Digital Housekeeping: 5 Tasks Every Church Should Do in January

Start the year strong with digital housekeeping: 5 simple tasks to help visitors find your church and contact you successfully.

January is a natural reset. Many churches take time to pray, plan, and refocus for the year ahead—but it’s also the perfect time to tidy up your church’s digital presence.

Think of this as digital housekeeping. These don’t require deep technical skills—but they make a big difference in how your church is seen and experienced.

Here are 5 digital housekeeping tasks every church should do in January.

1. Check Your Google Business Listing

If someone searches your church name—or “church near me”—your Google Business Profile is often the first thing they see.

What to check:

Church name, address, and phone number
Sunday service times
Website link
Photos (inside, outside, signage)

Why it matters:

Outdated information can frustrate visitors before they ever walk through the door.

Bonus

Google is the big one, but it is also worth checking bing and duck duck go listings.

2. Remove Outdated Website Content

Nothing says “no one updates this” faster than event listings from last year.

What to check:

Past events still listed as “upcoming”
Festive Banner images and content
Vision statements for "2025"

Simple rule:

If it already happened, archive it or remove it. A good website content management system should hide past events automatically.

3. Test Contact Forms and Email Links

Broken contact forms mean missed connections.

Test:

“Contact Us” forms
Prayer request forms
Email links

Make sure messages go to the right inbox—and someone is checking it. Leaving the Christmas out of office auto reply on is easily done!

4. Check Church Directory Listings

Examples: Find a Church, denominational directories, student linkup, local church networks.

What to check:

Church name and address
Service times
Website and contact info
Denomination or affiliation

Why it matters:

People searching intentionally for a church often use directories—not Google.

5. Check Social Media Information

What to check:

Profile bio (church name, location, service time)
Website link
Pinned posts (remove outdated events)

Why it matters:

About 1 in 4 people use social media as their primary way to search for local information. Gen Z and millennials in particular use it above traditional searches.

Final Encouragement

Digital housekeeping doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You don’t need to do everything in one day—or even by yourself.

A little attention in January can save confusion—and stress—all year long.