SEO for non-profits can be a perfect match.  In eCommerce, it’s SEO that brings in the most revenue per dollar spent.  In branding, SEO is a long-term goal where sales may be a short-term goal.  What is the common link here? ROI.  SEO has the highest ROI (often) of any marketing channel.

Ever heard of the 80/20 rule?  It applies in SEO and it applies for non-profits.  In SEO, the first batch of work is essentially not optimization at all, it’s removing the mistakes that companies make and while it doesn’t make miracles, it’s some of the best ROI work (fixing mistakes) in the best ROI channel (SEO).  So, give the stack of superlatives, it may actually pay to do a little basic SEO for a non-profit.  The 80/2o applies to non profits because they live every day getting 80% of the effect from 20% of the resources – because that’s all the resources they have!  So, the first step is matching up the best part of SEO with the everyday pragmatism of non-profits – SEO for non-profits is first about removing mistakes on a web site.

Sometimes, an NPO already has an established, even old domain and lots of content and fixing mistakes can have a disproportionately beneficial effect.  In SEO, older is better and content is normally the hard part.  If a domain is already old and content is available, it’s like pulling a new car into a garage for repairs when all that’s missing is a spark plug.  It’s enough to make it run terribly, but not so hard to fix.  It’s rarely so extreme a case that the SEO equivalent of a spark plug will yield a site that runs like a Toyota, but you get the idea.

The second reason that SEO for non-profits can be great is that SEO takes time and non-profits usually have it.  Large SEO clients need massive impact and they’re willing to pay a lot for it.  It’s a good value for services, but way out of reach for a non-profit.  However, SEO ages well, and a trickle of work will add up to something that might be more than enough for a non-profit.  Your mileage may vary, but don’t rule it out.

PS: Non-profits web sites are usually about communicating a message and reaching a constituency.  While the need for professionalism is high, the technical demands on the site are not high (like gaming or sophisticated commerce).  This means that when a new site is in order, finding a single source to do it all (site and SEO) is helpful.  While SEO and web design are not the same thing, we do simple, clean and functional sites, including simple e-commerce and keep the bill reasonable.  The days of high prices for simple sites is over and the days of saving money by having your brother in law do a bad job were never realistic.

If you are a non-profit, give us a call.  We provide 20 minute free consultations for business – 1 hour for non-profits.  That’s just how we roll.