Many charities across the UK are doing wonderful work for the local community, as well as for others in need across the globe. Whether their aim is to raise money to help, gather volunteers for events or just educate others on what is going on, charities have an important role to play in progression and advancement.
But, if you are in charge of a charity, you know that it is not always easy to get the word out about your actions. In particular, if you are a new charity or the wider public is not aware of your work, it can be difficult to gather donations and volunteers. Well, this is where search engine optimisation comes in and can help you in the digital world. Let’s take a look at five reasons why charities in the UK should prioritise SEO this year.
To Increase Donations
Most charities rely on donations in order to do great work. This means that you have to make sure people can find you and understand what your charity is all about. In the digital era, you have to ensure that you are visible online. This is going to be how most people discover new charities and what they are doing. If you are not visible on Google, you are going to be struggling to attract the type of donations you want.
So, this is where SEO is going to help you. Search engine optimisation is all about increasing your visibility online and ensuring the right people can find you. This includes using particular strategies to get you on the first page. Over time, using the right SEO strategy will lead to more traffic and increase the donations you receive. Some say that it pays for itself.
To Raise Awareness
If you are a new or small charity, perhaps the public is unaware of what you do and what you would like to achieve. Therefore, this could be a reason that you are struggling for donations and volunteers for events. Raising awareness is difficult because people live such busy lives. For example, people do not want to be stopped in the street and told about a charity.
But this is the good thing about SEO. You can appear naturally in search engine results when people are looking for similar things. You can boost your visibility and this is going to help with raising awareness. Of course, when people are aware of your mission and what you are all about, they are more likely to get involved in some way.
To Gain More Volunteers
Do you rely on volunteers in order to run events and to help the animals or people involved with your charity? This is very common and it means that volunteers are often the key to success within an organisation. But, it can be difficult to find new volunteers and people that are able to spend a lot of time helping out. As a result, your charity can go through difficult times and it can be hard to pull through.
SEO is a way that you can gain more volunteers. When you appear on the first page of Google, more people are going to discover your charity. You can appear in searches for volunteer opportunities and people will know that you are looking for help. They are more likely to take a look and see what you need.
To Run More Events
Perhaps you have big plans for the future and events you want to run to raise awareness and gather donations for your charity. But, in order for an event to be successful, you need to ensure that people hear about it and join in. Most people find out about events in their area via social media or the internet. So, this is where you have to be if you want to run more events in the future.
Optimising your website is going to allow your events to appear on the internet more visibly. You can get the word out about the events you are running and how people are able to join in with them. Of course, the more people that hear about the events, the more publicity you can enjoy, as well as donations.
To Secure Your Future
Let’s not forget that most charities want to be around for the long run. In other words, they do not just want to make an impact for a few months. They want to continue fundraising and to do good for years to come. The truth is, unless you are getting donations regularly and doing events and fundraising, this is not going to happen. Charities have to work hard to keep going.
SEO is a good investment for the future. It allows everyone to keep in the loop with what you are doing, as well as enables new people to discover you.
