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Allyson Kapin 5 min read

5 More Quick Steps to Better SEO (Part Two)

Last week we discussed five easy ways to improve your nonprofit website's Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This week's tips are a little more advanced, but still pretty easy to do and can have a big impact on your SEO.

 

  1. Avoid using image or flash-based navigation in your site. This will make it easier for search engines to crawl and understand your site. It's also typically easier for site visitors to use and is more accessible. This doesn't mean you have to skimp on styling your menus. Cascading Style-Sheets (CSS) and a little bit of javascript are all you need to build sophisticated menu systems.
  2. Create an XML sitemap and submit it to Google (and Yahoo too!). An XML sitemap can provide search engines with important information about your site and improve your search rankings. Many Content Management Systems can automate this process, keeping the sitemap up to date and informing search engines of the changes. Even if you don't have a Content Management System, you can still easily create a sitemap through any number of online generators.
  3. Use descriptive, succinct Alt tags for images, especially if the image is used as a link. The Alt tag is a description for an imag. By providing an informative tag, you allow search engines to glean information about the image and if it's used as a link, the alt text can be used to provide the search engine with information about the page being linked to. As we talked about last week on Frogloop, good link text is a key to search engine optimization.
  4. Check the links on your site that go to your homepage. Are they a mix of www.domain.org and www.domain.rg/index.html (or .php, or .asp, etc.)? If so you're splitting your search results and affecting your position. Make sure the links are uniform one way or the other.
  5. Use Google's Webmaster Tools to get information about your site and how people find it. The Top Search Queries tool can show you what words people are using to find your site. You can use this information to see if the terms visitors use match up with how you want to be found. If not, try editing your content to focus on the keywords that are important to you. If they do match up, good job, but they can still help you shape your content and provide a better user experience once visitors come to your site from their search results.

*This article was co-written by Jared Seltzer, Founding Partner of the web development and online communications firm Rad Campaign.

 

 

 

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Allyson Kapin

Allyson has been named one of "Top Tech Titans" by the Washingtonian, one of the Most Influential Women In Tech by Fast Company, and one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter by Forbes for her leadership role in technology and social media. As Founding Partner of Rad Campaign, she leads the firm's client and online strategic services. For over a decade Allyson has helped non-profit organizations and political campaigns create dynamic and award-winning websites and online marketing and recruitment campaigns. She works side-by-side with her clients to meet their web needs and maximize their online effectiveness to create real world impact.

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