You need to claim your online church listings so that you can control what is displayed and moderate ratings and reviews.
Sooner or later, your church plant will show up in online directories like Yelp and Google Maps. Where does that information come from? How do they decide who is the rightful representative of your church? How do you claim your online church listings?
In one instance I read recently, a disgruntled person wanted to leave a scathing review about a church on Yelp, but the church had not yet created a listing there. So that person created a listing for the church and claimed control of it. Then they left their rating and negative comments.
When the church got around to adding themselves to Yelp, they discovered this other listing and found themselves with a mess to clean up. Ultimately, Yelp got involved and reached out to the other person, and it was amicably resolved. Shwew!
Which Listings to Claim
These listings are the metaphorical big kids on the block. Not only are they the most used, but when you claim your online church listing there, it helps boost your church website rank.
Google My Business
Create or claim your listing here and it feeds into Google Maps. That’s important when a google search includes local geography: top search results show up as map listings (try googling “churches in sheboygan“).
How to create your listing:
- Visit Google My Business
- Click the Start Now button
- Follow the directions to input all of your listing information
- Since it’s a map listing and people would be using it to get directions to your worship gathering, use the physical address of your worship space; that presents a special challenge if you’re renting a school or movie theater
- Google mails a postcard addressed to the church but mailed to the address of your (probably rented) facility; give your school admin or theater management a heads up that the postcard will be coming
- Get the verification code from the postcard, log back into your My Business account and verify your listing
Bing Places
This is exactly the same, but for people who use Bing as their search engine.
How to create your listing:
- Visit Bing Places for Business
- Click the Get Started button
- Follow the directions to input all of your listing information
- Since it’s a map listing and people would be using it to get directions to your worship gathering, use the physical address of your worship space; that presents a special challenge if you’re renting a school or movie theater
- Bing mails a postcard addressed to the church but mailed to the address of your (probably rented) facility; give your school admin or theater management a heads up that the postcard will be coming
- Get the verification code from the postcard, log back into your Places for Business account and verify your listing
Apple Maps
Specific to Mac and iOS users, this is an important listing to claim.
How to create your listing:
- Visit Apple Maps Connect
- Click the Sign In button (requires an Apple ID)
- Agree to their terms
- Use the search box to find your church’s listing
- Either click on the listing or click on the Add New Place link
- Since it’s a map listing and people would be using it to get directions to your worship gathering, use the physical address of your worship space
- Click Call Me Now and they’ll call you with a special code to verify you listing
Yelp
This is primarily a rating and review site, but it is highly trusted and a church’s listing often shows up in top search engine results.
How to create your listing:
- Visit Yelp for Business Owners
- Enter the physical address of your worship space and your church’s name, and then click the Get Started button
- If your church already appears on the list, click the claim listing link next to it; if not, scroll down to the bottom of the list and click the add your business to Yelp link
- Fill in your particulars
- The listing will be submitted to Yelp for review, but no postcard gets mailed
- Typically you’ll get approval back with a few days, at which point your listing will be live
Keep Good Records
Keep track of every site, login and password you used. When the day comes that you change anything on the listing, especially the worship gathering address, you’ll need to circle back and update each listing. If you don’t, the old information will continue to show up in search engine results and send people to the wrong address until you do.
Use these instructions to claim your online church listings before someone else does!