Everyone is tightening their belts with the rising cost of living, so competing for attention online is becoming more complex daily. Nonprofits need to market themselves as any other business does. So, if you are a nonprofit seeing a decline in donors, have you ever considered SEO? If not, this article will explain why SEO is important for nonprofits in today’s digital landscape.
Why SEO Is As Important To Nonprofits As Businesses
The most successful nonprofits are run like a business. Focusing on growth, strategy and marketing, the nonprofits with a business mindset can help the most. But, your nonprofit doesn’t need to run like a cutthroat corporate company; it can take the principles of this world while still sticking to the organisation’s principles.
One essential marketing tool for any size business is search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO s a process of improving the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through search engines. Unlike paid ads and social media, SEO is entirely focused on improving your website’s standing with search engines. By implementing a coherent and consistent SEO strategy, you can grow your non-profit’s brand, enquiries and sponsorship. These are the main benefits of SEO for not-for-profit organisations.
Display Site To The Right Audience
SEO is all about researching keywords and optimising your site for those phrases. The terms you choose will likely relate to how you want to attract donors and the type of work you are involved. SEO is primarily about using this information to get your site in front of the right people searching on search engines for these terms. By optimising your site to showcase these terms, you tell search engines that your site is relevant for the searcher’s queries. There are many different reasons people search on Google; this is called search intent.
Search Intent Examples
Here are a few examples to explain different search intents and how a non-profit might show up. Let’s use the example of a local cancer charity.
- Investigation – A user searches “cancer hospice near me” or “how to choose a hospice provider”. They may be looking for an option for their loved ones or themselves. Your website can be optimised to show up in their local area and answer questions relating to the search.
- Informational – A user searches “What do hospices do?”. This isn’t necessarily about using your services, but as a nonprofit, you can provide honest and experienced-based information to inform people about your work.
- Navigational– A user searches “ {brand name} hospice. They know where they want to go; they just need to find the right site. This could be for finding contact information and revisiting a site for more information.
- Transactional – A user searches “Donate to hospice”. Less common in the nonprofit sector, transactional intent is when users are ready to spend money or, in some cases, make direct contact with an organisation.
By optimising your site according to what your target audience is searching for, you are more likely to appear at the top of a search engine results page than another non-profit or commercial entity. This is the first hurdle in SEO.
Gain Traffic
Once you’ve convinced a search engine to display your site for a particular search query, you still need to get the user to click on your website. This is where SEO is focused primarily on the user. While Google, or any other search engine, may think your site is perfect for the query, users still need to read the title and description of the page displayed and think it’s a good idea to click. If you can write this information in an engaging and informative way, you will gain traffic to your site, the second hurdle in SEO.
Getting users to click
To get users to click through to your site, you need to optimise several pieces of information for a web page.
- SEO title – A title tag or SEO title is a piece of HTML that defines the name of the web page. This should explain what the page is about at a glance. However, you only have up to 60 characters to use, so you must make them count. Learn more here.
- Meta description – A meta description is a short paragraph that explains what a web page is about. You can use this to entice users to click. Once again, there is not much space, so you need to be clever with its use. Learn more about how to write one here.
- URL – While a small part of what is shown on the search results is the URL, a good one can still help get a user to click through. URLs should be short and show what a page is about, though that can be easier said than done. Learn how URL structure can affect SEO and how to construct a great looking one.
While these may seem like a micro amount of copy, they are vital in attracting users to your site. Therefore, this SEO practice is critical in growing your traffic and expanding your nonprofit’s impact.
Converts Interested Parties
When you attract the right people to your website through SEO, they are more likely to perform the actions you want on your site. The two steps in the sections above are all about getting your site in front of the right eyeballs, but SEO doesn’t stop at search engines. Optimise your website so users have a great experience when they land. A vital but forgotten aspect of SEO is the design of your website.
Without a good website design, including navigation, speed, mobile optimisations and much more, those who land on your site may be dissuaded from performing an action. SEO is crucial because it’s an all-encompassing strategy that drives traffic and ensures your users get the information they need to complete the action you want. Here are just a few ways good design can impact a nonprofit.
- If a site is too slow to load, users are more likely to click away from a site. This will stop any site progress dead in its track.
- If the checkout process for donations or purchases is clunky or appears untrustworthy, it can dissuade donors from committing to payment.
- Can a user easily navigate across the site? If they can’t find the information they need, how can they trust you to provide the service, goods or support your non-profit promises?
SEO focused design is essential for nonprofits because it can guide your organisation in making the best presentation of your organisation.
Content & SEO Strategy for Nonprofits
You can read more about why SEO is so important here. If your nonprofit would like help with your content and SEO strategy, get in touch. I am an experienced marketer focusing on ethical marketing practices that helps organisations like yours grow. Learn more about my services here, or get in touch to talk about your requirements. I always provide fully costed proposals to help you secure the funding you need. Plus, I will take the time to help you understand how we can work together.