Chances are, your nonprofit will spend a lot of time and/or money on your website. What’s the point of all that if your nonprofit’s website isn’t actually getting the amount of traffic you want?
Of course, not all website traffic is created equal. A thousand people spending 3 seconds on your site is unlikely to be worth the same to you as getting 5 donors. But you need to be generating traffic first to know how to optimize for conversions.
These methods can get the top of your funnel going.
Use The Google Ad Grant
If used well, this can generate several thousand clicks per month. That’s right, thousands. If you really want more clicks and haven’t tried the Google Ad Grant, you need to think about that step ASAP. Contact us if you need help with your application.
Leverage Social Media
Social media is no longer if you build it, they will come. You need to work at it. You may even need to spend money on social media marketing. Your nonprofit also needs quality visuals and this can be done fairly easily nowadays with a tool like Canva.
Focus on optimizing 1 channel for driving more traffic to your website. See how many visitors you get after a month. Keep in mind that like website visitors, not all social media metrics were created equal.
Work On Public Relations
There are many journalists looking for stories. If your nonprofit has good stories to share – and it should if you look hard enough – you can find the right journalists.
Search for local journalists first. They can even help promote an event if you inspire them enough. Some effort on PR can go a long way if a story takes off.
If you’re looking for a place to start and don’t want to hire a PR firm, try signing up for HARO. There, you can help real reporters answer questions and find information for stories – potentially about your nonprofit.
On top of getting people to come from the articles, quality backlinks from media websites can be a boost for search engine optimization.
Optimize Your Website
Speaking of search engine optimization, how good is your website? What’s the point of getting more people to the site, if they’re just going to leave immediately?
Check your website health with these free tools. Dive into your Google Analytics to see how people are already coming to their site and what they’re doing.
If you do a good job with improving the user experience, the search engines will likely reward you with more visitors.
Write Content Your Ideal Audience Wants To Read
It’s hard to make the most of social media or search engines for that matter if you do not have good content. Do you regularly post on a blog? Do you have helpful resources on your site?
Good content can essentially promote itself if you get it to the right channels. And make sure you have excellent titles.
Partner With Other Organizations
Keep in mind you don’t just have to post on your website. You can try to guest blog on other sites. You could also try to do a joint webinar with another organization who has an audience you want to reach.
Find out where your ideal audience hangs out online, think of content that would appeal to them and make a pitch to a potential partner with access to that audience.
Don’t Forget About Your Nonprofit’s Email List
Writing consistent and engaging newsletters can drive more traffic to your site. Link back to news or important pages on your website.
How To Get More Traffic To Your Nonprofit Website – Conclusion
There are many ways to drive traffic to your nonprofit’s website. Yes, you do need to make sure the user experience on your website is solid and well though-out. But your website won’t market itself.
The above strategies can help get more people to your site. If you see an option that makes sense for your nonprofit, don’t wait. Start with one way to increase traffic and optimize from there.
And if you need help choosing where to focus, we offer a free digital evaluation call for nonprofits. We’ll take a look at your website and help you focus your marketing efforts on getting your nonprofit’s inspiring cause in front of the right people.