NPOs need to know SEO

While crafting interview questions for a new position at TSNE, the online communications associate, I added a question asking candidates how much experience they had with SEO (search engine optimization). Of course, SEO means, according to Wikipedia, the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to your website from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic“) search results for targeted keywords.

Some of my colleagues were concerned that otherwise qualified candidates might not know what SEO is. For me, if a person applying for an online communications position at a nonprofit doesn’t know what SEO is, they are not an appropriate candidate.

SEO is a term with which communications professionals at nonprofit organizations (npo) need to familiarize staff in every department. Considering SEO is a vital part at each stage of website creation and maintenance, you want your program staff to understand the importance of keyword-rich content, title and header tags, submitting your site to directories, and blogging.

You want staff at your nonprofit also on board with thinking about links to other appropriate sites and asking colleagues for links in return.

Many for-profits think strategically about SEO. Many groups who would reduce the gains that communities have made in working together for the common good are also very strategic about their website’s SEO.

Let’s make sure that nonprofits working to fulfill the needs of residents and advance the rights of every person also are thinking about making sure their website comes out at the top of search engine rankings.

You may have wonderful programs and services and a crack team of program and other staff working on the issues your nonprofit strives to advance. But if the world can’t find you and learn and about the issues through your website (the Web is where most folks get their info today), your effectiveness is compromised.

When all staff at your organization think about how you go about optimizing your site and improving rankings, you will elevate the conversation about social issues, build stronger communities, and help those in need exponentially faster and better.

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