Q: "How can we get our church web site listed by Google, Yahoo, etc?"

A: Darren Jamieson of Just Search recommends the following:

• Provide regularly updated material (minimum change/add once per week)
• Add a blog to your site
• Add more pages
• Check writing style (inverse pyramid best) and grammar
• Add videos, images, and other formats

Bottom line: "Content is the key when it comes to improving search rankings. The greater the amount of relevant and fresh content that's on a website, the greater the chance of search engines providing results that enable people to find your site" (.net magazine, December 2008, p. 106).

You may encourage each of your members to make your church home page their default home page (Tools > Internet Options > General (tab)). Google has several criteria for moving a site up their list. The best known one is how often the site is accessed. If more of your congregation have your church web site opened each time they "go online," your listing will eventually rise to be on the first page of search results. Doing what Jamieson suggests will help speed this up.

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