Houston, rather [Insert Your City Name Here], We Have a Problem

Humor me and try an experiment … go to Google and type in “church” and see what site gets top billing in the coveted No. 1 spot.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

In Google search rankings, links to the LDS main church site appear two times in the top ten. TWO TIMES IN THE TOP TEN! That’s pretty significant, wouldn’t you say?

By the way, no link will be provided here to the LDS site. Links are votes in Google’s eyes, remember? And although I love Mormons as fellow human beings created in God’s image, they are not evangelical Christians.

Oh, type in “Jesus Christ” and they’re still in the top ten.

REASONS FOR THIS

Now, first, I’m guessing — and you SEO expert/gurus can chime in here — but one reason they rank so high is that each individual LDS/Mormon church probably links back to the main site. This helps them rise to the top in search engine rankings.

And second – just my hunch here — but I’m guessing someone at the LDS church knows a thing or two about search engine optimization.

(I’m putting more money on the first though, but this could be a legitimate reason too.)
LESSONS LEARNED

First, again, links are a good thing, right? Why not link to your local denomination’s website? (Something I need to do ASAP.) Or to solid resources and ministries that promote solid, evangelical, Bible-believing, Jesus-loving content? Or better yet, an outstanding Gospel presentation site or two!
Second, could this be a siren call to put our heads together and share from tips and teach local churches (like me and the church I serve) more about this important topic of SEO?

I admit, I have a lot to learn and implement.
I’m open to suggestions, or better yet, the tips, tactics, strategies, information for churches to get better in Search Engine Optimization! And I would love to provide the Web space for this to happen.

In fact, for the Building Rockin’ Church Websites series, I asked each Website designer or firm a question about SEO. I just talked about implementing some of these in my post on Optimization.

Oh, I forgot … ProBlogger Darren Rowse and a believer, I might add, has an outstanding post on SEO.

Let’s talk. Let’s get this discussion going. Chime in with a comment, send me an email. 

November 29, 2006 · Filed Under Search Engine Optimization, Web Site Design

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7 Responses to “Houston, rather [Insert Your City Name Here], We Have a Problem”

  1. matt on November 30th, 2006 8:10 am

    Like you state in Point #1, the sheer amount of links back to them, 11,100 linking to www . lds . org to be exact.

    The thing is, the local LDS branches dont appear to have their own sites (I may be wrong). So they remind me of the BORG from star trek. And are only known as their collective being. This Collective being can easily out weigh even the biggest evangelical mega church.

    So I did a bit of homework with the biggest churches I know of.

    Sites linking to the LDS site: 11,100
    Sites linking to http://www.lakewood.cc (Joel Osteen, Huston) 263
    Sites linking to http://www.saddleback.com (Rick Warren, Southern CA) 281
    Sites linking to http://www.willowcreek.org (bill Hybles, Chicago) 972

    Its no wonder LDS out ranks all. We are trying to compete individually, with a huge collective.

    Sorry no solutions here. just pointing out the numbers. I personally would be stoked to have that 200+ link backs to our church, or my company page.

  2. Jonathan Blundell on November 30th, 2006 10:55 am

    What’s funny is my blog actually comes up several times on Google when you look for “encounter Waxahachie” — before the church’s actual website.
    Not many people in our church talking about or linking to our church website.
    Of course there’s not many people in our church with websites that I know of.

  3. Kevin Stilley on November 30th, 2006 11:32 am

    Great post. Definitely an important topic.

  4. Andrew C on November 30th, 2006 11:59 am

    Cory - Thanks for the post. I appreciate this information. It is interesting to think about… In the past there was a market square in each town where people of all different kinds would meet. There may be places like that in different communities, and the internet may be that place for the globe. If so, this ranking is something of which to be aware. How important is this particular Google ranking? In what ways is it important to make an individual community of faith known within a community - which is where they may have the potential to make the most impact. Thanks again!

    Andrew

  5. Cory Miller on November 30th, 2006 12:13 pm

    Jonathan, I think most church sites aren’t optimized at all. BUT … I think blogs makes search engines drool. :-)

    Blogs are ripe for SEO!

    This is another reason why, I think, churches should take advantage of blogging!

    (Finger pointed back at me here for negligence in this regard!)

    Andrew, I don’t know what this particular search means for your community … but when someone types in “church” I’d want them to find solid evangelical churches.

    In your market square analogy, it’s the equivalent of someone yelling “I’m looking for a church.” And a Mormon saying, “Right here!”

    I guess this hits hard for me because I had a conversation with a Jehovah Witness this week in the church I serve and belong to … he grew up Baptist and became “convinced” of JW’s beliefs later in life.

    I’m saddened because I don’t want anyone drinking from an imitation well that’s dry … but the Real Deal — Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, coequal with God from the beginning, who provides for salvation through His free gift on the cross by grace through faith.

    … I guess I’m just a big proponent of making the one and only, true and eternal Water Well the BIG, GRAND, BEAUTIFUL SHOW HE IS!

  6. Jeremy on December 1st, 2006 11:50 am

    Cory,

    This isn’t as bad as it looks. The keyword “church” by itself isn’t a great candidate for bringing people into your local church or teaching them about the gospel.

    Matt is right, the LDS church uses a template for local churches that can’t maintain or develop their own sites. My denomination, the Seventh-day Adventist church, does the same thing (see http://www.netadventist.org).

    Instead, focus keywords on more specific phrases that most people are more likely to type into the search engine when looking for you. Using QSBC as an example, your first best bets would be:

    “oklahoma city church”
    “quail springs church”
    “oklahoma city baptist church”

    You need to optimize your site for those keyword phrases first. Then, make sure that any of the sites that are already in the top ten for those phrases link to you, if they will (directories, etc.). Take advantage of Google Local, Yahoo Local.

    http://www.google.com/local/add?hl=en&gl=us
    http://listings.local.yahoo.com/

    Do these couple of things first, then let’s revisit your site in about a month to see how QSBC is doing.

  7. Stephen Buck on December 11th, 2006 3:06 pm

    On the other hand….. Looking at the web from a Mormon point of view it is not the friendly place for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as you seem to be saying it is. Please do an other survey and tell us how many sites denigrate Mormons and their beliefs. Much of it scandalous and untrue. We are misquoted and our position is misrepresented. On the other hand the position and teachings of all of Christianity is misrepresented on all to many web sites. Perhaps you have noticed this and are offended by it. Perhaps if you a bit resentful of the situation, you might guess we have similar feelings. Mormons do not mind at all that we are scrutinized but we would like it to be fair.

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