How to choose the right keywords for your nonprofit website

People use the internet for most of their information seeking, these days. It is the search engines that guide them in finding what they need. To drive more traffic to their websites, nonprofits should rank well on these, to make themselves easier to locate. Search engine optimization is an essential part of nonprofit fundraising which could help you make the most out of the available opportunities

Here are a few ways which could help you to choose the right keywords for your nonprofit website.

Know your nonprofit well

List down some words and phrases which are related to your nonprofit and what it does. This might not be as straightforward as it seems. Apart from the core responsibilities of your nonprofit and the area that it’s working in, there are a lot of other things which could be linked to it. There is volunteer opportunities, fundraising events, donation opportunities, public outreach and much more which relates to it. You need to do some brainstorming before figuring what are the keyword phrases which could best describe what you do.

Think like a searcher

While making a list of all the keywords, think like someone who is making the search. Ponder over all the possible ways that one might phrase it. Think from the perspective of a layman who wants to know about you. Don’t make it too technical. Be creative and move beyond the obvious. Think of all the potential words that someone interested in your nonprofit might be typing into the search engine.

Avoid jargons

Someone searching about your nonprofit might not be acquainted with all the technical vocabulary that experts in your sector might use. The people visiting your website and searching the internet might be much more simplistic in what they are looking for.

Be specific

By being more specific, you have a better chance of showing in the top result of searches. Keyword phrases which are very broad are often very competitive and make it hard for you to rank. Sit with your staff and frame a few questions that you think would be on the minds of people who would want to know about your nonprofit. Figure out the specific keywords which lie in the answers to these questions. Looking up their ranking could not only help your nonprofit to rank well but also drive visitors to your website.

Do your research

You could take the help of Google’s Keyword tool to expand and tweak the list of keywords that you have already listed down. For each keyword that you enter, this tool throws up more keyword ideas.

These are a few ways to choose the right keywords for your nonprofit website. Driving more visitors to your website will give a huge boost to your nonprofit fundraising.