Learn practical strategies for how your church can optimize their Google presence, engage the congregation online, and increase digital visibility to better connect with your community.
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In this episode of the MyCom Church Communications and Marketing Podcast, Ryan Dunn guides you through simple yet powerful ways to optimize your church’s Google presence. From claiming your Google profile and encouraging authentic reviews, to exploring Google Ads grants and enhancing your website for visibility, Ryan Dunn arms you with the digital tools you need to share good news and strengthen connections in your community. Get ready to level up your ministry’s online impact!
Helpful links from this episode:
- Google Ad Grants program
- Claiming your Google Business Profile
- Set up Google Alerts
- Tutorial for Google Reviews
In this episode:
00:00 Googling your church
01:46 The history of Google
05:10 Google as the most authoritative search engine
07:08 Understanding Google's Role as a Digital Librarian
09:43 Updating your church's Google profile
12:05 The importance of reviews for your church
14:11 Adding pictures to your church's Google profile
15:04 Enhancing Google Visibility for Churches
16:06 Understanding Social Listening and Community Engagement
17:18 Utilizing Google Search Console for Website Optimization
17:29 Google alerts for your church
18:07 Maximizing Visibility with Google Ads
20:38 Target your audience
21:33 Maintaining your church's Google ad grant
23:55 What would you like to learn about Google?
Related episodes:
Related resources:
- Digging Google Trends' goldmine to craft great content
- 5 Google Analytics tools for the mission of the church
Episode transcript
Ryan Dunn [00:00:00]:
Have you Googled your church's name recently? How about your pastor's? We're going to jump into some practices for getting your church's listing to the top of that search and to level up your ministry's ability to share some good news with your digital community. This is the MyCom Church Communications and Marketing Podcast. We're building your digital ministry toolkit and helping to bring your congregation into the digital age. My name is Ryan Dunn. I'm a fellow traveler on the journey to better church connections. You know what Google is. According to SQ Magazine, that's a UK-based digital news and analysis publication that focuses on the technologies that shape our modern digital economy, over 90% of web searches are executed If on one Sunday morning, for example, you asked your congregation to raise their hands if they used Google in the past week, nearly all of them would. Google is ubiquitous in our digital culture.
Ryan Dunn [00:01:06]:
In fact, so much so, the company name has become a commonly used verb. It's true. Google it. But I wonder if we have ever considered how we can purposefully cultivate our ministry's digital identity Through Google. That's what we're investing in on this episode of MICOM. After all, if we're going to reach people with our important messages of grace, life, and hope, then we will really benefit from optimizing our presence and accessibility through Google. We really can maximize the platform for reaching people, communicating good news, and learning more about how our churches meet our communities. So to set the table for this, I think we really need to understand where Google came from in order to understand Google's present-day goals and platforms.
Ryan Dunn [00:01:57]:
Now, I was in college when the internet really started to become accessible to the general public. And I'm sorry if that just kind of blew your concept of how old I am. Anyways, while it was really thrilling to jump online those first few times, there was an issue. Most of us had no idea what to do once we got online. Getting access to the internet was like getting access to a car, but having no maps or sense of direction. Like I could go anywhere, but I had no idea how to actually get anywhere. Unless a user had the exact URL of a website they wished to access, they were kind of stuck. Now, the first solution to this problem were called site indexes.
Ryan Dunn [00:02:43]:
Yahoo was one such site index. A user could search through their index of sites by keyword. So if I wanted to find the webpage for my favorite rock band, which at the time may or may not have been Rage Against the Machine, I could search through Yahoo's music index until I found a listing for the band that I wanted, if they had a webpage, that is. And if that webpage again was important enough to get listed on Yahoo's index. Now around 1996, new searchable databases started to appear. They had names like Ask Jeeves and AltaVista. We might be somewhat familiar with the setup of these sites today. So there was a search field and a user could input details of what they hoped to find.
Ryan Dunn [00:03:31]:
Like for example, again, Rage Against the Machine. These early search engines crawled the internet in a search seeking to match the keywords that the user supplied. But people and clever marketers figured out how to kind of game that system. Someone could pack their web page with certain keywords that would suggest to the primitive search engine that this site was full of the information that the user was looking for. So I could have made a web page talking about how much I hate Rage Against the Machine. And if I packed that site with several mentions of the band's name and the members' names and their album names, then I can maximize the likelihood that a search engine would return my site to a searching user. It might even rank it higher or put it above in the search return than the band's official page or even news sites providing source material for my page. And this was not even a supportive page again for Rage Against the Machine.
Ryan Dunn [00:04:35]:
Maybe my whole site was just a platform for selling my, like, let's rage against the machine that is Rage Against the Machine t-shirts. You see the problem here. There was a bit of an authenticity problem with these early search engines. In 1997, Sergey Brin and Larry Page were graduate students working on a research project at Stanford University, and they wanted to figure out how to address the authenticity problem on search results. They hoped to figure out a way to return the best, most authoritative information. And their solution then was to analyze the quantity and quality of links that pointed back to a particular webpage. So if a page had several other pages linking to it, the assumption was that it contained good authoritative material. It was really an idea borrowed from academia where the most cited papers are considered the most authoritative.
Ryan Dunn [00:05:34]:
The new search engine Sergey and Larry were developing then ranked the pages that the search returned from the user search. And the page ranking was also a new development and one that users really found useful. Links then in this new search engine became a proxy for reputation. Previous search engines had no way to filter those relevant links to the top of the search. Google, this company that Sergey and Larry founded, their PageRank system analyzed the traditional ingredient of on-page text, but also meta tags and the anchor text of links on pages. And the results were more useful, more authoritative, and more authentic. Users appreciated that ranking and authenticity, and Google took off as a search engine. So much so that as of this podcast here in 2026, Google again executes 90% of the world's internet searches.
Ryan Dunn [00:06:36]:
That represents a lot of opportunity for our churches to meet people simply because there are so many people using Google. It also means that there's a lot of clutter for our church's messaging to cut through. There's simply so much traffic moving through Google. So we're going to look at how we optimize our church's or our ministry's presence in digital space in order to allow Google to work for us in connecting with people who might find value, meaning, and holy connection through our ministry. You know, it might be helpful to think of Google like the local library in a way. It's extremely full of useful and often exciting information, but sometimes it takes some digging to find that information. Google's algorithm is like the librarian. It really is trying to help us find the information that we seek.
Ryan Dunn [00:07:29]:
And one of the ways it does that is to preemptively serve up the information it suspects we might find valuable or engaging in the same way that a librarian will create book displays around the library or pull certain books from the stacks in order to showcase their, their current relevancy to potential readers. Like they're trying to assume that people are going to want this information. There are certain elements which help librarians categorize or even feature certain books. A clear book synopsis is probably the most crucial piece of information. And this is often found on the book's back cover or inside the front cover. And often this synopsis seeks to answer a question for the librarian and the potential reader. And that question is, why should someone read this? Book descriptions that offer compelling answers to that question are more likely to get featured at the library. And actually books featuring compelling answers to that question are just more likely to get read in general.
Ryan Dunn [00:08:35]:
Sometimes alongside those back cover synopses, there are book recommendations from other authors or experts or critics. They say things like, I don't know, I trust Ryan Dunn is helping the church move into the 21st century, and you should too. Right? Compelling, right? A compelling endorsement from a well-known person might influence a librarian's decision then to feature a book. Just as a librarian can be enticed to move a book to a prominent position through compelling cover and endorsements, Google can be enticed as well. We just have to be mindful about what Google is looking for. Today, Google wants to be trusted so that users utilize Google's peripheral apps and features. To be trusted, Google needs to provide quality information in response to users' queries. So if we're to leverage Google's goal of providing quality information in the interest of advancing our own goal of connecting people to our ministries, then we will want to be mindful of how we make quality information available in the places in which Google is looking.
Ryan Dunn [00:09:44]:
We can start by making sure your church or ministry's Google profile is up to date. One of Google's go-to spots for quality information regarding an organization or a business is that organization's Google profile. If you were to open Google right now, search your church's name, a profile will likely appear on the right side of the screen. This is actually called the Google Knowledge Panel. You know, you have to brand everything. It offers quick details like a picture or 2, location, hours of operation, and contact information. Now, here's some good news. You can edit and cultivate all that information.
Ryan Dunn [00:10:26]:
And Google really likes it when you do that. Users do too. So consistently updating the Google profile with recent pictures and interacting with reviews shows Google that your organization is active. And importantly, this is what they like. You're using their platform as part of your regular operations. Now here's the bad news. It can be a process to claim the Google profile if you have not so done already. I found the following scenario played out a number of times in churches.
Ryan Dunn [00:11:02]:
A well-meaning staffer or volunteer saw some value in the Google profile, so they created or claimed the church's Google profile. And now years have gone by and that staff member or volunteer has moved on to another community or has no recollection of creating the Google profile. So now no one knows how to log into the correct Google account in order to edit and cultivate the church's Google profile. This is not the end of the journey, however. You can claim your church's business profile. It's just a process and it might actually take several weeks. And I'm not going to detail the process here, mostly because it's likely changed since the last time I went through it, and it's likely going to change again in the near future. But I will offer that in my experience, it actually involved creating and submitting a video that showed that I had a position of authority in the organization.
Ryan Dunn [00:11:57]:
So the best way forward is to Google how to update your Google profile. That's very meta, I know. Once you've claimed that business profile and can edit the information on the knowledge panel, it might be time to engage the congregation in helping to build your digital presence. You can upgrade your digital footprint and look really good to Google through Google Reviews. Again, if you Google your church's name, profile will pop up on the right-hand side. Hopefully it's your church. Appearing right under your church's name is the rating people provided and the number of reviews offered. If there's nothing there, then you have yet to receive any reviews.
Ryan Dunn [00:12:40]:
In either case, there's a button below the name marked Reviews. Which allows users to write a review for your church. Google wants to present useful, accurate information. So if someone is searching for family-friendly churches in Greenville, Google wants to return recommendations that the user is likely to find relevant and useful. So Google uses reviews as part of its ranking process. Regularly recurring positive reviews suggest to Google that the business, or in this case, the church, is active and people appreciate what they offer. They're finding value, meaning that the more users are likely to find utility through following Google's recommendation. In short, reviews are a way to both inform users about the good things and the people in your church, as well as showing Google the value your church offers the community.
Ryan Dunn [00:13:36]:
These reviews can be a convenient form of listening as well. The congregation is telling you what they value about your church community. And this is vital information for sketching out future visions of the church's development and for constructing value statements about the church. This will reveal your church's strengths. In an age of easy access to information, people value that authenticity, and Google Reviews can help you authentically communicate the values of your church because your congregants are telling you what they find important. Google loves to see pictures with those reviews. One practice that will increase visibility is to invite congregants to share their experiences after a special event. So have them write up a review and post corresponding pictures after, like, the fall ministry kickoff or after Confirmation Sunday or a community meal or a clean up the grounds day.
Ryan Dunn [00:14:34]:
The goal is to show accurately and authentically the activity of the church. Adding pictures to your Google profile helps advance that visibility. Google likes knowing that you use their features, and I believe it actually rewards that behavior by bumping up active users in their search results. After claiming your business profile on Google, you can gain access to Google's Business Profile Manager, and from there You can add all kinds of pictures to your Google profile. For a lot of us, these few steps are enough to make an impact on our Google visibility. This could be enough work for now, but if you're ready to level up again and take another step, there are some alterations that you can make to your website that Google will really appreciate and will keep you on top of the searches in your area. When you, Google search a topic, a handy list of frequent questions pops up. You can search your church's name, and likely the results that it returns in these continuing questions or questions that people also ask are not very specific to your local church.
Ryan Dunn [00:15:44]:
One of my searches returned, where do country singers go to church in Nashville? And actually, the answer is all of them, really, because Everybody's a country singer. And because my church is part of a denomination, the United Methodist denomination, most of the results are queries about United Methodists. Yet the results are still instructive. This is a form of social listening. It clues us into what people are wondering about related to our faith communities, and the results provide ideas of what keywords to include in Google profiles and on our websites. One question may be, is your church/denomination LGBTQ+ affirming? Make sure that this answer is easily discoverable, not buried deep in a What We Believe section of the website, but easily seen on the front page of the website. Unless, of course, you're trying to hide the answer, in which case maybe there's something about your answer that unsettles your conscience and maybe needs addressing. All right.
Ryan Dunn [00:16:48]:
Google also offers a Search Console, and this feature requires a little backend work in the form of adding a piece of code to your website. Google, of course, will walk you through that process. That Search Console offers several handy tools. Firstly, it will notify you when there are issues with your site. For example, the link that you posted for like the local farmer's market is no longer working. Well, Google will flag that for you. A second great feature is the search analytics feature. This allows you to see how people find your website and where you might need to concentrate your messaging or what you might want to feature more prominently.
Ryan Dunn [00:17:29]:
So, and on the topic of social listening, there's another way which only takes a few moments to set up, and that is Google Alerts. The idea is pretty simple. Google sends an alert each time its crawlers catch another website mentioning a certain topic or organization. So setting up a Google Alert for your church or ministry triggers an email each new time your alert topic is mentioned on a website. And the process is simple, so much so that I simply encourage you again to Google Google Alerts and follow the process then that Google Supplies. Now let's get to the big item, Google Ads. There's a way to jump your church's content to the top of the feed. And really, this is true on just about any platform.
Ryan Dunn [00:18:19]:
You pay them to jump your content to the top of the feed. In Google's case, however, you don't need to have a huge advertising budget. Google offers ad grants for nonprofits. As long as your ads are effective, you can continue utilizing these grants to keep your information at the top of many users' searches. In order to build a successful ad campaign, it's helpful to really think about the user experience. So what is going to make someone want to click on your ad? What is going to keep them from finding the information that they seek? When someone clicks through the ad, where are they going and what are they seeing? It's important to have answers for those questions as you're building these ad campaigns. And it's helpful then to build a page on your church's website for users who click through the Google ad. This is called a landing page.
Ryan Dunn [00:19:15]:
The landing page communicates the specific behaviors or steps you hope a user takes next. In many cases, this might be, well, including details on how the user can join the congregation and worship on Sunday morning, including What to expect during worship, what family options are available during worship— that would be like childcare— and the where and the when of worship. If your church is doing a special event like a fall ministry kickoff, ads can be tailored to speak to that event, in which case you'll want to direct users directly to a landing page for that fall event. Or you can advertise for a specific support group like a grief support group or a Parents Morning Out program. Again, Corresponding landing pages are going to be necessary. One thing I've noticed about our church communication is that we want them, we want these communications to be for everybody. The intent there is very altruistic. We seek to be welcoming to everybody.
Ryan Dunn [00:20:17]:
That's good. There's nothing wrong with that. However, effective communications, especially effective communications in digital space, are going to run a bit counter to that altruistic idea. They're not meant to connect to everyone. They're meant to connect with specific people. The amount of information on the internet is nearly infinite. It would take us several lifetimes to wade through everything. There is far more content available in digital space than any of us could ever interact with.
Ryan Dunn [00:20:53]:
And that means that while the information available is really infinite, we are aware that the attention that we're able to offer that information is very finite. That generally makes us fickle regarding where and how we lend our attention in digital spaces. Something needs to speak specifically to us in order to garner our valuable attention. If a piece of content does not immediately speak to our specific situations, we have the ability to quickly move on in the expectation of finding a piece of digital content that more appropriately speaks to our specific situations or our desires. For most churches, advertising feels unattainable, often because there's really no budget in the church for advertising. In Google's case, we can advertise free of charge, and that's through their ad grant for nonprofits. And that is actually up to $10,000 per month in advertising. That goes to qualifying organizations and most churches qualify.
Ryan Dunn [00:21:57]:
You will first need to make sure that you've claimed your business profile. Again, we talked about that a little bit earlier. Then make sure that your church's tax ID is on file with Google. Once approved, it's important really to strategize some ad campaigns before actually starting to advertise with the grant funds, because you do have to maintain a 5% click-through rate. In order to maintain the grant. Tracking this also could require some code to the backend of your website. Google needs to know if people are clicking through to your site through their platform. And of course, they also want to know what behaviors users are engaging in on your site.
Ryan Dunn [00:22:39]:
In a way, this isn't simply like a free giveaway from Google. They're actually getting access to information on user behaviors, which is quite valuable to them. And this is actually something that we want to consider if we want to not give Google another opportunity to watch what people are doing online. Like if that's out for you, then this program is out for you. Maintaining that 5% click-through rate requires active supervision and maintenance. So as, as, as an ad administrator, You will need to watch to see what keywords yield clicks and what keywords are ignored and to keep tinkering with those strategies. Since this requires a bit of diligence, there's actually a cottage industry that has arisen to help churches manage their Google Ads campaigns and maintain their ad grants. So it's not just a set it and forget it kind of thing that we're looking at here.
Ryan Dunn [00:23:40]:
It's going to take some active participation on your part to make sure that you're maintaining that 5% click-through rate to keep getting that Google Ad Grants. All right. So that sounds like a lot. We have a fair amount of work. Did you hear something new in this episode? I do have a couple favors to ask of you. What more would you like to learn about Google relevant to church and ministry? I'm going to post a bunch of links up on our website. which is resourceumc.org/mycompodcast. As we've learned, that helps this material look authentically useful.
Ryan Dunn [00:24:22]:
I'll put links to all the information pages for the Google features that I mentioned, but I'm also going to link an email address. And please do send me your further questions about Google. I likely don't have answers for them yet, but your questions are really going to help point me in the right direction on what I need to learn about next. And speaking of interaction, And reviews. Would you mind dropping a rating and review for MICOM on your podcast listening platform? That helps so, so much. So thank you for that. You can learn more about the podcast. You can find more episodes, episode notes, get more resources for your digital ministry toolkit, all that stuff.
Ryan Dunn [00:25:02]:
It's at resourceumc.org/micom-podcast. MICOM is a production of United Methodist Methodist Communications. Comes out monthly. Thank you to Renee McNeil and Andrew Schleicher for production and marketing support. My name is Ryan Dunn. Talk to you in a month. Peace.