Guides · Churches
How to Promote a New Sermon Series: Four Places to Update Two Weeks Out
By Josh Croom · October 27, 2026 · 11 min read
To promote a new sermon series, update four places in one sitting two weeks before it starts: a series page, your home page, your Google listing and your videos. Give the series a plain subtitle that names the question it answers, because people search for their problem, and a newcomer doesn't know your title yet.
The home page still shows last month
Sunday, 8:47 AM. A couple who visited once in the spring opens your website from the car to check the service time. The banner at the top still shows the series that ended three weeks ago.
They have no idea you're starting a series on worry this morning, and worry is exactly what has them thinking about church again. They find the service time, but nothing on the page tells them why this Sunday is a good one to come back. You planned the series for weeks, and the one page they opened never mentions it.
Where people look on a Sunday
We track the websites of the churches we serve, and two kinds of pages stand out on Sunday mornings. People notice what's new on those pages, so change them first.
- 26%of Sunday visits to the top pages landed on the home pageacross 7 church websites
- 3.5xthe share of visits watch pages drew on Sundayscompared with the rest of the week
People who already know you go straight to the home page to check the time or find the stream. When the banner still shows the old series, the busiest page on your site is announcing something that's over. Your watch page matters for the same reason, because your online crowd shows up on Sunday and looks around.
Why two weeks out works
Google doesn't see a change the moment you make it. Google's own help page says crawling can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, and it adds that asking for a recrawl of the same page again and again won't get it crawled any faster. Two weeks gives Google time to find your new series page before the first Sunday arrives.
Two weeks also leaves one Sunday in between. Announce the series from the stage that morning and put the art on the screens. Point people to the series page too, because a link is easy to send to a friend who's going through the same struggle.
Do all four updates in one sitting, so the titles, dates and links match and send everyone to the same page, whether they found the series on Google, on YouTube or on your home page.
Update four places in one sitting
Block out an hour two weeks before the first Sunday, and work through these four places in order. Each later step links back to the first, so build the series page before anything else.
Place 1
Make one series page
Add the title, the plain subtitle, the question the series answers, the dates and where to watch online. Give the page a short address you'll keep for good, like yourchurch.org/unshaken, because every other update points to it.
Place 2
Put it at the top of your home page
Use one banner with one button that goes straight to the series page. A single button is easy to tap on a phone, and a person checking the service time won't wait for a slider to rotate through five messages.
Place 3
Post it on your Google listing
Add an Event post to your Google Business Profile with the series art, the start and end dates, and a button that links to the series page. Google asks for a title and the start and end dates on every event post, so have them ready before you start.
Place 4
Name each video for the question
Title each sermon video with the struggle first and the series name last, so Part 1 becomes When You Can't Stop Worrying, Unshaken Part 1. YouTube's own tips say to put the most important words near the beginning and save episode numbers and branding for the end.
A title people can find
Your series title works in the room on Sunday. A person searching at home on a Tuesday night needs the subtitle, so write it with the hard thing in plain words first and the hope second.
A clever title alone
- Series page: Unshaken.
- Video: Unshaken, Week 1.
- Google post: Join us for an exciting new series!
- Nobody who's lying awake with worry types any of these words.
The title plus a plain subtitle
- Series page: Unshaken, Finding Peace When You Can't Stop Worrying.
- Video: When You Can't Stop Worrying, Unshaken Part 1.
- Google post: Worry follows you everywhere. Starting Sunday, we're looking at where peace comes from.
- Each one uses words a worried person might type into a search bar.
Lead every description with the struggle
Every place the series shows up needs a sentence or two about it. In each one, name the hard thing in plain words first, the way a person in that season would say it out loud, and then name the hope. We write faith ads for churches the same way, because the struggle is what a person in that season types into Google.
A plain subtitle matters most when a series takes on worry, grief, marriage or another hard season of life. Someone in that season may search for help long before they ever search for a church, and a plain subtitle lets your series page answer that search.
Borrow the words from real conversations. Ask your pastors and care team how people describe this struggle in prayer requests and hallway talks, and use those phrases instead of church language.
What a series ad can look like
A series also gives your Google ads a page to send people to. This sample ad answers a life question with the series, and it names the struggle first.
how to stop worrying all the time
What to write on each of the four places
Each place has room for different amounts of text, so the same message gets shorter as you move from the page to the post.
- The series page carries the most: two or three sentences that name the struggle and the hope, the dates, the service times, a link to watch online and a short note about what a first-time guest can expect.
- The home page banner carries one line and one button. The subtitle alone often fits, and a button that says See the series tells people what happens when they tap.
- The Google post carries a sentence or two, the art and the link. Name the struggle in the first sentence there too, the same way you did on the series page.
- Each video carries a title and a description. YouTube allows titles of up to 100 characters, and its tips suggest using the first few lines of the description to say what the video is about, since those lines are what viewers see first.
A two-week plan
The plan runs from the day you update the four places to the week the series ends.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Two weeks out | Update the series page, the home page banner, the Google listing and the video names in one sitting. |
| The Sunday before | Announce the series from the stage, show the art on the screens and point people to the series page. |
| That week | Send the series page link to your email list and share it on your social pages with the plain subtitle. |
| Week one | Name the first video for its question as soon as it's posted, and check that the watch link works. |
| The week it ends | Take the banner down, let the Google post end and keep the series page at the same address. |
Clean up when the series ends
Take the home page banner down the week the series ends, so the top of your home page shows what's happening now. Then add the full set of videos to the series page, because a page that stays up keeps answering the searches that found it.
Keep the series page at the same address, and don't delete it or move it. Every link you shared, from the Google post to the bulletin, points to that address, and a page that disappears turns each of those links into an error page.
Check your next series
Answer five quick questions about the series you're planning now, and your answers stay on this device.
Does the series have one page with the dates and a place to watch online?
Does the series have a plain subtitle that names the question it answers?
Will the series sit at the top of your home page two weeks before it starts?
Will the series be on your Google listing with the art, the start date and a link?
Do your video titles put the struggle first and the series name last?
Your series is ready for people to find. After it ends, add the full set of videos to its page and leave it up.
You're close, so fix the first question you answered No before the Sunday you announce the series from the stage.
Start with the series page this week, because every other update links back to it and the rest will go quickly once it exists.
Two weeks before the first Sunday
Tick each one off as you finish it. Your ticks stay saved on this device, so you can come back to the list after staff meeting.
0 of 8 done
How we help churches reach new people
Google’s Ad Grant gives a qualifying nonprofit up to $10,000 a month in search ads, and we manage the whole account. We start with local searches like church near me in your town, then fill the rest of the grant with Bible and life questions. A new series gives those life-question ads a clear page to send someone who searched for help. You pay half of the Grant money we put to work for you each bill, and never more than $750.
Our Google Ad Grants guide explains how the Grant works, and our Google Grants page shows what we do in each account. If your website makes a new series page hard to add, our web development page shows the sites we build.
If you'd like help planning the ads around your next series, book a call with Miguel. He'll ask what's coming up on your calendar and which searches you'd like your church to show up for.
Questions people ask
How far ahead should a church promote a new sermon series?
Start two weeks before the first Sunday. That gives Google time to find your new series page, and it leaves one Sunday to announce the series from the stage before it begins.
How do you name a sermon series so people can find it?
Keep your creative title and add a plain subtitle that names the question the series answers, like When You Can't Stop Worrying. People search for their problem, so the subtitle carries the words a newcomer is likely to type.
Should a church post a sermon series on its Google Business Profile?
Yes. Add an Event post with the series art, the dates and a button to the series page. People who look your church up on Google can then see what's starting.
How should a church title its sermon videos on YouTube?
Put the struggle first and the series name and part number last, as in When You Can't Stop Worrying, Unshaken Part 1. YouTube's own tips say to put the most important words near the beginning, and a title can run up to 100 characters.
What should a church do with a series page after the series ends?
Keep it at the same address and add the full set of videos to it. Take the home page banner down that week, but leave the page up so every link you shared still works.
See how we run Google Ad Grants for churches
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