Churches grow when, one way or another, people visit for the first time and decide to come back, but the first step is to get new visitors.

You could have the perfect follow-up system, an encouraging way to collect contact information, an excellent first impressions team, and an incredible service experience, but unless people walk through the door, guests will never experience any of it.

The good news is that are some simple ways to get more church visitors.

Here are 4 simple ways to attract more church visitors:

Be active in your community

Yes, this may seem obvious, but many churches interpret this as "invite the community to come to us."

"We do a spring fair, a fall festival, a trunk or treat event, a business breakfast, and marriage conferences. Mostly, it's just our church members who attend, and if we do have non-members attend, they don't usually come back for service."

What if you focus some of the efforts you're putting into getting people to come to your church, and instead consider ideas like organizing a day to volunteer as a group at the soup kitchen, clean up garbage in the park, mow lawns for people in your neighborhood, or donate backpacks filled with school supplies to a local school.

Don't focus your efforts on the end results your church needs (like people showing up on Sunday or giving, or promoting the next sermon series, or an opportunity for ministry) but focus on what your community needs (To connect with friends, learn about God, and an encouraging message about how they can improve their life.)

Couple these activities with invitations to come to your parking lot for other events, like your fall festival or trunk-or-treat.

Focus Your Church's Website Home Page on Visitors

Even if your members invite people to come, the guests are going to check you out online before their first visit.

Your online presence is a guest's first impression. Guests who are considering visiting are checking you out online nearly 100% of the time before they visit a new church.

When your members visit your website, they're willing to looking around a click a few times to find the calendar or that sermon they loved from 2 months ago, but people who are considering visiting your church are simply looking for a few things on your website:

• Do these people look like my family would fit in?
• When are services?
• What is the address?
• What can I expect from the service as a guest?
• Do these pictures seem like the people here are welcoming?
• What is the attendance like?

Allow the content focused on members to be on subpages, but focus your home page on getting potential visitors the information they need to make a decision about coming to your church.

• Represent your church accurately. Use real pictures of your people, your building, your kids' classrooms, and what they'll experience.
• Use text that speaks to and welcomes your visitors "We would love to have you join us next week" or "You're welcome to join us" or "Come a few minutes early for free coffee and to get your kids checked into their classroom" is much better to encourage than "Visitors will experience this" or "You'll be sorry you didn't come"

Post 'Sample' Content On Your Social Media Channels

Why is Costco famous for samples? Because samples work. You're more likely to buy something to make a meal if you know ahead of time that you like the taste.

Post content on your Facebook page (or other social media channels) that will make visitors feel like they are familiar with your church and worship service before they walk through the door.

• Clips of Pastor telling a funny or inspiring story (Visitors will know how Pastor - or other church leaders - dress, which sets the tone for how they could dress, they get to know Pastor and a bit about him, they hear the congregation laughing so it's not a stuffy church, they see what your auditorium is like - whether dark lighting or bright windows, traditional or contemporary.)
• Pictures of your kids ministry classrooms (Visitors will know how the age groups are divided, how many kids show up on a weekend, recognize the teachers).
• Clips of your worship music (A visitor will get an idea of what to expect for the type of music, the song selection, and the style.)
• Non-Sunday content; video from your mid-week youth group, small groups, and community events or most recent outreach can all play into a decision for someone to visit your church. Maybe they're really looking for a connection point for their teenager, or they want to make a difference in the community, or they're looking for friendship. What happens outside your Sunday service may be equally as important to guests.
• Images of your welcome team and greeters. What can someone expect to see when they arrive?

Your visitors are definitely checking out your website and social media pages before they visit your church. Use them as tools to provide a sample of what to expect as first-time visitors.

A sample will help them become familiar and more comfortable with making the decision to join you.

Clear Outdoor Church Signage

Let's just clear up one thing: Even though we're Church Banners, we not under some illusion that a feather flag, or a yard sign, or an A-frame stand in your parking lot is going to help someone get over their intimidation of coming to church, or that putting out some signage is suddenly going to make your church attractive.

In the same way, Wal-Mart doesn't put out signage because it creates more profit, but to make it easy for people to find them.

But, signs and banners are inviting tools. Tools that help guests notice you when they drive by on Sundays. Tools that help people know which is the entrance to your driveway, and which door is the front door.

Understand that signage is a way to communicate that you're expecting visitors - after all, if the only people you think will be at your church are people who have been before, then you don't need ANY signage - they already know their way to classrooms and the front door.

The outdoor church signage you have is to help visitors or first-time guests find their way and eliminate the discomfort of "Is this the right door?" or "Is this where I park?" or "Is this where I take my kids?"

Always accompany church signage with people

People offering to give directions to new people who are at your church for the first time, smile and say hi, open the door, or give a hand to a mom whose hands are full.

Your signage can't take the place of your first-impressions team, but it is there to work alongside your team as part of your hospitality efforts.