I thought I would take some time and answer some questions from readers, social media and real life conversations. As I said before, this blog is about helping churches use social media and technology, so I love answering questions about these subjects. If you would like for me to answer your question, contact me here or on Twitter. Without further ado, here are the top five questions for July.
Does your church you use QR codes?
We do use them. However I’m not a big fan of them and let me tell you why. First, QR codes require most people to download an app on their phone to be able to scan them. So in theory, when someone sees a QR code, they first have search for a QR code app, then download the app, then scan the QR code. That doesn’t sound very practical to me.
How do you manage multiple Twitter and Facebook accounts?
The tool we use is called HootSuite. HootSuite allows us to manage our Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts in a single dashboard view. We can also track retweets, mentions, direct messages, as well as certain hashtags. We also use it to schedule out our social media messages in advance, once we’ve mapped them out on our social media content calendar.
What book do you recommend to first time social media users?
I’ve written about this before, but the first book I recommended is Platform by Michael Hyatt. Hyatt does a great job of covering social media basics and also covers how to build and maintain an audience.
My pastor (bisphop, priest or rector) wants to start a blog, but thinks using their name as the url might be considered vain. What do you think?
That is a completely valid concern. However, the stigma of buying your own name as a URL is slowly going away. Ask your pastor this question, if they were writing a book, would they put their name on it? More than likely the answer is yes. Tell them to think of a blog as an online book. If you are willing to write something online, put your name behind it.
Should my church worry about SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
As I’ve said before, unless your church is trying to dominate local search results, the answer is no. Instead, focus on making shareable content that your congregation will want to share with others. Your congregation will be the most effective marketing tool you have, and will always beat out SEO when it comes to getting people to visit your church.
Do you have a question that you want answered? Click here to comment below or ask me on Twitter.