SEO Audit Guide for Charities & Nonprofits

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The world of digital marketing is an ever-changing landscape, and non-profit organizations have unique challenges and opportunities. It can be even more complex for charities who need to make every penny count.

By harnessing the power of SEO, charities can significantly increase their organic traffic, visibility, and engagement rates in sustainable and cost-effective ways.

So, let’s explore how to effectively conduct an SEO audit for charity to boost organic traffic.

What is an SEO Audit for Charities?

An SEO audit is a systematic examination of your website's search engine optimization performance. It helps identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.

While the fundamental principles of SEO audits are similar across different sectors, there are certain nuances that apply specifically to charities and nonprofits.

SEO for nonprofits aims not only to drive traffic but to attract the right kind of traffic—people who care about your cause and are likely to engage, donate, or volunteer.

This means focusing on keywords related to your mission and ensuring your content resonates deeply with your target audience.

An SEO audit helps you align your website's structure, content, and backend settings to better serve these goals.

Why is SEO Essential for Charities and Nonprofits?

SEO isn't just for big businesses. Charities and nonprofits need to utilize SEO just as much as commercial organizations - if not more.

As the competition for donors' attention and resources increases, it becomes crucial to ensure your organization shows up in relevant online searches. SEO can help you achieve that.

With a robust SEO strategy, your charity can enhance its online visibility, improving the chances of reaching more potential donors and volunteers.

A comprehensive SEO audit is the first step towards building such a beneficial strategy. It enables you to examine your website's current SEO status, identify areas that need improvement, and implement necessary changes to optimize your site, all of which contribute to boosting organic traffic.

Key Factors	Charities	Commercial Websites
Content Goals	The primary focus is on storytelling, raising awareness, and encouraging action (donations, volunteering).	The focus is more on conversion, whether that's sales, sign-ups, or lead generation.
Keywords	Keywords often revolve around social issues, community service, and philanthropy.	Keywords are usually more product or service-oriented.
User Engagement	Engagement metrics like time spent on site reading about initiatives or impact stories are critical.	User engagement is often measured in terms of product pages viewed, items added to cart, and eventual purchases.
Link Building	Partnerships and backlinks often come from educational sites, government pages, and other nonprofits.	Backlinks might come from industry outlets, review sites, or affiliate marketers.

How to Perform an SEO Audit for Charity - Full Checklist

Conducting an SEO audit might seem daunting, but breaking it down into manageable steps makes the process more approachable.

Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Ensure Full Site Indexing

Verify that all important pages are indexed by search engines. Use the Coverage report in Google Search Console to identify any pages that are excluded.
Submit a sitemap to help search engines understand your site’s structure and prioritize indexing important pages.

Optimize Site Speed

Site speed is critical for user experience and SEO. Use tools like SEOmator’s Free Website Speed Test Tool to identify areas for improvement.
Implement fixes such as image compression, minifying CSS and JavaScript, and leveraging browser caching to speed up your site.

Encrypt Your Site

Security is a ranking factor for Google. Ensure your site has HTTPS encryption by installing an SSL certificate.
Use tools like Qualys SSL Labs to test and validate your SSL certificate’s strength and correct implementation.

Check Mobile Friendliness

A significant portion of user traffic comes from mobile devices. Use SEOmator’s Free Mobile Friendly Test to ensure your site is accessible and user-friendly on mobile devices.
Fix any issues related to mobile usability, such as font sizes, button placements, or viewport settings.

Compare Your Site to Competitors

Identify top-performing charity sites in your niche and analyze their SEO strategies.
Use competitive analysis tools to understand where they excel and where you might outperform them.

Analyze Backlinks

Use SEOmator’s Free Backlink Checker Tool to analyze your backlink profile.
Focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from relevant sources like other nonprofits, educational institutions, or reputable news websites.

Implement Good Internal Linking

Identify broken links using tools like Google Search Console.
Update or redirect these links to maintain a seamless user experience and retain link equity.

Use a logical internal linking structure to make your site more navigable.
Ensure that important pages are easily accessible from the main navigation or homepage.

🔎 See also: How to Find Internal Links to a Page

Create Content That Actually Serves A Search Query

Identify the common questions and concerns of your target audience.
Develop content that provides clear, concise, and valuable answers, ensuring it aligns with the search intent behind relevant keywords.

Beef Out Thin Content

Identify pages with thin content (less than 300 words) and expand them with valuable information.
Focus on providing in-depth insights, statistics, and actionable advice to offer more value to your readers.

Review and Fix H1s

Ensure every page has a unique H1 tag.
H1s should clearly reflect the primary keyword or phrase related to the page content.
Avoid using the same H1 across multiple pages to prevent keyword cannibalization.

Stop Using Jargon

Avoid using technical terms and jargon that might alienate your audience.
Aim for clear, straightforward language that is accessible to all readers, regardless of their level of expertise.

Set a Meta Description for Every Page

Craft compelling meta descriptions that accurately reflect the content of each page.
Include target keywords naturally and encourage clicks with actionable language.

Add Alt Text to All Images

Ensure all images have descriptive alt text that includes relevant keywords.
This not only enhances accessibility but also improves your site’s SEO.

Deploy the Topic Clusters Strategy

Organize your content into clusters around central themes or topics.
Use pillar pages linking to related sub-topic pages to improve topical relevance and internal linking.

Resolve Duplicate Content Issues

Use canonical tags to designate the preferred version of duplicate content pages.
Consolidate similar pages and redirect outdated or redundant ones.

Encourage Online Reviews

Ask your supporters to leave positive reviews on Google Business Profile or social media platforms.
Positive reviews not only build trust but also improve your local SEO.

🔎 See also: Can You Remove a Google Review?

Leverage Multilingual SEO

If your charity serves multiple linguistic communities, create content in relevant languages to reach a broader audience.
Use hreflang tags to indicate language and regional targeting to search engines.

Use Local SEO

Optimize your Google Business Profile listing with accurate information and relevant keywords.
Encourage satisfied supporters to leave reviews.
Use local keywords in your content and metadata to improve local search ranking.

Produce Social Media Content

Engage your audience on social media platforms by sharing impactful stories, updates, and interactive content.
Social signals indirectly influence SEO by driving traffic and engagement.

Final Thoughts

Conducting an SEO audit is a vital step toward boosting your charity’s online visibility and engagement.

By following the structured approach outlined in this guide, you'll be well-equipped to optimize your site and achieve sustainable growth.

However, SEO is not a one-time effort but an ongoing process. Regular audits, continuous optimization, and staying updated with the latest SEO trends will ensure your charity remains competitive and continues to make a positive impact!

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