We have gained some good experience in nonprofits SEO while working with reputed NGOs like Giveindia. We have compiled a list of some most important SEO recommendation points for NGOs.
Focus on Local SEO Keywords
IDENTIFY WHERE YOUR NGO SERVES AND OPTIMIZE YOUR KEYWORDS ACCORDINGLY.
Eg: If your NGO serves in Delhi then find keywords related to (Delhi + your cause). This is important because people generally search for NGOs like this- ’cause (education NGO) near me’. or ’cause (education NGO) in Delhi’. Since your local volunteers make your strongest foundation, it’s imperative to reach out to them first.
Google Local Business Listing
‘MAKE SURE TO SET UP GOOGLE BUSINESS LISTING’.
When you Google search a company/brand, Google shows a box on the right-hand side with a short description and contact details of that business. Similarly, a nonprofit too should have their organization listed on Google’s ‘local listing page’ for that box to appear. This will help your potential supporter (especially someone from your city) to reach out to you quickly. Reviews from the local audience will help you gain local rankings
SEO Led Blogging
OPTIMIZE YOUR NGO BLOG WITH RIGHT KEYWORDS FOR HIGHER GOOGLE RANKING.
A part of nonprofits’ work is advocacy. Many opt for blogging to share their on-ground learning with their potential donors, volunteers, and supporters. If optimized right with keywords, blogging can prove to be one of the best practices to build SEO and attract the ‘right audience’ for your NGO.
Few quick tips:
- Choose a ‘focus keyword’ for your NGO which you want people to find your blog and optimize this in the blog post title and within the content.
- Use the focus keyphrase’ in ‘slug’, ‘meta description’, and ‘image alternative tag’
- Hyperlink the important keywords
- Use 2-3 external links from authoritative sites and add 1 internal link of one of your older blogs
- Go for ‘listicle’ since Google ranks such blogs higher on search as they are easy to read. Or at least, divide the blogs using subheadings.
GiveIndia’s blogs are a good example of a thoughtfully SEO optimized blog posts. GiveIndia’s several blogs appear on top for keywords like ‘healthcare NGOs in India’ and ‘ Education NGOs in India’.
Use Local Directories
LIST YOUR NGO’S WEBSITE ON ‘LOCAL BUSINESS DIRECTORIES’
One of the factors based on which Google ranks your website higher is your domain authority. One way to build that is to list your website on ‘local business directories’ and ‘local forums’. It’s a repetitive task with a bit of monotony but over a period it does wonders for your Google ranking.