How to Make the Most of Your FIEC Church Profile

There are three main ways someone new might find your church:

• A personal recommendation from a trusted friend or family member, or an invite from someone already at the church.
• In the absence of a personal connection, a Google search for churches in a particular area will bring up a whole host of results.
• For churches that use social media, a Facebook advert or an Instagram reel could encourage a visit.

They might even see your church building on the street (if you have one!) and arrive that way.

But there is an additional way that a church-searcher might find you that you may not have considered: you guessed it, on the FIEC website (nearly 1,000 people visit the FIEC churches page each month)!

Every affiliated church and recognised church plant is added to the FIEC website to appear on our interactive map of churches, our A-Z list of churches, and in search results. This is an opportunity for you to share who you are as a church, what your vision is, when your meetings are, and more (see Hope Church Vauxhall for a great example).

And if you don’t have a website of your own, this serves as an arrival point for people searching online.

If you don't use your profile, it will still exist on the website to be found by church-searchers, but it will be mostly blank. Filling in the gaps and adding vibrant photos is a great way to welcome newcomers and attract people in.

It’s a free tool for you as an FIEC affiliated church, so here is how to make the most of the opportunity.

Updating your church profile

Update your details

There is nothing worse for a visitor to your church than not knowing how to get in touch or when you meet. In fact, there is: if the information they found about your church was out of date and wrong.

So, ensure your details are up to date:

• Your website and social media details (if applicable).
• Contact information: email address and phone number.
• The address of your church building or where you meet.
• The times of your meetings.

Even if these haven’t changed for a while, please double-check they are correct on the FIEC website.

Add a description

By default, your church profile shows your church name and location only. So, a key way to explain who you are as a church is with a summary and description.

The summary appears first, right at the top of your profile page. It also appears on search results on the FIEC website and on search engines. This should encapsulate what newcomers need to know about your church in a short sentence or paragraph.

The description is where you can go a bit more in-depth about what people can expect and what your vision is as a church.

Use great imagery

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So, photography not only brightens up your profile and engages viewers, but it is an effective way of sharing what your church is like.

Each profile has a ‘cover image’ at the top and space for a gallery. Send us your best photos that illustrate what your church is like. Here are some tips:

• Photos of people with smiling faces are not only friendly but also the most engaging. Images of happy church members would be great here, but make sure you have their permission!
• Colourful photos will work best. If you don’t have a particularly colourful building, try some outdoor photos.
• Use the original photo files for the best quality. If you use small files or photos saved from a website, they may end up pixelated and blurry.

The specifications for photo uploads are: JPG, GIF or PNG filetype, 6MB maximum filesize, maximum dimensions of 6000 pixels width/height, minimum of 500 pixels in both width and height.

Church content

Resources or news stories published on the FIEC website that are related to your church also appear on your church profile. For example, the story of a church plant in Vauxhall, London, appears on the profile for Hope Church Vauxhall.

If your church doesn’t have a related resource or news story, get in touch. We’re always looking for good stories and examples of church ministry that can encourage and inspire others. If we publish it, it will appear on your church profile too.