Non-profit organisations can be tax-privileged. However, this does not mean that an NPO is easier to run than a profit enterprise. This is because foundations, associations, NPOs or social enterprises are also in competition: among other things, for donors and donations, purpose fulfilment, personnel. This also means competition for information sovereignty.
It is therefore essential for NPOs to optimise the organisation's website editorially and technically so that they are listed as high as possible within the unpaid (organic) Google search and are thus found quickly. In search engine optimisation, a distinction is made between editorial and technical onpage optimisation on one's own website and offpage optimisation, i.e. the optimal presentation of the website on the web.
Editorial Onpage Optimisation
The basis is formed by the keywords or keyword combinations for the website content that is to be found by the target group. Popular tools for keyword research are Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, Google Suggest or Google's Autocomplete function. The most important elements of editorial onpage optimisation are:
- Page title: Page heading, always visible, reference to web page
- Description Tag: Summary of web page, description of page in Google search
- Article headings: size H1-H3, H1 = main heading, H2 = subheadings
- Texts and keywords: in titles, headings, text beginnings, links, bulleted lists
- URL designation: relevant text, display in search results
- Images: Image-related info in ALT tag, findability in Google search
Technical Onpage Optimisation
Technical optimisations cannot be carried out in the content management system (CMS). This requires an IT specialist. The following indicators are decisive here:
- Website performance: speed test website using Google tools
- Internal linking: link all web pages with a thematic reference to each other.
- Link position: importance of website areas (priority: centre, left and right, footer)
- Mobile websites: optimised for mobile devices, Responsive Design
Offpage optimisation
Optimisation measures that affect the website indirectly can be carried out primarily in the links and through activities in social media. They relate to the following factors:
- Indexing: Indexing of all web pages in Google with the help of Google Webmaster Tools.
- Page Rank: Relevance & importance website, scale 0-10, basis: backlinks, tool: PR Checker
- Link evaluation: number & quality of links, topic relevance, high-quality sources, tool: Backlink Test
- Link building: natural and continuous increase of total links on website
- Social media: presence and dialogue e.g. on facebook, google+, twitter, blog, etc.
Conclusion
Search engines are constantly evolving. Websites must take this into account. Search engine optimisation is a continuous task. Google's algorithm updates must always be kept in mind. This costs time, but is also worthwhile. NPOs can analyse their keywords and optimise them in the texts. Technically, the website should always be up to date and optimised for mobile devices. In this context in particular, standing still means taking a step backwards.
Martin Waldau
Project Manager Digital Media
University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland
University of Applied Sciences
[email protected]
