Posting sermons to your church website has three main benefits:
- It helps prospective visitors to better understand what topics and themes are being taught and how your pastor(s) teaches.
- It helps members see and/or hear messages when they miss services.
- It’s great for SEO.
Let’s go into more detail on benefit number 3…
4 Ways Posting Sermons on Your Website Helps Your Church SEO!
1) Search engines love fresh content.
When you publish a new page to your website each week with that week’s sermon info on it, you are creating at least one fresh, unique piece of content each week.
2) Social shares improve search rankings.
Each sermon is published on its own URL which can then be shared both by the church and by anyone who listens/watches the sermon. The more shares, the better your search rankings.
3) Rank for specific topics and questions.
People use search engines to find answers to all kinds of questions, including spiritual questions. Some examples include:
- Why does God allow evil?
- What happens after we die?
- Was Jesus a real person?
Every sermon preached at your church answers questions like these which people around the world are searching for. It’s a great opportunity to give people true, biblical answers to these questions, and help these people connect with your church.
4) Improve rankings for local keywords.
Pastors who are strategic about engaging their congregation in ministry opportunities don’t just make announcements, they preach announcements. What I mean is pastors should be strategic about talking about ministry opportunities in their sermons and relate them to the message.
When you do this, you can improve search rankings for things the people in your local community are looking for like “Vacation Bible School in Springfield” or “Easter Sunrise Service in Springfield” or “Celebrate Recovery in Springfield”
Those are some pretty sweet church SEO benefits, right?
But, you might not fully realize these benefits unless you are posting your sermons in the right way.
9 Ways to Maximize the Church SEO Benefits of Your Sermons
To maximize the SEO impact of your sermons, do as many of the following as possible:
- Post each sermon to its own page/post. (Don’t put a whole bunch of sermons on one page)
- Embed video of the message. (Google loves videos)
- Optimize the video. If the video is posted to YouTube of Facebook, edit the title, description, category, and tags. Include scripture references, topics discussed, and questions addressed.
- Embed audio of the message
- Podcast the audio of the messages
- Include the sermon outline or notes
- Include all scripture references mentioned in the sermon and link out to where people can read them on a site like BibleGateway.
- Include recommended action steps. If any of those action steps include going somewhere or doing something with another organization, link out to their website and include their address.
- Include links to recommended resources
The bottom line is…
Posting sermons to your church website can dramatically increase search rankings and visitors… but only if you optimize them well.
Looking for a great church website builder with a sermon manager?
A lot of the big corporate website builders don’t have sermon managers built into them.
OurChurch.Com’s WP-EZ Church Website Builder uses the built in blogging functionality for its sermon manager. If you want to take your sermons to the next level, organizing and categorizing sermon audio, video, notes and graphics, check out our premium EZ Sermon Manager.
If you’re interested in having us design and build a new website for your church or help with your church SEO, we’d love to talk more with you.
Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a free phone consultation.
Comment and discuss
- Are you posting sermons to your church website? If you are, what benefits have you experienced? If not, why not?
Continuing reading Church Website Builder Tips and Tools
Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com
Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.
An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.
Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.