Luthernet has stressed adding content to your website in several articles, but the true power in content is creating articles that remain on the website and continue to draw readers (and seekers) to your content. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the power of that content and to remind you that the power remains well after it's published. This means that you should concentrate on explanations rather than simply listing events, ministries, or names. Also, you should be very aware of the power of indexed content when and if you decide to delete any information from your website.
I have many examples of targeted "evergreen" content on several of my non-church websites. This is a good place to start the discussion, since you really do need to create a reason for non-members to find your church website. For example, when my son asked whether or not a spacesuit can float in water, I looked it up, but there was no reasonable explanation online. Therefore, I wrote the article about it. If a church member asks a question that needs explaining, there's a good chance someone else is looking for the same answer, making writing about it and getting Google to find it very important to your website. Try a search for "will a spacesuit float?" Satisfamily is me. When I found my 1982 Mattel Competition Football game, I wrote an article about it, and it's also in the top 5 of Google. Yes, there are very few people searching for answers about these topics compared to the vast number of people searching for meaning in life, but why should others be the ones answering those questions? Look to write about ideas and concerns that will last for decades but that are from a unique perspective (like LCMS or Yourtown). You might be surprised at the number of hits you'll get.
Luthernet is responsible for adding the weekly content to Lutheran Radio Church Service, and I will use that website as an example of what could be for your website. Because each article is indexed properly, Google recognizes the content in searches. This results in top search rankings for many of the pastors who participate in creating content for the website. In fact, many searches will result in higher rankings for my website (lrcsonline.org) than for the pastor's own church. I use simple techniques and a continuous stream of content in order to capture Google's attention. Some sample searches show the power of Lutheran Radio Church Service's website include: Thomas Bauer lutheran, Keith Johnson lutheran, Jeffrey Mueller lutheran, and Thomas Schmitt lutheran, and Peter Kelm lutheran, etc. The list literally goes on and on, meaning each one of those pastors, when searched for, can be found on Lutheran Radio Church Service. It's not just lrcsonline that benefits, however. You want the top websites that talk about your church to be associated with your church, not some local yellowpages website or your community newspaper website. Besides that, Google wants the right pages to be pointing people in the right direction, so if people are searching for any of the topics discussed in the sermons, the article provides an easy-to-find description.
With Lutheran Radio Church Service, I went even further than I normally do on my own websites because I also have a "Related Content" module displaying similar sermons. While this is not always necessary, it's quite convenient on a website with a lot of content, and it may very well create more clicks from those who want to hear similar sermons. Basically, look at Lutheran Radio Church Service as a fully-optimized website. If anyone selling SEO or website design claims they can build that for you, they are lying. YOU need to build it for you. Luthernet can help.