<h1><span style="color: #0085c9;">THIS MONTH: RANKING HIGHER IN GOOGLE<em><br /></em></span></h1>
<h3><span style="color: #0085c9;"><em>Plus an apology from our Founder, updates on traffic and upcoming improvements, and more...<br /></em></span></h3>
<p>Lee Raney here...founder of Church Finder<sup>®</sup>. In the past 3 years we've grown from a small website to<img src="/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/inline-images/lee-raney.jpg" alt="Lee Raney - ChurchFinder.com" title="Lee Raney - ChurchFinder.com" width="104" height="110" style="float: right; margin: 3px 4px;" class="image-medium" /> be the #1 digital platform connecting millions of church seekers with thousands of Christian churches. We've helped many churches get more people to visit - and doing that has taken a lot of hard work, but I am pleased with our success so far!</p>
<p>But I have a confession to make...we've done a poor job at communicating with YOU, our valued Church Partners, on all of our progress and growth. We are a small team here working hard every day, but that is no excuse for not communicating effectively with you. So for all of our poor communication in the past, I apologize.</p>
<p><em><strong>So what are you going to do differently?</strong></em> I'm glad you asked! For starters, we will publish frequent updates here in this new "Church Finder News" section of the site, with and easy link to get here from your Dashboard. Each month we'll include updates and announcements for the month, statistics on traffic and pageviews, and more. Please let me know what else you'll like to see in these Church Partner Updates by <a href="/feedback-churchfindercom">providing feedback here</a>.</p>
<h2><span style="color: #0085c9;"><em>Traffic and Growth Update<br /></em></span></h2>
<p>Our<img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/church-finder-traffic-growth.png" alt="Church Finder Traffic Growth" title="Church Finder Traffic Growth" width="220" height="227" style="margin: 3px 5px; float: left;" /> growth in traffic and pageviews of people looking for churches continues to grow! Here are a few highlights from March and April:</p>
<p> - <strong>New Easter Records</strong> - in case you were wondering, Easter 2016 broke new Monthly, Weekly and Daily records! Easter week continues to be our biggest spike in traffic of the year.</p>
<p> - <strong>Over 1 million Pageviews</strong> - April was our 4th consecutive month with over 1 million pageviews!</p>
<p>- <strong>Ranking #1 in Google</strong> - ChurchFinder.com now ranks #1, #2 or #3 in Google in 54% of the largest 300 cities in the United States! And we are on the first page of Google in an amazing 82% of the largest cities! Churches websites are also benefiting...we've noticed several church websites of our <a href="/partner-church-finder">Featured Church Partners</a> move up to the top page of Google, getting them even more benefit from their partnership!</p>
<h2><span style="color: #0085c9;"><em>Some things we're working on...<br /></em></span></h2>
<p>In the upcoming months, you'll start seeing a lot of (very good) changes and improvements on ChurchFinder.com, including...</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>New Church Profiles</strong> - we are re-designing the Church Profiles to be even better for church seekers and easier for pastors and church staff to update and manage.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>Better Church Reviews</strong> - Church Reviews will "take center stage" with the new Church Profiles. For people looking for a church, reviews will help guide them on their journey. And for pastors, the reviews will provide you with a great way to engage your congregation to share their faith (and their church) on-line. A digital way to invite your neighbor to church!</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>ChurchFinder Reporting</strong> - you want to know how many people are visiting your Church Profile, and how many connections you are making with church seekers. Our new reports will show you the value of your Featured or Premium membership each month.</li>
</ul>
<h2><span style="color: #0085c9;"><em>News and Annoucements<br /></em></span></h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Price Lock-in Opportunity</strong> - Soon we will have to raise our prices - it is not cheap to reach millions of people! Our hosting costs alone have quadrupled in the past year. If you are already a <a href="/partner-church-finder">Featured or Premium church partner</a>, <em><strong>not to worry</strong></em>...we appreciate you, and <em><strong>you are "locked-in" with your current rate!</strong></em> But for any churches that are not already partnering with us, we will start increasing our rates this summer as we roll-out all of the new features. <a href="/church-marketing">Upgrade today</a> to lock-in lower rates for your church!</li>
</ul>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/google.png" alt="Ranking higer in Google" width="134" height="45" style="margin: 5px;" class="align-right" /></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Helping Your Church Rank Higher in Google</strong> - just by <a href="/partner-church-finder">partnering with Church Finder</a> you will reach more people on-line and may start to see your Google ranking improve. But what else can you do to increase the Google ranking of your church website? And how do you keep your church information up-to-date everywhere on-line so people can find your church? Our <a href="/free-line-visibility-report-your-church">new partner is a specialist in Local Church SEO</a> and can help your church reach even more people on-line! Get a <a href="/free-line-visibility-report-your-church">free "On-line Visibility Report"</a> for your church.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="/free-line-visibility-report-your-church" class="yellow-button">Get Free Report</a></p>
