ROAD TRIP!
Let's pretend you're visiting Knoxville, Tennessee, and want to attend an Adventist church on Sabbath. You don't have any experience with churches in Knoxville, so you open the maps app on your phone and search for Adventist churches.
It turns out, there's a lot to choose from.
How would you choose what church to attend? I'm sure they're all excellent congregations, but you need some way to winnow them down so you can make a decision.
The easiest way to narrow this down would be to prefer a church reasonably close to where you're staying. If you're in the Oak Ridge area, you're probably not going to want to drive over to Newport.
Next, you might winnow it down further by realizing that you're not likely to attend a Spanish-speaking or Korean-speaking church if you don't speak those languages.
Still, you probably have a few churches left to choose from. How do you decide?
1. GOOGLE IS YOUR GUIDE
At this point, many people will choose their church (or restaurant or product) based on two things: their Google reviews and their website.
According to one website, "81% of consumers are likely to visit Google Reviews prior to visiting a business" [or a church? we might surmise]. When choosing between two churches, which of these are you more likely to attend:
Not only does the second church have a higher rating (4.4 vs 4.9), but more people reviewed it! One of the simplest and most impactful things you can do for your church is to leave a review on Google. The higher the rating and the more reviews you have, the more your church will appeal to people looking to visit a church.
One of the simplest and most impactful things you can do for your church is to leave a review on Google
By the way, Google loves to recommend five-star organizations. When a lot of people leave great reviews for a church, Google's algorithm notices and finds way for that church to be seen. Reviewing your church is a win-win!
2. THe digital front door
Sometimes, you want to dig deeper than the Google review. After all, a lot of churches are in that 4.4 to 4.9 range, so you might decide they visit each church's website. (After all, maybe the reviews of a Mexican restaurant are great, but does it look clean and inviting inside? Can it hold a party of ten?)
In my own experience, if reviews are can't persuade me then a visit to a church (of business) website is often the determining factor. Choosing between a fresh, updated website that welcomes me and a website which is still inviting people to an event that happened last year is a no-brainer. When I used to go door-to-door in advance of an evangelistic effort, I was always a little afraid of the house whose lawn hadn't been mowed and the "beware of dog" sign was bigger than the front windows. We prefer to be where we are clearly wanted, and an updated website that was designed for visitors in mind communicates that those vistors are wanted.
We prefer to be where we are clearly wanted, and an updated website that was designed for visitors in mind communicates that those vistors are wanted
I could show you examples of good and bad church websites, but our goal isn't to throw any particular congregations under the proverbial bus. I'm sure you know a well-designed, helpful church website from an unhelpful, out-of-date one.
It's helpful to look at your church's website and ask, "If I were a visitor, would I find this clear? Would I find this welcoming?" Talk to your local church communication leader or website manager if anything needs to be updated. (Sometimes, websites aren't updated because nobody gives the web manager up-to-date information about what 's going on in the church!)
3. How to leave a review
While I can't tell you how to update your website, I can show you how to review a church!
Let's say we visited the North Knoxville Seventh-day Adventist Church and had a splendid time, so we leave them a review to help others find them. Leaving a review is simple:
Of course, you can leave a review for your church on sites other than Google, but Google remains the most important place to leave a review, since Google Maps has over two billion users and Google Search has captured over 90% of the global search engine market. In other words, chances are that people will use Google to find your church's address and/or website.
So why not be ready to welcome them at your digital front door?
Understanding social proof
Our Google reviews matter because of a concept called "social proof," a phrase coined in 1984 by Robert Cialdini in his book, Influence. Cialdini defines social proof as:
"We view a behavior as more correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it."
Robert B. Cialdini, Influence, 117.
Cialdini is observing that humans are more interested in something the more they see other humans are interested in it. This is why we follow trends. Now, the contrarian in all of us might chafe at the notion that we are wired to follow the crowd, but that doesn't make it less true. If you're visiting a foreign country, you learn the most by watching what the locals do. When someone is looking for a church to visit and they see that your church has a lot of high reviews they will naturally be curious about why so many people seem to love this church.
When we review our church, we are essentially inviting other people to come visit.
When we review our church, we are essentially inviting other people to come visit
REVIEWING YOUR CHURCH
Of course, adding one more review for our church isn't likely to move the needle. Social proof works best if the church regularly encourages its members to leave a review. This reminder can be on an announcement slide or in the bulletin. An elder can even take a few minutes between Sabbath school and worship to invite everyone to leave a review.
A word of caution: Many companies have realized the power of social proof long before you and I, and so many products or businesses have been artificially inflated by fake reviews. I believe we would be wise not to encourage our members to all leave 5-star reviews with plastic flattery. As powerful as social proof is, Internet veterans can sniff out cheesy reviews. Worse, when visitors do show up on Sabbath they will tell that the actual experience doesn't live up to the reviews. While our goal is to support our church's presence on the Internet, we can best do this with sincere, thoughtful reviews.
While our goal is to support our church's presence on the Internet, we can best do this with sincere, thoughtful reviews
Google reviews and a useful, well-designed website are easy ways to invite people to come visit our church. Given how relatively few people take the time to review churches, inviting your congregation to make an effort can really help your church stand out.
The Communication Column is written by Matthew J. Lucio, Assitant to the President for Communication. If you have questions or suggestions drop him a line at communication@ilcsda.org.