Link Building for Charities

It might be tough to define the most critical aspects of your charity’s digital marketing plan.

Should you prioritize content, advertisements, social media, build backlinks, organic SEO, or something else entirely?

Include link building on your digital marketing strategy if you want to expand your site’s reach and improve your online reputation.

 

The Importance of a Link Building Strategy

Google’s ranking system takes backlinks into account. Natural, high-quality backlinks—as opposed to paid links—assist in improving your page’s rating.

Why? Because Google favours material that is both readable and shared.

It seeks to deliver the best answers to its users’ inquiries. If a website has relevant links to it, it’s safe to assume that the content on the site is of high quality.

But it’s not simply the connections you’re looking for. Since referral traffic is one of the most powerful conversion drivers, making sure your link appears alongside your name on relevant websites has the potential to help you get more customers.

 

Building Links for Charity

Link building will always be a difficult task, but it is critical to do it correctly to improve organic search results.

Fortunately for charities, you have several advantages that your average business does not.

 

Authenticity

SEO is a good approach for charities because people trust charities and are less hesitant to link to them than a company. They typically garner quality backlinks and build domain authority.

 

Uplift Local Charities

The majority of the charity you’ll work with on a tactical level will be local. The biggest non-profit organizations are national organizations, but they also get around $500 million in non-government donations and don’t need the services of a local SEO expert.

 

Open Doors of Communication

Charities rely on fundraising to stay afloat, yet they’re always using their non-profit status to acquire anything for free or cheap.

This may be attested to by any company owner who has provided bids to a charity. This implies they’ll be receptive to suggestions, and you’ll be able to get your foot in the door quickly.

They aren’t doormats, and they don’t want to be link farms, so you’ll need to be inventive and subtle while pitching them.

 

Working for a Good Cause

Let’s not forget that they’re a noble cause that wants to make the world a better place. Supporting them helps them achieve their purpose, which is a positive thing.

When it comes to link building, profit-driven organizations confront many challenges since everyone knows they’re trying to make money or have a hidden agenda.

Not to mention that they are likely competing with many of the major websites in their industry. Even when they have awesome content or an incredible product, all of this makes it very tough.

 

What Should Your Non-profit Link Building Strategy Include?

There are some things you should do when launching a link-building strategy for your organization. Make sure to incorporate these crucial elements in your approach to expanding your website’s internet reach.

 

Obtaining Links from Other Sites

Networking is an essential aspect of any charity’s success, and most organizations that succeed in this area have many associates.

It’s also conceivable that a significant number of these affiliates will rank high on search engines.

Since many local charities collaborate with colleges, local businesses and government programs, there’s a good possibility you’ll obtain some pretty powerful connections from the.edu and.gov domains.

Most business sites that work with a charity are typically proud of it, so getting a link from them shouldn’t be difficult. All of this is fantastic news for the SEO community.

 

Create Unique Blog Posts

When it comes to establishing your online reputation with Google, content is critical. As a result, adding a blog to your site is a vital aspect of your link-building plan that you can start right now.

Alternatively, if your blog hasn’t been updated in months or years, now is the time to start adding fresh material!

Your content can market when you seek out people for backlinks. Other websites are more likely to connect to you if your material is valuable to them.

Feature it on your blog and tell others about it if you’re a leader for your cause.

 

Use Social Media

Facebook groups, Twitter accounts, and social bookmarking are excellent ways to publicize your fundraising efforts.

Social media can help you get the word out to your whole network and beyond if you’re planning a sponsored walk, marathon, or skydive.

People seem more ready and upfront to share a link or post related to a charity event or fundraising campaign, just as they are with PR.

I’d start by creating a Facebook page with all pertinent information and then urging everyone to share it as much as possible.

 

Utilize Your Local Search Engine

When it comes to link building, ensuring your local presence is up to spec is critical for locally located NGOs inside a town.

This involves claiming your Google My Business page and providing your company shows on local listing sites like Yelp (which is free to claim and incredibly valuable).

Local organizations value user-generated material and evaluations, so community resources such as local directories and even the local chamber of commerce may be invaluable to your charity.

Improving your local presence can help you increase your domain authority and, as a result, appear more often in SERPs, particularly for local queries.

 

Outbound Links

The next step is to go through all the outbound links on the contribution page. You don’t have to sit there counting them; a visual assessment should suffice.

Donation pages with too many outbound links on a single page risk weakening their page authority. When you look at the list of donations over the previous two years, you’ll see that there are no linkages at all.

Instead of businesses exploiting this to develop backlinks, it seems that the great majority of these donors are just individuals who appreciate the website.

In this situation, check to see whether the site would accept a gift made in your company’s name or if you’ll have to use your name. It’s not worth it if they won’t let your company donate and receive credit.

So if they agree to connect to your website for a contribution, this is generally okay.

It all relies on the authority of the page. If you’re looking at a low-authority website with hundreds of outbound connections, I’d avoid it and seek another choice. On the other hand, if a page with hundreds of outbound connections has a high authority, there should be enough link juice to go around.

 

Give Back to the Community

If your company hasn’t done any charitable work yet, I strongly advise you to do so, but only if you’re doing it for the right reasons.

Although backlinks are essential, making a difference in your community is much better for your business, image, and, maybe most importantly, your heart.

While giving should be at the heart of all charitable endeavours, there’s no disputing that there are methods to use the good you do in your community to promote your company.

 

Summary

By now, you know that link building is vital for your charity’s digital marketing plan, and it’s not as simple as you might have thought before.

An effective SEO strategy that gives you the connections you’re looking for and the referral traffic your site needs makes your charity more visible, allowing it to stand out and reach a broader audience.

Link building can make or break your site, and this is why it’s better to have it done with professionals that offer personalized and all-encompassing services; professionals who understand that it takes relationship-building, know-how, and hard and smart work that takes time to get right.

If you need help with figuring out the details and executing your strategy, contact us, and we’ll get it done the right way.