Guides · Churches
Your Church's Plan Your Visit Page: What a First-Time Guest Needs to See
By Josh Croom · October 27, 2026 · 11 min read
A church plan your visit page tells a first-time guest when to come, where to go and what Sunday will be like, all on one page. Put the service times, the address and a single button on the first screen of a phone, then answer the questions a nervous newcomer usually has, in the same order they'd ask a friend who already attends.
One search from the couch
Saturday, 9:40 PM. A young dad moved to town a month ago, and his family wants to find a church. He types church near me into his phone, taps the first ad and lands on a page with a welcome video, a long paragraph about the church's history and a menu with eleven links.
He wants three things: what time it starts, where to park and what happens with his four-year-old. The times are on a Sundays page, the parking map is in a PDF and the kids' details sit under a ministries tab. He gives it two minutes, puts the phone down and turns on the TV, and Sunday morning comes and goes without them.
How guests use a church website
We measure visits on the church websites and client sites we track.
- 90%of Sunday visits came from a phoneacross 6 church websites
- 2.1pages opened in the average visitchurch sites, July to October 2026
- 48%of the way down the pagehow far the average visit scrolled, across our clients' sites
Why one page has to do the whole job
A visitor who taps your ad or your listing is often a little nervous and short on time. The average visit to the church sites we track opened about two pages. Someone who has to hunt through menus for the service time can use up the whole visit before finding it.
Visitors don't scroll far, either: the average visit to our clients' sites made it about halfway down the page, so many never reach the bottom half of a long page at all. Put the time, the address and the button at the very top, then stack the rest of the answers below them in the order a newcomer is likely to wonder about them.
The phone sets the size of everything on the page. Its first screen holds a heading, a few short lines and one button, so answer when and where in that small space. A desktop screen shows much more, which is why a page can look complete from the church office and still let down the family scrolling on the couch.
The ad and the page should say the same thing
A local church ad answers a search like church near me, and the page it opens should pick up right where the ad left off. When the ad says Sundays at 10, the first line on the page should say Sundays at 10 too.
church near me
What goes on the page, from top to bottom
Build the page in this order, because it follows the questions a newcomer has on the way from the couch to your front door. Keep each section short enough that someone can read it on a phone without zooming in or turning the screen sideways.
First screen
Lead with when and where
Service times, the address and a Plan Your Visit button go on the first screen of a phone, above any welcome video or photo. If you hold more than one service, list every time and say which one usually suits first-timers best.
Section 2
Say what Sunday is like
Tell guests how long the service runs, what the music sounds like and what most people wear. Say plainly that nobody will ask guests to stand up or single them out, since that's the question a guest would quietly ask a friend who already attends.
Section 3
Walk them in from the car
Say where to park, which door to use and who will meet them there. A photo of the front door helps a guest spot it from the parking lot, and a greeter's first name makes the walk across the lot feel less lonely.
Section 4
Answer the kids question
Tell parents where each age group goes, how check-in works and how they pick their children up afterward. If the volunteers who serve with your kids are background-checked, say so in one plain sentence near the top of that section.
Section 5
Show a real face
Add the pastor's photo and a short hello written in the pastor's own words. Guests want to know who will be up front before they walk in, and a friendly face does more for them than a long paragraph about the church's history.
Section 6
Answer the small worries
Answer the questions newcomers rarely ask out loud, like whether they have to give, whether they can sit in the back, whether there's coffee and whether they can watch online first. Answer each one in a sentence or two, the way you'd answer a friend over lunch.
Section 7
Keep the form short
Ask for a first name, an email or phone number, which service they plan to attend and their kids' ages. Every extra box gives a nervous guest one more reason to close the page, and you can learn the rest in person on Sunday.
Section 8
Reply the same day
A real person writes back with the service time, the door to use and their own first name, so the guest has already talked with someone at your church before walking in.
A page built for members, and one built for guests
It's easy to write a church site for the people who already attend. A plan your visit page works best when you write it for someone who has never been inside.
Written for members
- A welcome video and the church's history fill the first screen.
- Service times sit on a different page.
- Parking and kids' details live in a PDF.
- The form asks for a full address and a birthday.
Written for first-timers
- The time, the address and one button fill the first screen.
- A few short lines say what Sunday is like.
- The page names where to park, which door to use and who will meet them.
- A short form gets a same-day reply from a real person.
What a same-day reply looks like
Send this within a few hours of the form coming in, and sign it with a real first name so the guest knows exactly who to look for. Fill in the parts in parentheses and keep the message short enough to read at a glance.
Hi (name), this is (your name) from (church). Thanks for planning a visit! We start at (time), and the easiest door is the one by (landmark). I'll meet you there.
Thank you! Is there a room for a 4-year-old?
There is. The preschool room is right inside that door, and I'll walk you over to check in.
Where your ads and your listing fit
Your plan your visit page is where local searches should land. When someone searches church near me or names your town, your ad or your Google Business Profile can be the first thing they see, and your plan your visit page is the next. If the two say different things, a visitor notices right away and starts to wonder which one is right.
Local or regional campaigns built for visits brought 68% of the calls people placed from the church Grant ads we manage, from Sep 14 to Oct 11, 2026. Those ads should open your plan your visit page, not your home page or a list of past sermons.
Keep your Google Business Profile hours matched to your service times, add a photo of the front door and link the website button to the plan your visit page. Then a guest who finds you on the map lands in the same place as a guest who clicks your ad.
Would a first-timer find what they need?
Open your plan your visit page on a phone, then answer five quick questions. Your answers stay on your device.
Can you see the service time and the address without scrolling?
Does the page say where to park and which door to use?
Does it explain how kids' check-in and pickup work?
Does the form have five boxes or fewer?
Does a real person reply to every form the same day?
Your page is ready for a first-time guest. Check it again before every big Sunday, because service times, doors and parking plans change more often than most church websites do.
You're close, so fix the first question you answered No this week, starting with anything that belongs on the first screen of a phone.
Start with the first screen tonight by adding the service time, the address and one clear button. Then add the other sections one at a time until the page answers every question in this check.
Check your page this week
Tick each one off as you go. Your ticks stay on this device.
0 of 8 done
Mistakes that keep guests at home
These mistakes are easy to miss from inside the church, and you can fix each one in an afternoon or less.
- Putting the service times on a separate page, so a guest has to tap around to learn when to come.
- Hiding the kids' details in a PDF that's hard to read on a phone.
- Asking for a full address, a birthday and a church background on the form, when a first name and a way to reply are enough.
- Letting a form sit in an inbox until Tuesday, when a reply the same day gives the guest a name to look for on Sunday.
- Sending your local ads to the home page, which answers members' questions instead of a guest's.
How we help churches reach first-time guests
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. 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.
We count the plan a visit forms and the calls your ads bring in, and you see each one in your portal. We also build websites for churches and other nonprofits: a nonprofit site is $2,997, and you pay once. Our web development page shows what each site includes.
If you'd like to talk through your page or your Grant, book a call with Miguel. He'll look at how first-time guests reach you today and where your local ads would send them.
Questions people ask
What should be on a church plan your visit page?
Put the service times, the address and a Plan Your Visit button at the top. Below them, explain what Sunday is like, where to park and which door to use, and add how kids' check-in works along with a short hello from the pastor. Finish with answers to small worries like giving and seating, followed by a short form.
How long should a plan your visit form be?
Keep it to four or five boxes: first name, email or phone, which service and kids' ages. A guest can tell you more after they arrive, and every extra box on the form gives a nervous visitor one more reason to stop before pressing send.
What should a church do after someone plans a visit?
Have a real person reply the same day with the service time, the door to use and their own name. Then have that person meet the guest at that door on Sunday, so the name in the reply becomes a face.
Where should church ads send people?
Send local ads, like ads for church near me, to the plan your visit page rather than the home page. The page answers the questions a first-timer has, and it should repeat what the ad said.
See how we run Google Ads for churches
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