Registering your Website with Search Engines

Once you've created your website, you want to take some important steps to ensure you will be found when people search for you.

Register with Search Engines

The first step is to submit the website URL to search engines to make sure they know about your website:

 

  1. Google - https://www.google.com/webmasters
  2. Bing - https://bing.com/webmasters

Sitemap

You'll then want to generate a sitemap which lists out all of the pages on your website. The video below will offer a quick explantion of the benefits in submitting a sitemap of the parish website to Google:

 

Crosslinking

The more other websites that exist with links to your website, the greater the chances traffic to your website will increase. Crosslinking is one of the factors used in search engine ranking. Be sure you are listed in important website directories, such as the Archdiocese Parish Directory, and various online directory services, such as the following:

  1. Yelp - https://biz.yelp.com
  2. YellowPages - http://www.yp.com
  3. CitySearch - http://www.citysearch.com
  4. Yahoo! Local Listings - https://local.yahoo.com
  5. TripAdvisor - http://www.tripadvisor.com
  6. MerchantCircle - http://www.merchantcircle.com
  7. Foursquare - https://foursquare.com/business
  8. ZipLocal - http://www.ziplocalonline.com/manage-listings

Content Optimization

The better and more relevant your content on your site is, the better chances you will be found. This is another factor in search engine ranking. Think about the ways that you want to be found, such as:

  • "Orthodox Church Tampa Bay"
  • "Church Lafayette Square"
  • "Christian Community Downtown Cleveland"
  • "Christian Outreach and Service Opportunities South End Boston"

 Does the content on your website match with those search keywords? 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at the Department of Internet Ministries at [email protected]