Maximizing Exposure for Your Non-Profit SEO Techniques Maximizing Exposure for Your Non-Profit

What is SEO? Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of maximizing the volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines. The higher a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive. Natural/Organic SEO vs. Paid SEO Search engines use robotic crawlers to find what keywords are on your website and where they are located Optimizing a website primarily involves editing its content and HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines Content Management Systems streamline the process

Why is SEO important for my organization? The ultimate goal of a website is to attract internet users, and the vast majority of users find websites by using the major search engines 84% of Google users never get past the first page of natural search results SEO campaigns have a much higher return on investment than other traditional internet marketing techniques SEO can make the content of your web pages more relevant, and more easily read by search engines and their crawling and indexing software

SEO Ingredients Keyword Research Website Optimization Link Building Keeping Content Fresh Analytics

Keyword Research Knowing the search terms (or “keywords”) your potential visitors are searching for is crucial to attracting them to your site. To make it to the top of the list of Google results you must know what terms are most likely to be searched for. Start by brainstorming What is your goal? Check the popularity of your choices using an online keyword database Yahoo’s keyword tool - http://inventory.overture.com  Google Keyword Research Tool - http://www.google.com/sktool/  WordTracker – http://www.wordtracker.com  Keyword Discovery – http://www.keyworddiscovery.com Narrow down your list to a few keywords including your organization's name, location, and your main subject area 

Google’s Keyword Usage Tool

Website Optimization Once you have decided on your keywords, you must know how to apply them to your website.  Website optimization is the process of modifying your website to include your selected keywords in the content and HTML code of the website.   Include meta-title and meta-description; limit the title to about 70 characters and 2-3 keyword phrases, and description to 170 characters Do not use Flash, animation or “splash” pages with images and little or no text content Use one or more explanatory headings on each page. ex. "<h1>Nonprofit Tools</h1> Give images relevant names (communitycenterfront.jpg instead of image1.jpg) and use descriptive “alt” text for images Create navigation text links using keywords (not “click here” but "click here to become a graphic design volunteer”) Be sure that every single page on your website is linked from your navigation structure, so that no pages are “orphaned” Google Website Optimizer

Link Building Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to yours, which generates direct traffic while increasing your search engine rankings. Ask supporters to link to your site from their blogs, personal pages Write articles or other content on websites which contain links back to your website Participate in relevant online discussions Write media (press) releases and submit them to distribution and syndication services Submit your website to web directories The Open Directory (DMOZ.org) Yahoo (dir.yahoo.com) Best of the Web (www.botw.org) While link building is a legitimate SEO strategy, it can be abused

Keeping Content Fresh Dynamic websites with fresh content are consistently more successful than those which remain static. Search engines recognize this, and websites which are constantly growing by adding fresh content achieve higher rankings than those which remain outdated. Give your website a periodic check up to remove old and stale information If you don’t already have one, include a blog on your site Weekly showcases and other ways to freshen content (maintaining an active and update calendar) Bringing it home - post dynamic content to your homepage (maybe a box that contains a weekly sponsor highlight or a poll)

Analytics SEO is about your visibility level or ranking on a search engine. This directly relates to your website traffic a way to evaluate the impact of your efforts.   Google Analytics - Free with Gmail/Google account. Embed a tracking code on your site, then setup customized reports for referrals, visitors, conversion Who is visiting your site?  New vs Repeat Visitors  Increase or decrease over time Landing Pages Keywords Searched  Referral Source Page Views vs Visits vs Hits Use with Adwords - information can be used to increase ROI by tracking cost and conversion data as well  

Pay-Per-Click/Search Engine Marketing SEM: Search Engine Marketing Using text ads to draw in visitors who search related phrases. Google Adwords - Nonprofits eligible for Google Grant, to be used for your SEM efforts 

Google Adwords/Google Grant Google Adwords (for your SEM): create and manage text ads set to appear on Google searches.   Google Grant: Offered to nonprofits for use with Google Adwords Create ads or campaigns Designate which search phrase will prompt your ad to appear  Each click goes towards your $10,000 spending limit Manage multiple ad campaigns  Track results  

When will I see results?     Achieving a favorable ranking in the major search engines is a gradual process You may see some tangible results within days, but typically it takes between 1 to 3 months to see a positive return on investment SEO is a long-term strategy   Keywords matter! Knowing the search terms or keywords your potential visitors are searching for is crucial to attracting them to your site. Your choice of keywords can determine the success or failure of your SEO campaign. Simply using the "most searched" keywords may not deliver visitors interested in your site Review your site on Spidertest.com, Google Webmaster Tools

SEO at Grassroots.org Grassroots.org's members (nonprofits from US, Canada and Africa) are  eligible for free SEO Consultation with experts from SEO.com.   Hour-long one-on-one consultation Introduction to basics of SEO Professional knowledge Answers and explanations SEO Forum - http://seo.grassroots.org

Questions?