Posts: focus on a current topic of local interest

What is a “post”?

The Oxford Pocket English Dictionary defines a “post” as “a piece of writing, image, or other item of content published online, typically on a blog or social media website or application.” Posts are designed to share information or generate discussion on a topic.

Why do we need to have posts?

The need for Christian Science to be represented truthfully to the public, and found by genuine seekers, is driving efforts to make branch websites a success, and meet people “where they are” (in thought). But you can’t reach these seekers if your website is not easily found via internet search engines. To do this we need to understand how people are searching for information, and how search engines work.

These days many people are searching the internet for free tips, information, definitions and answers to their burning questions. Search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc use complex algorithms that aim to match people’s queries to the most relevant search results. If a web page or post includes the keyword or search phrase in the heading and text it is more likely to appear in these search results.

The need to appeal to the search terms “christian science”, “mary baker eddy”, and “science and health with key to the scriptures” are of course important and should be used throughout the website. But those who are unaware of Christian Science might be searching for help and healing on their specific issue (e.g. “how to help someone with depression and suicidal thoughts”). Your website is more likely to be found by these searchers if you have posts that use their key search terms as main headings and throughout the text and image descriptions.

The extra “clicks” on the website generated by posts also help to improve the ranking of the whole website in search engine results. Sharing posts on social media, to your mailing list, and via online advertising (which is a relatively inexpensive form of advertising) helps to increase clicks and also spread the message of healing.

See the tutorial Keyword research: know your audience for more information about keyword research. Also see the tutorial Posts: using tags to bring relevance to learn more about the importance of tags in your website posts.