SEO has undoubtedly proved to be an excellent tool for business brand-building and publicity. Still, despite its promising capabilities, some nonprofit leaders do not know how to effectively leverage this inexpensive marketing campaign strategy to assist their fundraising efforts, leaving money on the table that otherwise would be invested in more community projects. However, with the help of SEO, nonprofit organizations can generate more traffic that can be converted into donors or volunteers. In today’s podcast, Alison Knott from Alison K Consulting and Stephen Halasnik from Financing Solutions discuss how nonprofits can use SEO to get free advertising to be on the front foot.
Summary
Leveraging SEO for Nonprofit Publicity
In the past, many nonprofit organizations had struggled to reach their target audience due to limited financial resources to invest in publicity. But today, the story has changed, thanks to Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The advent of organic SEO has brought a lot of optimism and hope as it has become easier for nonprofits to enhance their visibility and promote their objectives.
With SEO, every mission-driven nonprofit organization can reach their target donors, effectively conduct fundraising campaigns, build a robust online presence, and more.
Read on as we peer deep into how SEO can facilitate the actualization of your nonprofit goals.
What Is SEO for Nonprofits?
Many nonprofit organizations have realized the importance of search engine optimization in facilitating their fundraising efforts. However, before we explain what SEO for Nonprofits is, it will be proper if we start by defining the term SEO.
SEO is the practice of improving your rankings organically in the Search Engine Result Page (SERP) such as Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo. Search Engine Optimization tactics include keyword research, link-building, content creation, and more. By optimizing your site, you can rank high on the search engine results pages, thereby getting more recognition and donations. 
SEO offers numerous benefits to nonprofits when rightly done. For example, it provides a level playing ground for every nonprofit, no matter their size, to compete for the limited available dollars. Plus, it helps donors to find your organization easily. However, you should ensure you optimize your content with the appropriate keywords and SEO-best practices to drive up your ranking.
SEO Strategies for Nonprofits
There is no denying that most nonprofits operate on a tight budget in running their organizations. Hence, it becomes imperative that you ensure that every dollar counts by implementing an effective digital strategy that will get your nonprofit a favorable position on Google or other search engines.
Below are tips that will help guide you in your SEO content marketing efforts:
Do a keyword research
Keyword research is an excellent way to start your content strategy. Whether you are an SEO expert or a novice, the first thing you learn is how important quality content is to content marketing strategy.
However, high-quality content must be optimized with the right keywords to rank well and promote your nonprofit visibility. Often, numerous good content failed to make it to the first page of Google because they were not well optimized with the right keywords.
There is plenty of SEO software that can help you get started with keyword research SEO tools like Google Ads’ Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and more are leading tools for keyword research.
Link building
If you want to excel in your SEO content strategy, don’t downplay the importance of link building. Link building plays an essential role in getting organic traffic through search engines. You can build links by producing new content other sites want to share and link to.
As a result, you will get more traffic and recognition. Familiarity and recognition are crucial to getting donations in the nonprofit world, and you want to get your name in front of new eyes.
Maintain a User-friendly site for your nonprofit
The technical aspect of your nonprofit site is also critical in your SEO marketing content strategy. In other words, optimizing your site to offer a great user experience will help attract donors’ attention and generate donations.
Below are some practical guides to promote your user experience:
Optimize your page speed
If you have visited a slow site, you will quickly realize how frustrating it can be. A sluggish page can be off-putting, and no one wants to visit it. You can check your page speed using PageSpeed Insights, a free tool provided by Google to figure out the speed.
Use the correct anchor text
When you put links on specific web pages, ensure that the anchor text indicates the content topic that the link directs your site’s visitors to visit. In other words, use anchor text in a way that your site visitors understand.
Make your website design attractive
People like visiting aesthetically pleasing sites. Therefore, design your website so that your nonprofit brand colors and tone align throughout your site.
Prioritize a local SEO strategy
When it comes to SEO for nonprofits, getting results in a particular geographical location can be essential. Local SEO helps your nonprofit gets found by people within a specific area, especially when you need volunteers or people for fundraising in a particular locale. Local SEO can bring massive success to your nonprofit, especially if you offer services to a particular geographic location.
What Are Top SEO Companies for Nonprofits
In case you find it challenging to create a working SEO strategy for your nonprofits, it would help if you consider contracting professionals. Below are some high-ranking SEO companies in the United States according to reviews:
- SocialSEO
- SmartSites
- Thrive Internet Marketing Agency
- SEO Brand
- Softrix Tech Solutions Private Limited
- Rankings
- SEO Image
- High Voltage SEO
- PBJ Marketing
Final Thought
Every nonprofit that seeks cost-effective ways to get in front of donors must rely on SEO to achieve that. SEO is a great means of bringing your organization’s mission to the world quickly. By implementing the best SEO strategies, the visibility of your nonprofit on the search engine’s first page is inevitable, and you can effectively reach plenty of donors.
Learn About Our Guest
Alison K Consulting is an SEO and web consultant that helps nonprofits and social enterprises convert the curious into clients, advocates, and donors. She’s an international speaker and educator who’s passionate about the intersection of the web, creativity, and marketing. Her main mandate is to raise web and digital marketing literacy for small but mighty teams putting good into the world!
Learn More About the Host, Stephen Halasnik
Stephen Halasnik is the host of the popular Nonprofit MBA Podcast. The Nonprofit MBA podcast’s purpose is to help nonprofit leaders and their teams. Stephen is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Financing Solutions, a leading provider of loans for nonprofits in the form of a Line of Credit. Stephen is a best-selling Amazon author and is considered a leading authority on building great, purpose-driven businesses.
Stephen lives in New Jersey and his top life mission is to raise his two sons, Michael and Maxwell, to be good men.