Social enterprises should use SEO to grow because they face the same challenges as any other business. As such, they should utilise the same tools to achieve their aims. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an essential marketing strategy for all organisations, and social enterprises are no different. SEO can support social enterprises and non-profits in their primary aims and help them grow.
Top Reasons Social Enterprises should utilise
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of SEO, read my guide; What is SEO? or visit the SEO Basics page on the blog. This will outline what SEO is, how it is used to help organisations and the benefits of investing in it. The reasons below highlight why social enterprises, in particular, can benefit from this tool.
Compete on search engines
SEO is all about competition. Any business with an online presence wants to be top of search results pages for their most important key phrases. For social enterprises, you may be competing with other social enterprises and/or corporate businesses. Utilising SEO can ensure you appear before your competitors in search queries which result in more traffic for you. This, in turn, with the right website, will result in more leads or purchases for your organisation. The social enterprises that are most likely to succeed utilise modern marketing tools. They know they are vital to boosting brand awareness and conversions. With your fantastic offering, you want to be seen so you can showcase your way of doing things. Often the only way to do that is through being front and centre on the first page of Google.
Find the right audience
While it’s all well and good getting loads of traffic to your site, if they are never going to invest in your enterprise, it’s time and expense wasted. When employing SEO, it is more important to get the right kind of traffic than lots of traffic for the sake of boosted session numbers. A quality SEO strategy will help you identify your audience, what they are most interested in and how best to sell to them.
When you combine this content-focused SEO strategy with a great website design and superb customer service, you will attract users that are perfect for your enterprise. Social enterprises are usually niche in their offering, providing a service or product which will not be for the masses (but fingers crossed maybe in time). Embrace this distinction and invest in marketing strategies tailored to your unique audience. Ethical consumers or businesses want to invest with a company that’s for change, not just profits.
You’re still a business
A social enterprise is still a business, and marketing should be a top priority, as with any company. SEO has high returns on investment and provides long-term sustainable traffic to your site. Some of my most successful blog posts were written many years ago and still provide traffic and leads for their website owners. SEO is ever-changing, but if you provide your audience with a quality piece of content, it can generate revenue for years to come. SEO is a vital marketing tool that social enterprises should be utilising to compete with corporate businesses. Your competitors utilise it to significant effect, so use the same tactics to boost your social enterprise and help it grow.
SEO Strategies for social enterprises
If you are a social enterprise that wants to discuss SEO, get in touch. I offer a transparent consultancy service to help ethical organisations grow and understand where they need to target. I can work on a simple consultancy basis or implement SEO and content strategies for your organisations. My flexible approach means we can work together best suited to your organisation’s structure and budget. So get in touch today and see how we can grow your organisation.