In today’s digital landscape, a local church understands they need a web presence. Whether that’s a social media page or a complete church website, we know people seek information and assistance online. The church certainly should be present with gospel-focused content.
However, there are certain requirements for your web presence. In fact, Google will rank a church website higher if you have images and videos.
Here are 4 required images you need on your church website (and church communication tips for making them better):
1. Leadership and team images. The congregation will often go to your leadership or team page to identify who is in charge of something they need.
A potential guest who is checking out your church will click on the same page just to observe leadership, what you look like and if they’ll fit in.
So, ensure you have recent staff pictures that include anyone who is in charge of a ministry that someone might need. Have them dress like you expect someone to attend like. And include a way to contact them.
2. Worship room images. Sure, your congregation knows what your worship center atmosphere feels like. But your potential guest doesn’t. They’ll be curious (from their vantage point in the pew) of how many people will probably be there, how crowded the seating is, how far from the stage they’ll be and what are people wearing.
So, show them with a series of pictures.
NOTE: Many churches choose pictures from Easter or Christmas because the room is fuller. Be careful you’re not falsely advertising with how many people will be there and how they’re dressed.
Even better? Create a short video that’s representative of the experience from the pews. Be careful about copyrighted content (if you don’t have the rights).
Another idea? Start in the parking lot and make your way into worship on a typical morning of worship. You can even show where to park, areas to drop the kids off or where to attend a Sunday School class along the way. Don’t make it too long. Use captioning to explain things a potential guest might be interested in.
3. People images. Your church reaches a “stereotypical type” of people that should correspond to the type of people in your community. This is called your communication persona.
People like to attend a church that feels like them. No one likes feeling out of place. So, show people in your church. Have them representative of who you genuinely are yet skew the persona towards what the community feels like if possible. Don’t use stock images.
And don’t overuse a family because they show ethnic diversity.
4. Page-related images. Google, who has captured much of the search engine audience, knows what people prefer. Based on Google’s knowledge of the audience, they rank websites higher for content they know is more sought after.
Images or videos on pages are loved. But Google ranks you even higher if the metadata (content description not seen by the end user) contains the keyword that the page is about.
Why? Because it demonstrates that the image or video isn’t “filler” and is purposefully added to extend the story of the page. Remember, a picture is worth 1,000 words. Or more, if it’s relevant to the page.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Mark MacDonald is a communication pastor, speaker, consultant, bestselling author and church branding strategist for BeKnownforSomething.com, empowering thousands of pastors and churches to become known for something relevant (a communication thread) throughout their ministries, on their church websites and social media. His church branding book, “Be Known for Something,” is available at BeKnownBook.com.
