Search Engine Optimization (SEO): A Guide for Nonprofits

To spread the word about your cause and inspire much-needed support, your nonprofit must elevate its marketing with innovative strategies. Since nearly one-third of donors are inspired to give via nonprofit websites, this channel is a powerful marketing tool that can grow your audience — when built strategically.

While 91% of nonprofits have a website, only 37% do what’s necessary to enhance their online visibility: Implement a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Let’s explore the basics of SEO and how your nonprofit can build a great website by optimizing its online presence. With a thoughtful strategy, your organization will be well-positioned to increase awareness and support of your mission.

What Is SEO?

SEO is the process of refining a website to increase its visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs). In particular, these adjustments are aimed at helping a site rank higher on SERPs when users search for specific, relevant keywords. 

While the amount of organic, or non-paid, traffic to a nonprofit website generally hovers around 44% of visitors, effective SEO can put your website in front of a broader audience, attracting more visitors, and increasing engagement and the potential for conversions.

The key components of SEO include:

• Keywords. The words or phrases users type into search engines are called keywords. For example, when trying to find an animal shelter, a user may search for “adopt a pet,” “animal rescue organization” or “help animals in need.”
• Content. Web content includes text or multimedia elements spread throughout a website’s pages. For SEO purposes, content must be valuable, relevant to the keyword and authoritative for the website to be successful.
• Backlinks. Inbound links, also known as backlinks, are links from other websites that lead to your nonprofit’s pages. Having numerous backlinks from credible sources signals to search engines that your website is authoritative and trustworthy. 

Search engines analyze webpages by extracting text, images, links, and other elements. Then, webpages are added to an index, the catalog of webpages the search engine retrieves results from when a user searches a keyword. Using the above components as ranking factors, search engines place webpages on SERPs according to their relevance, authority, and usability. 

How to Use SEO as a Nonprofit

How can nonprofits optimize their websites to rank highly on SERPs for keywords relevant to their missions? First, determine your organization’s current standing by auditing its website. Check for mobile and user-friendliness to gauge the site’s accessibility and evaluate the quality and relevance of your content.

Next, develop a strategy and implementation plan for your optimization. This should include:

• Keyword research and optimization. Conduct keyword research to determine which topics your website’s content should target. To do this, identify the keywords most relevant to your nonprofit’s work and likely searched by your target audience. Then, amplify your content by optimizing existing messaging to include these keywords in headings, body text and meta descriptions.
• High-quality content creation. Plan new content around your keywords and your audience’s informational needs. Instead of stuffing your content with keywords, incorporate them naturally into educational content that meets your audience’s search intent. 
• Backlink building. Form relationships with your peers and industry partners to create guest blogging and content collaboration opportunities. These are great sources for backlinks. Additionally, as your website grows and builds authority, it will also receive backlinks naturally by serving as an expert resource on a topic.

Remember that your SEO strategy should be flexible to align with best practices as they evolve. Be prepared to update your website as necessary and adjust your plan accordingly.

Tools and Resources for Nonprofit SEO

To make the most impactful SEO adjustments, you need tools that streamline the process and guide your research. The right solutions will help you implement your initial plan and measure your progress over time.

Helpful resources for SEO include:

• A robust content management system (CMS). To enhance your website’s accessibility and easily create new content, you’ll need a CMS with comprehensive capabilities. Research the best nonprofit website builders to find the tool best suited for your website needs.
• Keyword research tools. Invest in a tool that provides keyword data and analysis, such as the volume of searches the keyword receives each month and how difficult it is to rank for it. Keyword research tools can also help you identify relevant keywords to broaden your SEO strategy. 
• SEO analytics platforms. SEO isn’t just a one-time change made to improve your nonprofit’s online presence. You’ll need to monitor your performance over time to track your progress and adjust your strategy as needed. Use SEO analytics platforms to track website traffic, user behavior and other site performance metrics.

To ensure your nonprofit’s SEO strategy remains effective over time, keep your marketing team apprised of updated best practices and provide them with the training needed to optimize your website. Then, SEO will naturally integrate with your other marketing strategies to maximize your online visibility and increase support for your mission.

The preceding post was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.