5 Quick Steps to Better SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a key part of managing and marketing your nonprofits website. While many strategists throw around SEO terms that can make your head spin, don't worry, it's not really rocket science. In fact there are several simple things you can do to improve your site's SEO. Here's are 5 tips to get you started:

1. Make sure that every page in your site has a unique, relevant title in the page's html title tags. For example, don't just list your website name or even "About Us" - instead use "About Name of Organization Here". This text will appear in search engine results and will help tell both the search engine and users what the page is about. It's also a good usability practice.
2. Use the description meta tag. Now that you've got a user intrigued with your page title, they want a little bit more information before they click through, that's where the description meta tag comes in. By giving each page in your website a unique, useful description of the page content, you make it easier for a user to decide whether or not to click through. The description will usually be shown right below the page title in search results. I say "usually" because Google, for instance, may choose to show another piece of content that its algorithm thinks is more relevant. But most of the time you'll see your description. On large sites, this can quickly become a chore, but if your website is on a Content Management System (CMS) many of them have utilities or plug-ins that will generate a description for you (sometimes as simply as using the first paragraph of text as the description).
3. Use heading tags in your content. Heading tags (h1 to h6) are great ways to organize your content and provide search engines clues as to what are the key points in your content (not to mention users actually reading your content). If your organization uses a CMS you've probably seen a drop-down list that starts off with "Format" and then lists a few things including heading 1, heading 2, etc. Use it. If it doesn't size or color the text the way you want, have your web developer style them. Don't use the font size or font color buttons - you'll waste an excellent opportunity to improve your SEO.
4. Use descriptive link text. When you're adding a link, don't just link words like "click here", instead link something like "click here to read this article about...". This text tells both search engines and users something about the page being linked to.
5. Update your content regularly. Search engines love fresh content. While you don't necessarily have to constantly create new pages or blog posts (though it's great if you can) updating the pages you have with fresh information or adding new pieces can help a great deal.

Check out part 2 on our series on Search Engine Optimization. What are some of your SEO tips?

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