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Current nonprofit sector research and recommendations for effective day-to-day practice from ASU faculty, staff, students, and the nonprofit and philanthropic community.
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SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of gaining visibility on search engines, like Google. As Google now controls the majority of internet traffic, SEO has become a booming business, driving customers and brand visibility to virtually every sector of commerce.
However, at its essence SEO is about profit motive. No surprise there, as SEO is slated to become a 80 Billion dollar industry by 2020. Therefore, the question is whether it can be a viable strategy for nonprofits. Can SEO be a worthwhile investment for charities and other nonprofit organizations?
The Short Answer – Yes!
Yes, SEO is certainly a viable strategy for nonprofits. Two general strategies would be most effective for leveraging SEO:
Let us dive into the specifics below.
“Money” Keywords and Online Donations
This section will bear the most resemblance to standard (profit-based) SEO. Finding popular search keywords that have a clear buyer (or in this case, donor) intent, and optimizing for those keywords. Just a quick bit of keyword research shows that there are many keywords worth targeting:
These types of keywords show a pretty clear intent by the user for an almost immediate donation to a non-profit. The cost-per-click (CPC) also shows that there is commercial value in these keywords (i.e. organizations are willing to pay up to $33 for a single click of “donate car to charity”).
For this type of SEO to be effective, organizations must research exactly what keywords are most relevant and popular in order to develop highly SEO optimized landing pages to target those keywords. An SEO agency is generally best equipped to perform these tasks.
Content Strategy + Retargeting/Social Media Nurturing
The next type of strategy is still related to performing keyword research and publishing relevant content, but the keywords are not as directly related to donations (but still relevant to the nonprofit niche or sector).
The goals and tactics around this type of content strategy will be different, but still very effective. Depending on the niche, this could arguably be the most effective way to increase brand awareness and the reach of your organization.
What do we mean by relevant keywords? Performing a quick bit of keyword research we’ve found these general questions:
These are informational queries (while the previous section might be considered “transactional” or “commercial” queries). This means that a user won’t be ready to pull out their credit card and donate right away, but that is OK. Why? Because it provides tons of other opportunities, including:
Final Thoughts
Simply put, online publishing allows organizations to reach an audience. Virtually every niche or sector has a target audience that performs some types of online searches. Publishing online, with proper SEO tactics in place, provides opportunity to expand organization reach and influence.
Aligning that reach with the proper conversion actions and effective audience nurturing provides fertile ground for organizational growth, both in the for-profit and nonprofit industries.
Since 2008 Michael has been helping both the largest websites in the world and small local business achieve their goals and grow their business through aggressive digital marketing. Michael founded Darby Hayes Consulting in order to specifically focus on helping established local businesses acquire more customers, grow their business and maintain a healthy ROI (return-on-investment) on all marketing investments..
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