10 Simple Tips to Boost Your Nonprofit Website’s SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) helps people find your website when they’re searching online. Done well, it brings more visitors to your site, builds trust, positions your organization as a leader in your field, and improves accessibility — all without the cost of paid advertising. But how can you improve your SEO? Whether you're just getting started or seeking a refresher, these 10 simple tips will help your nonprofit improve its visibility on search engines like Google. 

You may be able to incorporate some of these tips on your own through your content management system (CMS), or you may need help from your web developer. But no matter how you implement the changes, your approach to SEO should include both content (what you write on your website) and structure (how your site is organized and constructed). I’ll walk you through both, but remember: You don’t need to do everything at once. Just take it one step at a time!

1. Identify Relevant Keywords

To show up in search results, your website must include the right keywords. If you are new to SEO, you should first identify the words or phrases people might type into search engines that are relevant to your organization and its goals. Start by listing the key topics on which your nonprofit focuses. For example, a food bank might identify “food insecurity” as a relevant keyword.

Next, brainstorm related keyword search terms, like “free groceries near me,” “food assistance programs” or “community food pantry.” To do this, use:

• Words and phrases your audience would actually search for.
• Google’s autocomplete feature.
• Free tools like Ubersuggest or Google Keyword Planner.

2. Use Descriptive Page Titles

Ensure every page has a clear and descriptive title that includes your target keywords. This helps search engines (and users) know what the page is about. Titles should be unique to the page and be no more than 50 to 60 characters to avoid the titles being truncated in search results. 

Place the most important keywords at the beginning of the title, followed by secondary information, such as program topic, audience, event date or location. Your organization’s name should generally be last in the page title, especially for smaller organizations with less brand recognition. These items can be separated with a pipe (|) or dash (—) character, although a pipe is preferred because it takes up less space.

3. Write Keyword-Rich Content

Include your identified descriptive keywords in your page content. Don’t try to stuff them in though. Instead, use them where they naturally make sense in the flow of your copywriting. Remember to occasionally include popular acronyms for your organization, too!

4. Focus on the First Paragraph

After the page title, the introductory paragraph provides further context to search engines regarding the page and its content. This paragraph should summarize the page and include relevant SEO keywords that you identified in step No. 1.

5. Create Dynamic Page Titles

Dynamic page titles automatically adjust based on the page content. Aim to use dynamic page titles within your website’s underlying code so your page titles are always automatically specific and relevant.

6. Use Alt Text for Images

Alt text not only describes images for users who can’t see them, but also describes images for search engines. So be sure to add alt text to every meaningful image on your site (but don’t worry about providing alt text for images that are purely decorative). This simple but crucial step will help your SEO while also ensuring your website meets accessibility guidelines. 

7. Organize Content With Header Tags

The design of the text on your website should use consistent HTML heading styles (<h1>, <h2>, etc.) to break up content into clear sections with an understandable hierarchy. This not only helps improve your SEO but also improves readability and skimmability.

8. Write Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are short summaries that appear below your page title in search results. To add a meta description to your webpage for Google, you need to place it within the <head> section of your HTML code. If you don’t write one, Google will pull a random excerpt, so it’s best to write your own to control what users see. 

Like page titles, meta descriptions should be limited in length, with the most important information or keywords included first. Keeping descriptions less than 160 characters and writing with an active voice and a clear call to action can also improve your results.

9. Use Descriptive URLs and File Names

A good URL helps users and search engines understand what is included on the page. For example: “yournonprofit.org/staff” is better than “yournonprofit.org/page?id=3.” 

In addition, name any files or documents linked on your website clearly. For example, a logo file named “mynonprofit-logo.jpg” is much better than “image123.jpg.” For optimal results, be sure to separate the words within your file names with dashes instead of spaces or underscores, and don’t use special characters. Descriptive URLs and filenames also help improve your website’s accessibility! 

10. Create a Dynamic Sitemap

A sitemap is a specific type of file that helps search engines find and understand your website pages. A dynamic sitemap updates automatically when you add or remove pages, making it easier for Google to index your site.

Bonus Tip: Check Your Work!

Try searching for your keywords and see if your site appears. But remember, the changes you make to improve your SEO might take several days to yield improvements in your ranking. Continue to monitor your SEO performance and refine your strategies as needed to ensure the best possible results

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.