Website Analytics: Lessons and Funky Keywords from October

Hello and welcome to November.  October has come to a close and you know what that means…

It’s time to check our website analytics for traffic, trends, and our favorite – funky keywords.

Top 10 Search Phrases

1. facebook for churches
2. jesus facebook
3. churches on facebook
4. facebook churches
5. church communications
6. church communication
7. e-newsletter tips
8. modes of communications
9. facebook destroying marriages
10. newspring church

Interestingly 9 of those 10 phrases were also among the top 10 in September.  The only new phrases to the list was #8, “modes of communication” which just missed the top 10 last month.

Top posts for October 2010

1. OurChurch.Com is Now the Preferred Website Design Provider for United Methodist Churches
2. Church Facebook Survey Points to Opportunities for Churches in Social Media
3. New Series: Practical Steps to Getting Starged in Social Media
4. Facebook for Churches – New Facebook a Game-Changer
5. After Halloween, The Top 5 Holidays ripe for a Christian Takeover
6. New Breast Cancer Awareness Template
7. 167 Symbols to Spice Up Your Twitter and Facebook Updates
8. 12 Ways to Promote Your Band and Its Website
9. 8 Ways to Improve Church Communications with No Money
10. How Facebook Ads Filled my Church

It’s interesting to me that only 2 of the 10 most popular posts were published in October.  The top 2 were published in September.  #9 & #10 were published all the way back in 2006. The popularity of older posts demonstrates that search engines are still an important source of traffic and that they don’t necessarily rank new articles higher than older ones.

Funky Keywords

Last but not least, the 5 most interesting search phrases that took people to Christian Web Trends.

• html5 religion
• christian halloween plan of salvation
• dont change our churchs traditionsl christmas eve service
• facebook middle finger symbol
• how do you make up a sermon to tell in church

What did you learn from looking at your website’s analytics?  What was your most popular page/post in October? Got any funky search phrases to share?