When people search for your nonprofit on Google, do they find your website? Do your blog posts rank for the search terms you want them to rank for?
If not, it’s time to work on your SEO. Make sure each blog post is optimized with page titles and meta descriptions that match the keywords you’re trying to rank for, as well as each page and your home page.
If you are using WordPress, c level executive list the best plugin to use is Yoast SEO Manager . Yoast allows you to create an XML sitemap for Google and optimize every single post and page. It is 100% free and 100% awesome.
Fun fact: Yoast is a made-up name, derived from the name of the Dutch manufacturer Joost. If you're not Dutch, this fact might not be so funny.
yoast seo
Respect the law
Your organization and its website must comply with all applicable laws. While this is obvious, many website owners are still not fully aware of the latest GDPR data retention laws.
In short, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most significant change in privacy regulation in 20 years (source: eugdpr.org ). Every website that can be visited by people in the EU (i.e. every website on the Internet) must be GDPR compliant, even if your NGO is based elsewhere.
If you haven’t already, I suggest you read the requirements and become fully compliant with this EU data law. WPBeginner, my favorite WordPress blog, has a great article on this.
Good page
Many people who visit your website and want to learn more about your organization will go straight to your About page. Treat your About page like a large business card. It’s where people go to donate, partner with you, write about your organization, or link to one of your articles on their own website. A new trend is to add a link to your electronic business card so visitors can conveniently save your contact information and other essential information on their mobile phone.
A great About page clearly states who you are and what you do. I know, obvious, right? Yet many entrepreneurs fail to write a compelling, well-structured page for their company.
A few simple rules to follow:
Make it very obvious what you do , within the first sentence (see example below). This is not the place for corporate jargon or indirect language, unless that is what your target audience speaks.
Write a compelling story . Nobody likes to be bored, you know why? Because it’s boring. Write a compelling story. This can be your origin story or a few relevant one-sentence case studies of people or organizations you’ve helped.
Keep it short and sweet . While a compelling story is great, your About page is not the place for a 20-page essay on how the NGO came to be. You can link to multiple other pages, such as a separate origin story page or testimonials, but try to keep your About page short and sweet.
Include credentials. What has your NGO done so far? Who have you worked with? Who are the people behind it?
Use text, maybe video . People want to read, and so do search engines. That’s why I don’t recommend just putting a video on your About page. Video can be used in addition to text, but there should always be text accompanying a video (if you have one).
msf on the page
msf.org ; a good example of a clean and clear page with share buttons
Double check everything
When I build websites for my clients, I go through a lot of double, triple, and quadruple checking of everything. Here is a little checklist you can use when checking everything on your website:
Technique:
Does it look good on mobile?
Is the loading speed good?
Are any of my links broken?
If you are using a theme, is there still demo text anywhere on the site?
Are my fonts and colors consistent?
Is every page mobile-friendly?
Are all my contact forms and newsletter signup forms working?
Less technical:
Is my message clear?
Will casual visitors understand what we do within the first 3 seconds of viewing the site?
Am I getting the most out of my website traffic (capturing email addresses)?
Is the flow and navigation of my website intuitive?
Is it easy for people to contact me?
Is it easy for people to find us on social media?
Am I making it very clear how people can contribute?