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Church Planting Signage, Google Maps & First Impressions: Can First-Time Guests Even Find Your Church?

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Game plan

  • Most churches think the welcome starts at the front door. It actually starts the moment someone searches for your church, follows your map pin, and tries to figure out where to go.

  • Jeff Hoglen turns a weekend story into a wake-up call for pastors and church planters: if guests can’t find you, they may never hear the sermon. From a misplaced Google Maps pin to a sign that leaves out the essentials, this episode explores how small wayfinding problems can discourage first-time visitors before they step inside.

  • In this episode, you’ll learn:

    • Why your church’s map pin is part of its first impression
    • How to make exterior signs answer the key questions: who you are, when you meet, and where to enter
    • Why guests need clear directions once they’re inside, too
    • How to use the “35 mph test” to check whether your signs are easy to read
    • How to run a simple guest-path test and fix the biggest points of confusion
  • Whether your church meets in a school, hotel, mall, theater, or multi-floor building, these practical ideas can help make it easier for new guests to find you and feel welcome.
    Church Signage & Google Maps: Can First-Time Guests Actually Find Your Church?

    • Description

    Church signage, your Google Maps pin, and clear directions inside your building shape a first-time guest’s experience before they ever meet a greeter. In this episode of Church Planting 2.0, Jeff Hoglen shows pastors and church planters how to make sure guests can actually find their church.

    The sign said “Saturday Buffet.”

    That’s it. No time.

    We found the restaurant. We just found it too late.

    Jeff shares two frustrating restaurant experiences from his hometown. One was a hotel lobby with zero directions. The other had a Google Maps pin that was just a little bit off and a stairwell where nobody could tell if it was the second floor or the third.

    Here’s the problem: your first-time guests are having that same experience at your church.

    Your welcome doesn’t start at the front door. It starts at the first search. 📍

    In this episode:

    • Why a missing church sign doesn’t just go unnoticed: it keeps people from coming at all.
    • What Google’s own data says about how fast “near me” searches turn into visits.
    • How to put your church on Google Maps and fix a wrong pin with a free Google Business Profile.
    • The 1990 Stanford experiment that explains why pastors can’t see their own missing signs.
    • The 3 signs every church needs: the Pin, the Street, and the Steps.
    • A simple Guest Path Test to improve your church guest experience before next Sunday.

    Signs don’t save anybody. Jesus does. But if lost people matter to God, making it hard to find us isn’t a small detail.

    Drop the pin. Hang the sign. Answer the question before they have to ask it.

    Resources mentioned: Google Business Profile (free), Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Heath, and The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch.

    If this episode helped you fix even one sign, follow the show and leave a rating on Spotify. It helps other church planters find Church Planting 2.0.

    More church planting tools, coaching, and resources at

    CONNECT:

    ⁠churchplanting.com⁠

    ⁠Jeffhoglen.com⁠


    ⁠Open Arms International Ministries⁠