A special guest post by Neil White about smart SEO for nonprofit organizations.

Doing an SEO for a non-profit organization is not as easy as a lot of people assume it to be. Sure, the links you use in your link-building efforts aren’t commercial or click-bait-like, yet people still have an easy time figuring out an agenda behind them. Aside from this, on-site optimization works same as it always did, which means that your job there won’t be an easy one either. With that in mind, you need to learn how to do smart SEO optimization for non-profit organizations and learn how to do so the right way around. Here are several tips you might find quite handy.

1. Fundraising is your main goal

The main goal of your non-profit’s SEO is to boost your fundraising abilities, while the secondary objective is to raise awareness of your vision. Both of these goals are something you need to keep in mind when planning your SEO campaign. Nevertheless, your main inbound marketing aim is to make this appear the other way around. Of course, whenever there’s money involved, people tend to be more suspicious than usual and keep their guard tighter than usual. Nonetheless, by being direct about your goals and objectives, you can help them see past the fundraising and focus on what really matters — the above-discussed vision.

2. Smart content formats

When it comes to written formats, you need to focus on stories from your cause, testimonials and news articles, yet, textual is not necessarily enough. You also need to include videos, infographics and shocking photo galleries. This is due to the fact that people are far more susceptible to visual means. If you manage to evoke a strong emotional response, as is often the case in this field. You might compel your audience to share and promote your content further on, thus increasing your reach and your traffic. These smart content marketing hacks for non-profitsbenefit both your SEO and your fundraising efforts a significant boost.

3. Look for professional guidance

In order to commit as many resources as possible, you need to drastically cut down on the overhead of your non-profit. In theory, that would mean handling issues like digital marketing and SEO on your own. The downside of this method is the efficiency that could potentially harm your fundraising abilities. In other words, instead of looking at outsourcing as an expense, you might want to consider this an investment. According to SEO Sydney experts, even without outsourcing, getting a quote from a professional can make all the difference in the world.

4. Increase in online donations

Another reason why you need to focus on the SEO is the fact that there’s a massive growth in the popularity of online donations. Last year, there was a 12.1 percent increase in donations, while this year, it’s up by 10.6 percent during the first third of the year. Overall, accepting donations on your website is completely mandatory in 2018, yet, it may not be enough. With so many non-profits and causes out there, what’s to force people to invest in your non-profit, instead of pledging to someone else.

5. Heavy emphasis on quality

As a non-profit, you’ll face much greater expectation in term of content quality than most companies would. A low-quality content for a corporation usually means a low-marketing budget or even a negligence. When it comes to non-profit, a low-quality might indicate a scam, seeing as how people behind the campaign weren’t A) passionate enough or B) knowledgeable enough to get these things right. Needless to say, this can have a devastating effect on your efforts.

6. Use internal links

While internal links are always great for your SEO when it comes to non-profit promotion you get another perk from internal linking. What you demonstrate in this way is your commitment to a single cause and a consistency across various topics in this field. In other words, you gain on trustworthiness.

7. User-friendly URL

Lastly, in order to avoid being considered clickbait-y, you need to create as user-friendly URL as possible. Don’t be afraid to shorten it a bit. This is why you should either make a subdomain or a subfolder for the page where the donations are supposed to be deposited. The keyword should be in the title in order to make an increase in transparency. Needless to say, you should also try to use it in the first 100 words of any blog post that you make.

In conclusion

We live in a world where people are so afraid of online schemes that they are unwilling to pledge their money even for the worthiest of causes, simply because they fear they’ll get cheated out of their hard-earned money. The main role of your SEO lies in your ability to attract attention while maintaining an admirable level of trustworthiness. Not an easy task but, when the goal is important enough, no effort is too hard to endure.

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Over to you

Share your thoughts about smart SEO techniques for nonprofits, NGOs or Social Enterprises in the comment section below.