The possibilities are endless… Some churches host a multi-night Christmas production, others a traditional Christmas Eve service, others experiment with other kids of Christmas outreach event…

See 12 Christmas Outreach Event Ideas for Churches for more ideas.

While personal invitations will probably always be the best way to invite someone to a Christmas service, social media is also a very effective way for churches and their members to spread the word about Christmas events.

Our team here at OurChurch.Com started kicking around ideas, and before we knew it we had…

25 Ways Your Church Can Use Social Media to Promote its Christmas Services

Things you can do right away

1) Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc to recruit a virtual street team, people in your church who are engaged in social media and will help lead efforts to promote the Christmas

2) Create a social media promotional schedule in Google Docs. Share it with your street team, get their input, add to it & improve it based on their input.

3) Create a Facebook event for your Christmas service(s).

4) Post the event to your church’s Facebook page.

5) You & your virtual street team share the event on your personal Facebook profiles & encourage others to do the same.

6) Post the event to any other social media profiles your church may use (Twitter, Instagram, etc)

7) You & your virtual street team share your church’s post promoting the event on your personal profiles (Twitter, Instagram, etc)

8 ) Run Facebook ads to promote your Christmas events

Create a promotional video for your Christmas service, and…

9) Put the promotional video on YouTube

10) Share the YouTube video on your church’s Facebook page.

11) You & your virtual street team share the YouTube video on your personal Facebook profiles and encourage others to do the same.

12) Share the video to any other social media profiles your church may have (Twitter, Instagram, etc)

13) You & your virtual street team share your church’s video promoting the event on your personal accounts on those same social platforms (Twitter, Instagram, etc)

Reach out to other local organizations

14) Find local online guides that have event calendar. Submit your event, embed or link to the YouTube video.

15) Find the Facebook pages for your city, chamber of commerce, & other local community organizations. “Like” their page. Then post the Facebook event to their wall if you can do that in a non-spammy way.

16) Find on other social platforms (Twitter, Instagram, etc) profiles for your city, chamber of commerce, & other local community organizations. Send them a DM & ask if they would share your post about your Christmas production.

If your Christmas services / events span more than one night…

17) Post pics from the first night to your church’s Facebook page. Be sure to tag as many people as you can. Tagging will cause those pics to show up on those people’s profiles for them and their friends to see.

18) You and your street team share those pics on your Facebook profiles.

19) Post some of the pics to your church’s other social profiles (Twitter, Instagram, etc)

20) You and the street team, share those pics.

21) Create a video that includes footage from the opening performance & short comments from people afterwards saying good things about it. Post the video to YouTube.

22) Share the opening night video on your church’s Facebook page

23) You & your virtual street team share the opening night video on your personal Facebook profiles & encourage others to do the same.

24) Share the opening night video using your church’s other social accounts (Twitter, Instagram, etc).

25) You & your virtual street team share your church’s posts of the opening night video on other social accounts (Twitter, Instagram, etc).

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Partner with our team

If you need any help with your church website or church SEO in this busy season, OurChurch.com is here to help. We can save you time and make sure your website and SEO are helping you reach the people you want to connect with. Click the links or request a free phone consultation by completing the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop).

Comment and Discuss

• Which of these social media tactics is your church using this year?
• What other ways can churches spread the word about services through social media.

Continue reading Your Christmas Communications Playbook

Paul Steinbrueck

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. 

steinbrueck.org

The post 25 Ways to Promote your Church’s Christmas Services in Social Media appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Before we get to the Thanksgiving quotes, we want you to know OurChurch.Com is all about giving you the tools, resources and services you need to live out your God-given mission. This includes:

• Christian and church website design
• Christian and church search engine marketing
• Do-it-yourself website builder
• 12 Thanksgiving Church Outreach Ideas

You can also find more Thanksgiving social media content to share in:

• 25 Thanksgiving Bible Verses and Scripture to Inspire and Share
• 12 Funny and Inspiring Thanksgiving Videos

Now, check out the 25 gratitude quotes below.  You are welcome to use them however you want:

• share one each day this month on your social channels
• use them in your newsletters
• embed them in your blog posts
• print them
• post them in your office or your home

This month, help the people in and around your organization focus on the goodness of God and all we have to be thankful for.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. – Psalm 107:1

There is no such thing as gratitude unexpressed. If it is unexpressed, it is plain, old-fashioned ingratitude. – Robert Brault

When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and the joy of living. – Chief Tecumseh

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. – Bonhoeffer

It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. – Charles Spurgeon

Gratitude is the bud, aliveness is the blossom. – unknown

Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life. – Robert Louis Stevenson

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. – Henry Ward Beecher

Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal.  It’s a way to live. – Jacqueline Winspear

There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy. – Ralph H. Blum

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. – Melody Beattie

Life is not tied with a bow, but it still it is a gift. – Regina Bret

Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses. – German proverb

It’s not happy people who are thankful. It’s thankful people who are happy. – unknown

If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness.  It will change your life mightily. – Gerald Good

It doesn’t matter if the glass is half empty or half full. Be grateful that you have a glass & there’s something in it. – unknown

Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all. – William Faulkner

Gratitude turns what we have into enough. – Melody Beattie

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues. – Cicero

Take whatever He gives and give whatever He takes with a big smile. – Mother Teresa

Gratitude and love are always multiplied when you give freely. It is an infinite source of contentment and prosperous energy. – Jim Fargiano

If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share. – W. Clement Stone

When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed. – Maya Angelou

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. – Eric Hoffer

Cultivate the ability to say “Thank you for everything,” & you will find that everything is a gift. – unknown

There is no i in team but we sure are glad there is u in our volunteers. –Unknown

We hope these Thanksgiving bible quotes have encouraged and inspired you. And we hope you’ll share them with others.

If there’s anything we can do to help your Christian church, school, ministry or business with our web builder, website design, or SEO (search engine optimization), complete the form below to schedule a phone call. We’d love to talk with you about living out your mission online!

Comment and Discuss

•  What’s your favorite Thanksgiving quote?

Continue reading more ways to express gratitude during the Thanksgiving season!

Paul Steinbrueck

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. 

steinbrueck.org

The post 25 Thanksgiving Quotes to Inspire Gratitude appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

“Danny,” a recovering alcoholic, attends an AA meeting every week. The group gathers in the basement of a Methodist church on Sunday afternoons. Sometimes Danny considers visiting the church worship service, but he always ends up dismissing the idea. “I wouldn’t feel welcome there,” he thinks.

What would it take to help Danny and others like him feel welcomed in church? Answers to this question have historically been quite complex—and even harder to implement. That’s because of a perceived rift between the two worlds (recovery and church), created by factors like cultural, spiritual, and theological differences and limited, shared life experience. There can also be a certain level of mutual mistrust.

One way that churches can help bridge this divide is by using social media to connect with people in recovery. What follow are five simple, practical ways that churches can use social media and other communication tools to create a more recovery-friendly community….

1. Maximize different social networks’ strengths. While Snapchat might be a great network for younger adults, Facebook may do a better job of engaging your core congregation. With 8 billion monthly, active users, Facebook is the foundation for most organizations’ social media strategy. Here are some ways to creatively utilize Facebook’s capabilities to reach people in recovery:

• Host Facebook Live sessions. Promote these events and encourage fans to ask questions during the live broadcast. These sessions might be a good venue for starting faith-based conversations about addiction and for speaking directly to people in recovery.
• Create a private Facebook Group and share relevant content. Consider starting groups based on common interests (young adults, women’s ministry, parenting, Spanish-speaking, etc.) and invite your existing page followers to join. You can do the same for people in recovery, by creating a private group that offers a safe space to converse and find support. Share sermons, inspirational quotes, Bible verses and other content that you think the group will appreciate.
• Encourage audience input and participation. For example, you might post questions or polls in groups and build your content strategy around what your followers want to see. You can also ask for user-generated content and then aggregate and share images in one engaging post.

2. Invest in content creation. Investing in high-quality videos can significantly improve your content’s exposure and engagement. Videos are the most consumed content on social media and the most versatile type of content (easily shared across many platforms).

Consider recording sermons, conferences or other events and then advertising these videos to users on Facebook or YouTube. You might also utilize apps like Canva, Instagram Stories, Adobe or other creative tools to affordably design engaging graphics that promote weekly events and virtual meetings.

With a hashtag tracking service (like Social-searcher, Talkwalker or Hashtagify), it’s also possible to first research and create an on-brand hashtag and then monitor your hashtag for brand evangelists, conversation sentiment and content ideas.

3. Diversify content and dedicate a monthly advertising budget. Develop recovery-friendly, monthly themes or a seasonal calendar that aligns with liturgical seasons such as Advent or Lent. Plan ahead to promote these campaigns over specific dates.

Allocate a social media budget to promote top-performing posts. A good rule of thumb is to budget 50-60 percent of the amount of time spent creating a blog/graphic on promotion. Look through previous posts and invite everyone who engaged to become a fan of your page. With users who live within 25 miles of the church, you may also want to follow up with mailed announcements about worship or other safe, socially distanced events.

4. Poll your audience and tackle real-world issues. Help be part of the solution to a problem that matters to your audience. (Maybe it is world hunger, homelessness, the overdose epidemic, etc.) Invite users to join you and reward top contributors with gestures of appreciation or freebies, however small. Tag specific users. Pin posts to the top of the page to welcome new fans.

You can also use Instagram stories to ask poll questions or administer Bible study quizzes. Try to vary the content, since one topic all the time can become monotonous. Mental health, quality of life and areas of life beyond religion often pique interest.

5. Stay active on social media. This may be a tall order for some church budgets, but it is worth the investment. Hire a dedicated social expert or community manager to ensure your accounts are active and your community feels included and valued in an ongoing way.

Sign up for management tools like Hootsuite, Buffer or Sprout Social to proactively manage private messages, comments and scheduled posts. The more days of the week active, the better your reach. The more days of the week you actively post and interact with your followers, the better your content’s reach.

At their best, churches are Christ-centered communities that embody God’s love and care for one another and the world. With these simple tips and tools, churches can use social media to help people in recovery feel loved and cared for, too.

Meghan Blackford

Meghan Blackford manages social media for the national behavioral health provider FHE Health.

www.fherehab.com

The post How to Create Recovery-Friendly Community Using Social Media appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

With online payment processors like PayPal, anyone with a credit card anywhere in the world is a potential contributor.  With social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, it’s possible for a charity to gain tens of thousands of online followers.  And those tens of thousands of followers have the capacity to spread the word about a campaign to millions of their followers.

We’ve written about several success stories over the years:

• Big Love Little Hearts raised $25k with Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook
• Donald Miller raised $300k to save the Blue Like Jazz movie
• Pastor Shaun King, Eva Longoria raised $500k for Haiti through TwitChange

If you lead a church or charitable organization, it seems foolish not to be using social media, email and an online giving platform to maintain relationships with donors and connect with new donors.

If your church or nonprofit doesn’t support online giving yet, learn more about how you can setup online giving for free. All you need is a website with an SSL certificate for security.)

Donor Fatigue

The success of online fundraising, the low barrier to entry (any charity can set up PayPal, Facebook, and Twitter accounts for free in a minutes), and the growing number of people using social media, has led to an explosion in online giving campaigns and donation requests.

Hardly a day goes by when I don’t see at least one donation request on Facebook or Twitter.

If you genuinely care about people,  reading the donation requests, considering them, making a decision as to whether to give or not, and then accepting that decision can be stressful and lead to “donor fatigue.”

At some point, you begin coping with donor fatigue by closing your heart to the requests.  You read them, but don’t seriously consider them.  Or maybe you stop reading them.  Or maybe you stop following certain people/organizations who ask too often.

If you understand donation request fatigue as an individual, don’t perpetuate it as church, ministry, or non-profit.  This is another situation where…

Less is more!

Be strategic about when and how often you ask for donations.

And whenever you ask for money, always remind people of your mission and how their gift will help to make that happen.

For more than 20 years OurChurch.Com has been helping churches and Christian organizations just like yours with building a Christian website, Christian website design and Christian SEO, we’d love to help you better live out your mission online.

Comment and discuss… Have you personally experienced “donor fatigue?”  If so, how do you feel about asking for financial support and being asked for financial support? How do you ask for financial support in a way it creates cheerful givers?

Paul Steinbrueck

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. 

steinbrueck.org

The post The Pros and Cons of Online Fundraising appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

As you can can probably tell, I am a big proponent of goals and resolutions.  My philosophy is that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth having a goal for it.  That is especially true when it comes to your website and your web strategy for 2020.

But as Michael Hyatt pointed in a blog article titled How to Make New Year’s Resolutions Stick, “the problem with most resolutions is that they are little more than aspirations or wishes.”

Do you know difference between a bad resolution and a good resolution?

Here are some examples of bad resolutions:

• Improve the look of our website
• Get better search rankings for our website
• Be more active in social media

The problem with these “resolutions” is they are so vague, they will never be accomplished. There’s no indication as to what, when or how anything will be done.

But, Michael goes on to say…

New Year’s resolutions… can provide a powerful catalyst for change if they are done right. -Michael Hyatt

Good resolutions are S.M.A.R.T.:

• Specific – Goals should identify exactly what you want to accomplish.
• Measurable – Goals should be able to be evaluated with a yes/no or a numerical evaluation.
• Actionable – Every resolution should start with a verb (e.g. “Add,” “Eliminate,” “Set-up”)
• Realistic – A good resolution should stretch you, but still be attainable.
• Time-bound – Every resolution should have a completion date associated with it.

Examples of SMART resolutions for your website:

• Build a new website by March 1, 2020.
• Talk with an SEO expert to find out the best way to improve our search rankings.
• Post 1 blog article a week every week in 2020.

To put this in context, I wrote previously about the 4 types of goals.  SMART Resolutions are the same thing as project and process goals.

Post a comment and discuss… Have you set 2020 resolutions/goals for your website? If so, what are they?

Paul Steinbrueck

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. 

steinbrueck.org

The post How to Create SMART Resolutions for Your Website appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

This is a guest post by Ricardo Hernandez.

Technology is always evolving, and it’s vital for church leaders to understand how to respond to these updates. If you look back 20 years or more, you’ll notice how drastically the landscape has altered. Shifting tech trends are increasingly playing a more prominent role in influencing how the church reaches people with the gospel.

Today, many churches across the world are starting to leverage technology to great effect. But as everything continues to change around us, what trends should churches focus on in 2019?

Mobile First

Mobile use has been on an upward trajectory ever since the launch of the first smartphone. It’s the channel of choice for many churchgoers, especially millennials. We’ve seen churches begin to actively use mobile technology to target individuals and grow their relationship with members.

To better engage this younger generation, you have to reach them where they are. And, that’s on mobile.

Almost 92% of all millennials own a smartphone, and the vast majority are active on social media. Being present on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook opens an opportunity for faith leaders to serve an even bigger audience.

In keeping with a mobile-first strategy, churches are also optimizing their websites for mobile devices. And with Google now changing its search engine algorithms to favor mobile-friendly friendly sites, expect this trend to continue into 2019.

Church Apps

Another prevailing church tech trend is the use of apps, both on mobile and TV. Churches are utilizing apps for a myriad of reasons such as a source of up-to-date information on church events and compile an archive of all past sermons. Many religious leaders are also using church apps to offer mid-week sermons and interact with members in real-time. These apps feature tools such as a prayer request wall and social media integration where members can submit prayer requests and comment on social media posts respectively. This trend is only going to grow as churchgoers become more tech-savvy and digitally-native.

Video Streaming

Live streaming is no longer the sole domain of megachurches with big budgets. 2019 will be remembered as the year small and medium-size faith organizations joined the digital frontier with live streaming services and video-on-demand. Thanks to the rise of OTT services like Roku, churches can now stream their events and sermons at a fraction of the cost.

Roku’s streaming potential has given churches enormous potential to increase viewership and reach more people across the world. With the service, church members can view live church services or see past sermons on their TV.

With a Roku channel, churches can broadcast their Sunday services live and enable those who cannot be physically present due to sickness, old age or personal commitments to participate. It helps keep members connected to the church and allows them to share the joy with their friends and family.

If you are yet to join the trend, you might want to consider it. Roku lists all channels publicly making it easier to attract new viewers. Content solutions such as MAZ can help get your church on television apps such as Roku easily and with features that will fit your church’s needs.

In Conclusion

The church has embraced technology and given that the year is still young, expect to see several church tech trends becoming more standard. Video streaming, church apps, and the shift to a mobile-first approach are just three of the major trends. There are many more ways in which faith-based organizations can leverage technology and attain new heights.

rhernandez

Ricardo Hernandez is an Editor with MAZ Systems (www.mazsystems.com), the #1 digital engagement platform for churches & religious networks. He is a faithful servant of the lord and tech enthusiast who is an avid believer in the ways that tech can make the church stronger.

The post Church Tech Trends To Consider in 2019 appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Ten years ago I was a part of a Christian community with residential communal homes worldwide. I spent 4 years of my life there, and those were the most amazing 4 years of my life which inspired me to join one of the missions for orphaned children in Peru, Argentina, and Africa.

As I was spending a few months in silence and contemplation, preparing to join the missions, certain health issues occurred and I had to return home for therapy treatments.

That was a slap in the face for me!

Along came a period of challenges, failures, and victories.

I finally got my Web Marketing education, and soon enough I was working as a freelancer. Only recently though, God’s amazing plan started to reveal itself to me.

Now, I’m so grateful for not going to the missions at that time. I’m grateful for all of the challenges and failures which have taught me so much about faith, love, and about myself too.

Additionally, I’ve learned so much about web marketing and the way the internet has changed the way people communicate and search for information. My final conclusion:

Social Media is THE place to be for missions leaders and members.

Being a part of a mission is an amazing and inspiring task. It can get challenging and tough, but after every battle, you come out a stronger and better person. The help of communities and the entire public can make a huge change in moments of difficulty.

This is where social media comes in. Because social media is the most powerful communication channel on the web. News travels way faster, thus creating a buzz, plus you can talk directly to your followers and hear their opinions. By raising your voice and spreading the word about your mission, you’re not bragging. You’re sharing inspiration with the world and allowing the public online to provide support for the mission, and to help you overcome the challenges ahead.

Whether you are a part of a church, or community, or an organizational mission; the public needs to know, wants to know about it. The more you share with the world, the more providence you’re letting in, and the more opportunity to spread the Word of God.

1) Post about your challenges and victories on Facebook

Facebook Canvases on Facebook pages are great ways to tell a story. Create an image or a canvas, telling the story of the challenge you have just overcome, the things you and your friends learned, how you felt and so on.

Include images and holy art elements to show the presence of the love of God. Use videos to make the story come to life.

On a canvas, add captions and quotes to emphasize important parts of the story. Let your faith and the gratefulness for being a part of your mission reflect in everything you create.

2) Do Member of the Week or Month Campaigns on Facebook and Instagram

Every week or month, whatever your preferences, decide which member or resident of your mission will be featured in your posts. Post pictures and talk about their personality features, fun facts, life quotes, fave Bible verses and so forth.

Share and comment on what you’re learning from that mission member, and how they are a special and unique child of God.

3) Daily Mission Tweets on Twitter

Post daily about an ongoing difficulty or challenge you and your fellow missionaries are going through. Share updates, special moments, your feelings, inspirations and new discoveries. Tweet about the changes and moments happening during the challenging times. Ask for advice even, get people engaged by asking for their opinion and support.

Make sure you tweet 2 to 4 times a day, short tweets, relevant hashtags and a simple video or image can go a long way!

4) Share Images of Special Moments With Quotes from the Bible on Instagram

Take pictures of the moments in which you saw the living word of God in your daily life at your mission and add the pertaining Bible quote on it. You can use a number of great apps for image editing, even if you don’t have access to a computer.

One great app is Pixlr, you can edit pics in a number of ways and add text to them.

There’s also Canva, which is a great alternative to the complicated Photoshop used by pro designers.

5)  Share the Daily Word of God You’re Reading at your Mission

Post morning readings and quotes on a Social Media Channel of your choice. Use Instagram to share the Word of God with holy art images and quotes of the day.

Share your reflections of that day and Word in the evenings to get your community engaged with the life and purpose of your mission.

Ask your followers for their own reflections of the Word. People love to share moving and inspirational stories. Plus, you will be serving the purpose of a Holy Messenger encouraging and comforting those in need.

Wow, what an amazing task. It’s so fulfilling to spread the love of God through inspiring and comforting with words of faith. And social media platforms provide the best opportunities to do that and much more.

Did this inspire you to get your Christian Mission a Social Media Page?

I truly hope this post has inspired you to spread the word about your Mission and the Love of God through social media channels.

Already using the Social Media for your missions? Awesome… hop over to the comments below, and share some of your own ideas and experiences, spread the love!

Mia Alis

Mia Alis is a freelance writer and marketer. She’s seen the ups and downs of life through tough challenges, which have taught her to be stronger, to have more faith and to strive to be a better person. Her journey unites her personal and professional growth where she discovers inspiration for creative marketing tactics and new ideas. She’s grateful for the love of Jesus Christ, her best friend, and savior who never lets her down and helps her learn the lessons of love.

The post 5 Inspirational Ideas for Using Social Media for Christian Missions appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

Make America great again! Happy days are here again!
Not my President! No hate in my country!
She won the popular vote! Get rid of the Electoral College!
Never Trumpers are traitors and sniveling crybabies!
You guys lost! Get over it, you whiners!
What kind of country do we live in?
I’m done with you! You voted against all we stand for!
Good riddance, Killary!

Dealing with Toxic Social Media
Behold the Current Hatefest

The hatefest raged during the bitter primaries. Here’s one example. Throughout the primaries to today, users have flooded the page of a Governor who had opposed the President-Elect out of principle. They have trolled him with vile epithets. Mud-slinging kept up through the general election. Both sides of a vehemently divided nation continue the toxicity. I’ve never seen anything like it! My Facebook friends have been flooding my Timeline with hateful, rage-filled, inflammatory posts. Generally, I’ve ignored them. Yet as they intensified after the shocking election results, social media has become oppressive and depressing.

Dealing with Toxic Social Media
Winners and Losers

The election results left me reeling. I’m sure all of you have strong feelings about the election results one way or another. Are you a Donald Trump supporter? I’m safe assuming that you feel happily surprised, thrilled, and optimistic about your man’s victory. You see your country being taken back! What about the whiners and sore losers? Get over it! You lost! Are you a pro-life “NeverTrump” voter or a Hillary supporter? I know that you don’t feel good. You probably feel stunned, heartbroken, scared, even devastated. What kind of country do you live in? A nation where half the people voted hate, fraud, sexual assault, and immorality? Now you are being trashed as whiners and crybabies?

Dealing With Toxic Social Media
Social Media Users, Unite

This election has been the most divisive one in history. Social media has intensified it. Users can hide behind a computer screen and sound off about anything. Election season makes it worse. Right after the election, I found myself un-friending a person who posted a hurtful comment under my post. Also, I blocked the posts of some Facebook friends from showing up in my Timeline. I simply ignore the rest. Meanwhile, the hatefest rages on. On both sides. Out of my experience, I believe that we can restore civility to our discussion and restore grace to politics.

Dealing with Toxic Social Media
Helpful Ideas

Here are ideas for restored class and civility. Remember that those who voted differently from you did so out of conviction. Like you, they faced tough electoral decisions. If your side won, don’t gloat. Please don’t write off the losing supporters as being crybabies. Instead, know that they voted out of conviction, as you did. Be kind to them. They’re hurting now. One of those whose candidate lost? Who fought to “stop Trump?” Give yourselves time to grieve. Yours was a long a hard fight, especially if you fought to “stop Trump.” Hillary Clinton did win the popular vote by a whopping 2 million. But she lost under our system because of the Electoral College. At some point, you need to accept the painful loss. It hurts to lose, especially when your candidate wins the popular vote but loses the Electoral College. It’s tough but we need to accept that we’ll have four years under a President we didn’t want.

Above all, we Christians need to remember that we dare not pin our hopes on any politician. Place hope in Jesus alone! He remains in charge no matter who wins the White House. Are you all in?

Photo by Sean MacEntee and licensed under CC-BY 2.0.

lisadesherlia

Lisa DeSherlia is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mom and a blogger. She advocates for any of those who are voiceless and marginalized: the unborn, those with disabilities, those facing severe religious persecution, and others voiceless people groups or individuals. She has a fairly new self-hosted website call AllLivesAreSacred.com as well as a complementary Facebook page which she has set up as a ministry to the public.
She maintains a site that is specific to preventing an ending abortion. It is called NeverAbortion and she has a Facebook page named after the site: NeverAbortion.

aprayerpage.blogspot.com

The post Dealing with Toxic Social Media appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

We tend to think of Google as a search engine, so much so that their brand name has made the iconic jump to a verb synonymous with searching. (e.g. “Google it.”).

But Google is more than just a search engine, and as the Internet continues to grow and change, Google is not just competing against other search engines but also against other ways of getting information, other platforms and other activities.

Eric Enge makes this point in a thought-provoking article on SearchEngineLand that I want to build on by discussing…

6 Surprising Google Competitors

1) Amazon – 33% of online users start their product searches on Amazon compared to 13% on Google. I was shocked by this stat. If you are selling products, are they listed in Amazon? Do they rank well in an Amazon search?

2) Apple – Google makes the Android mobile operating system which holds 85% of the mobile market, while Apple’s iOS is on 12% Apple is talking about including ad blocking features in iOS which would block Google ads. If you do marketing with Google ads, this could affect you.

3) Apps – It used to be that going online meant using the World Wide Web – browsing websites on a web browser. However, the percentage of time people spend using apps has been growing dramatically. Consider developing an app.

4) Facebook – Google the leading provider of mobile advertising at 33% of marketing share. Facebook is #2 at 19%. If you are considering marketing your product, service or organization through mobile ads, you might want to consider Facebook ads in addition to Google AdWords.

5) Facebook (part 2) – Most of us trust the recommendations of our friends. And while most of us still do online searches for the things we are looking for, it’s also very common to post to Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites asking our friends for recommendations… “Anyone know a good Mexican restaurant in Tampa?” “I need to replace our air conditioner, any recommendations?” “We’re moving to Hoboken, anyone know a good church there?”

To capitalize on this trend, of course its helpful to be active in social media. But even more than that… be awesome. Seriously. People don’t recommend mediocre organizations. People don’t recommend companies with average customer service. People don’t recommend poor websites.

6) Bing – While some people think Google is the only player in online search, the market share of search results provided is currently Google 64%, Bing 33%.  Yes, Google is still dominating, but Bing could provide more than 1/3 of your visitors if your site ranks well in its search results.

Bottom line: the Internet is becoming more diverse, and so should we.

Discuss

• How are you thinking beyond Google in your online marketing?

Paul Steinbrueck

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. 

steinbrueck.org

The post Google’s Surprising Competitors, and What They Mean for You appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.

It’s May so its… NHL hockey playoff time…

This month we’ve got important data regarding hacked sites removed from the Google search results and data that shows whether SEO is on the decline or still rising.

Let’s get to this month’s search engine news…

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXLqRUOmz-U

1) Hacked Sites Up How Much?
2) Is SEO Still Growing?
3) Google Mobile Friendly Update Rolling Out

Discuss…
– Is your website registered with the Google Search Console so you’re notified by Google if they detect your site as been hacked? Why or why not?
– What do you think about Google doubling down on its mobile-friendly update?

Paul Steinbrueck

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. 

steinbrueck.org

The post New Data on Hacked Sites and SEO appeared first on Christian Web Trends Blog: Church Websites, Design, SEO.