December 7, 2007
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art of getting a website to show up at the very top of search engine results, especially when there is a lot of competition for a specific keyword or search term. Most non-profit organizations depend on search engines to ensure that their website shows up when someone searches for the name of the organization on Google or Yahoo. Non-profits also benefit when their website appears in the search results for keywords related to their mission.
There are plenty of SEO tips and tricks to help websites get the most prominence on search results. However, maintaining a site's visibility on searches related to a specific keyword can be time-consuming. And non-profits don't have infinite resources — they need to choose the tactics that will make the most impact for the least cost and effort.
While it never hurts to follow SEO general guidelines, there are sometimes alternatives that can offer a better return on the organization's investment. Let's look at an example:
A performing arts group in Los Angeles wants to sell more tickets to performances. They want to make sure that users searching for events or performances in Los Angeles will find their website.
A typical SEO approach would involve creating urls, titles, headings and prominent content that emphasizes the keywords "LA" or "Los Angeles", "events", and "performances". The organization would also spend time on other SEO efforts such as getting outside sites to link to their website using these specific keywords as the titles of links. Even so, these keywords are common, and there is no guarantee that the organization's website will show up on the first page of search results.
Another way of accomplishing the same goal would be to identify the websites that show up at the top of searches for "LA events", such as CalendarLive. The organization should then make sure that their events are listed on these websites, which often don't charge for event listings. This approach saves the organization time and effort, and ensures that the organization's events are promoted in ways that will reach the widest audience.
Basic Strategies:
More Complete Information and Articles:
If you have any questions about SEO, don't hesitate to email us!
— Megan