, events you can do in-person, and second, ways to promote your events and connect with people online.

14 Church Outreach Event Ideas for Mother’s Day

1. Mother’s Day Service

Plan a meaningful and intentional Mother’s Day service that highlights the value and impact of mothers and mother figures. Incorporate special elements such as a dedicated time of prayer over mothers, testimonies from different generations, and worship songs that reflect gratitude and faithfulness.

The message can focus on biblical examples of motherhood, encouragement for women in all seasons of life, and God’s design for nurturing and leadership within the family. Consider giving a small gift to every woman in attendance to ensure no one feels overlooked, including those who may not have children but serve as spiritual mothers.

2. Mother’s Day Brunch

Host a welcoming and well-organized brunch either before or after the service, inviting not only church members but also the surrounding community. Create a warm atmosphere with decorated tables, soft music, and volunteers who intentionally engage with guests. Offer a variety of food options to accommodate different preferences, and consider adding a short devotional, prayer, or words of appreciation during the event.

This can also be a great opportunity for outreach by encouraging families to invite friends and neighbors who may not regularly attend church.

3. Mother’s Day Cards

Set up a designated space where children, youth, and adults can create personalized Mother’s Day cards. Provide supplies such as colored paper, markers, stickers, and scripture verses that can be included in the cards. This activity not only adds a personal touch but also encourages thoughtfulness and gratitude.

You could also organize volunteers to deliver cards to elderly women, widows, or those in nursing homes who may not receive recognition on Mother’s Day, extending the impact beyond your congregation.

4. Mother’s Day Gift Bags

Prepare thoughtful gift bags that include items such as devotionals, candles, snacks, or small self-care products. Consider including a personalized message from the church expressing appreciation and encouragement.

These bags can be distributed during the service or delivered to mothers who are unable to attend. This simple gesture can leave a lasting impression and communicate genuine care and gratitude.

5. Mother’s Day Photo Booth

Create a fun and inviting photo booth area where families can capture special moments together. Use a themed backdrop with flowers, soft colors, or meaningful phrases, and provide props that add personality and humor.

Assign volunteers to help take photos and ensure everyone has a chance to participate.

You can also offer digital copies or printouts as keepsakes, making it a memorable experience that families will cherish long after the day is over.

6. Mother’s Day Devotional

Develop a short devotional specifically designed for mothers, focusing on encouragement, strength, and faith. Include scripture, reflections, and practical applications that speak to the daily challenges and joys of motherhood.

This devotional can be printed, emailed, or shared on social media so it reaches a wider audience. It’s a meaningful way to provide ongoing encouragement beyond the Sunday service.

7. Mother’s Day Tea

Host a relaxed and elegant tea gathering where mothers can connect and enjoy fellowship. Set up tables with simple decorations, serve tea, coffee, and light refreshments, and create a calm, welcoming environment. You may include a short message, testimony, or devotional to encourage attendees.

This event works well as a pre-Mother’s Day gathering and can help build deeper relationships among women in the church.

8. Mother’s Day Movie Night

Organize a family-friendly movie night leading up to Mother’s Day that celebrates themes of love, sacrifice, and family. Provide popcorn, snacks, and comfortable seating to create a relaxed atmosphere.

This can be a great outreach opportunity by inviting the community and encouraging families to attend together. Consider briefly sharing a message or reflection before or after the movie to connect it with biblical principles.

9. Spa Day for Moms

Offer a time of rest and refreshment by hosting a simple spa day at the church. Set up stations for basic treatments like hand massages, manicures, or relaxation areas with calming music. If resources are limited, partner with local businesses or provide gift certificates as prizes for a few selected mothers.

This event shows intentional care and provides a much-needed break for many women who spend their time serving others.

10. Mother’s Day Sunday School

Create a special Sunday school lesson that teaches children about the importance of honoring and appreciating their mothers. Include interactive activities, crafts, and simple Bible lessons that highlight examples of godly women. Encourage children to express gratitude in practical ways, such as writing notes or helping at home.

This not only reinforces biblical values but also helps children actively participate in celebrating Mother’s Day.

11. Support a Women’s Center

Use Mother’s Day as an opportunity to serve others by partnering with a local women’s center or pregnancy resource center. Organize a donation drive for items such as diapers, baby clothes, or hygiene products, or raise financial support for their ministry.

Share information with the congregation about the impact of these organizations and encourage ongoing involvement. This outreach reflects the heart of compassion and support for mothers in need.

12 Launch New Groups for Moms

Announce and introduce new ministries specifically designed to support mothers in different stages of life. This could include playgroups for young children, Bible studies for moms, or support groups for parents of teenagers.

Provide clear next steps for joining and make it easy for women to get connected. Mother’s Day is a natural time to invite women into deeper community and spiritual growth.

13. Mother’s Day Out

Offer a practical way to bless mothers by providing childcare for a few hours, allowing them to rest, spend time with friends, or take care of personal needs. Ensure the environment is safe, organized, and staffed with trusted volunteers.

This gesture can be especially meaningful for busy or overwhelmed moms and demonstrates tangible support from the church.

14. Mother’s Day Corsages

Engage your youth group in creating and selling corsages as a fundraiser while also providing a meaningful gift option for families. Set up a station where corsages can be picked up before services, and consider offering pre-orders for convenience.

This idea not only honors mothers but also gives young people an opportunity to serve and contribute to the church community.

8 Mother’s Day Online Outreach Ideas

1. Create a Landing Page

Create a dedicated landing page on your church website that provides all the details of your Mother’s Day services and events. This page should be easy to navigate, and the information should be displayed prominently.

2. Utilize Social Media

Social media is an effective way to reach out to your community and promote your Mother’s services and events. Utilize platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to create posts and share information about your Mother’s Day services and events.

3. Ask Your Congregation to Utilize Social media

Posting info to the church’s social media profiles will only reach so many people. If you really want to maximize your social media reach, get the people of your church fired up and excited about sharing your church’s social media posts.

4. Share Testimonials

Share testimonies from members of your congregation about the impact that their Mother has had on their life. Or testimonies from mothers on the impact God has had on their family. These testimonials can be shared on social media and on your website to help promote your Mother’s Day services and events.

5. Email/Blog Devotionals

We suggested giving away physical Mother’s Day devotionals in #6. An alternative would be to invite people to subscribe to receive daily devotionals via email.

6) Use Graphics and Videos

Create graphics and/or promotional videos for your Easter services and events. These visuals can be shared in your services, on your website, on social media and via email to catch the attention of your audience.

7) Use Online Advertising

Consider using online advertising to promote your Mother’s Day services and events. Platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads can be used to target specific audiences and promote your Mother’s Day services and events.

8) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Make sure people can find your church and Mother’s Day events when they search online. For help with that check out The Ultimate Guide to Church SEO

Forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. –Proverbs 1:8-9

Want to work with our team?

And if you’d like some help with church web design and church SEO so you can have your best Mother’s Day outreach ever, we’d love to work with you.

Fill out the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop), to schedule a call.

Comment and Discuss…

• What Mother’s Day outreach is your church planning?

Continue reading… Church Outreach Ideas & Events for every holiday and season

The post 22 Mother’s Day Ideas for Church Outreach (events and online) appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

I hope it was awesome!

I hope your gatherings or services glorified God, people heard the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection, and God revealed himself in powerful ways.

I also hope God has revealed some things through your church’s Easter communications.

Our blogging over the last month focused on Easter – preparing your church website for Easter, doing church SEO for Easter, preparing to tell stories and follow-up after Easter.

Now that Easter is behind us, what have you learned from your Easter communication? And what changes do you want to make?  To help with this, here are some more specific questions to consider.

Easter Communications Assessment Questions:

• What aspects of your Easter communications worked well? How can you build on them?
• What aspects of your communications didn’t work well? How can you improve on them?
• Have you reviewed your Analytics since Easter?
• Have you reviewed your communication cards?
• Have you debriefed with your team?

3 Easter Communications Revelations

1) Church Website Revelations

If your website experienced an increase in traffic in the week leading up to Easter but you didn’t see many visitors to your Easter services, that’s an indication you did some great things to get people to your website, but there are likely problems with your website.

Perhaps it’s outdated, hard to navigate or not mobile friendly, and needs to be fixed or redesigned.

If you’re not yet using the Plan Your Visit strategy, that might be something to consider.

2) Church SEO Revelations

If analytics indicate your website got lots of visitors from search, that’s awesome – your website is probably well optimized and your local listings well established.

If you didn’t get many visitors from organic search, that’s an indication your website doesn’t rank well in search engines and SEO is an area that needs work.

3) Church Social Media Revelations

If analytics indicate your website didn’t get many visitors from social media, consider stepping up your social media engagement. If you put a lot of effort into social media but your analytics still show not many people visited your website from social, it’s probably time to re-evaluate your social media strategy.

If you don’t have any analytics and/or communication cards to evaluate, then perhaps your next step is to get those things going so you have a better idea of your strengths to build on and weaknesses to work on next time.

God speaks to our hearts through his Word. He also speaks to our minds through data and the insight of others.

Want to work with our web design and/or SEO team?

If you need a hand getting Google Analytics and Google Search Console integrated with your website, or if you’d like an analytics expert to review your analytics, or you’re ready to delegate the website design or search engine marketing of your Christian church, ministry or business to an experienced team, we’d love to talk with you.

Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a call!

Comment and Discuss

• What did God reveal to you this Easter?  (Spiritually or in your communications)

Read more articles in our Easter Communications series.

The post An Easter Revelation appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

If you’re a pastor, church communicator or heavily involved in church ministry, I hope you can take a breath now. But you’ve got one more important Easter task to do…

Review Your Easter Analytics

Hopefully, you’ve already done some reviewing of your Easter services and related events, gotten feedback from members of your team, and made notes about what worked well and what didn’t. You’ll be able to learn from these observations and make next Easter even better.

What about your website? Your emails? Any social media you used? Any online advertising you did? Have you reviewed how they did?

You should have your website connected with an analytics system like Google Analytics.

Analytics can answer important questions like…

• How many website visitors did we have the week before Easter this year compared to the week before Easter last year?
• How many website visitors did we have the week before Easter compared to a “normal” non-Easter week a month ago?
• Look at the sources of your visitors in the week before Easter to last month and last Easter? Which sources saw the biggest increases? Organic search? Email? Facebook? Google Ads? This will give you a good idea of how well your Easter marketing and outreach worked.
• If your website is connected with Google Search Console, look at your search analytics to see which keywords were searched most often to find your website.

Don’t waste time and money!

John Wanamaker, a pioneering American merchant and department store owner is quoted as saying, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

That’s because he didn’t have the digital tools and tracking capabilities we now have.

Don’t be content to just guess as to what worked well (and and not so well) with your website, search marketing, and Easter outreach.

Review your analytics, cut back on the marketing that’s not producing results and focus the time and money you invest in marketing in the areas that are producing results.

Smart people make data-based decisions.

Partner with our team of SEO/Analytics experts!

This is why when we begin working with an organization to help them with their Christian SEO or Church SEO we configure their website with Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Bing Webmaster Tools.  With these tools we and our clients can make good data-driven decisions, which helps them better live out their mission online.

Fill out the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a time to talk!

Post a Comment and Discuss…

• Have you reviewed your Easter analytics? Why or why not?
• If you have, what is the most significant thing you learned from your Easter analytics?

Read more articles in our Easter Communications series.

The post Secrets Revealed by Easter Analytics appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.