Revised with new information as of March 22, 2011
Marketing A Web Site: Suggestions for Nonprofits, NGOs, Government Agencies
and other Mission-Based Organizations
"If you build it, they will come" does not apply to Web sites. Marketing your Web site is as important as designing it -- how will you get people to visit your marvelous information if they don't know about it?
You need an ongoing, integrated approach: promoting the web site at a nonprofit organization, NGO, school or other mission-based organization is everyone's task, from the person who answers the phone to the executive director. The more valuable your web site is for your organization's donors, volunteers, other supporters, potential supporters, clients and the general public, the more effective your marketing efforts will be. Also, you don't just want new visitors; you want RETURN visitors.
In reading this, notice that the most effective marketing strategies for your web site actually don't have as much to spending money as they do with a mindset that must permeate your organization -- every staff member must feel ownership in the web site and see exactly how it serves not only the entire organization, but his or her department or division of work in particular.
People find a web site for a nonprofit organization for a variety of ways:
- a reference to the organization in a news article, in print or online
- a reference to the organization in an email
- a reference to the organization in an online discussion
- a reference and link to the organization on another web site, including an online social network like MySpace, FaceBook, Change.org, etc.
- pre-existing knowledge that the organization has information or a service they need (they visit the web site expecting to read about such in complete detail)
- from using certain keywords in a search engine relating to the mission statement, services, or name of the organization.
They come back to a web site because they find the information they need, and they know that new information is going to be added to make a return visit worthwhile. There are a number of ways to prompt people to return to your site -- more on that in a moment.
Offline Marketing
Offline marketing of your web site is JUST AS IMPORTANT as online marketing of your site:
- Add your web site address to all literature and publications (business cards, letter head, newsletters, fax cover sheets, etc.) right next to your organization's "snail mail" address and phone number.
- Announce the launch of you site, as well as major changes to your site (such as the addition of a directory of services, an essay from an executive director, etc.), in your printed newsletter. Your goal is to have something in every newsletter that highlights additions or a resource on your Web site.
- Make sure everyone who answers your organization's main phone line and email address, and everyone who deals with the public in any way, shape or form, as well as your Executive Director, marketing staff, fund raising staff and volunteer manager (and at a mission-based organization, this is often all the same person) knows how to say the web site address, and knows what information is available via the Web site. It is particularly hurtful to an organization if all staff cannot do this and, instead, stumble over the URL of the site, or can't describe what's on the site.
- Add the web site address to your organization's main voice mail message.
- If you write an article for a publication, ask that your organization's web site address appears with your name or bio at the beginning or end of the article.
- When talking to the press, remember to mention your web site address.
- Add your web site address within the text of all press releases. For instance, on a press release announcing a new publication, add a paragraph that says (if applicable) "This new publication can be accessed via our Web site at... "
- Your web site address needs to be on all t-shirts, posters, buttons and other items given to the public. Make the address LARGE and easy-to-read from a distance! (I cannot believe how many nonprofit event t-shirts DON'T do this!)
- Put the web site address on all signs for the organization: the sign in front of the building where you are houses, the banner at trade show, etc.
Online Marketing
More than half of a charity's ranking on Web search engines is based on links outside the organization's site, according Eric Werner, an interactive marketing specialist at Northridge Interactive, speaking at the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference, who noted, "Search engines treat those links like votes." In addition, 22 percent of a web page's ranking on search engines like Google and Bing is based on the words in the hyperlink—on both the group's own site and others. These two facts were true 15 years ago and they are true now! Therefore:
- Make sure the name of your organization appears in the TEXT of your web site, not just within a graphics file. This greatly increases the possibility of your site being found when someone types your organization's name into a search engine.
- Make sure the keywords and phrases you want people to use to find your web site via a search engine appear often in the TEXT of your web site, not just within a graphics file. Again, this greatly increases the possibility of your site being found when someone types your organization's name into a search engine.
- Search for organizations on the web that are similar to yours, and see what sites link to them. Send an email to the web masters of these sites that you think should link to your organization as well, and request what specific page(s) of theirs you would like to be linked from. The more sites that link to your web site, the greater your ranking on sites like Google.
Keep your requests appropriate: if you find a web page that links to services in a specific geographic area for parents, for instance, don't ask for a link from that page unless your organization provides services in that specific geographic area for parents! Also, do NOT ask for link exchanges; that puts you into the position of linking to any organization that links to you, and perhaps you don't want to link to just any organization. Instead, in your request for a link, explain why it would be appropriate to link to your site, based on to whom the site links to already. If you are going to link to their web site as well, do not make such a link conditional on their linking to you, and create the link before you ask for such yourself.
- List your URL address in every email signature on every email your staff sends, and require staff to post the web site address within any post they make to any online fora.
- Announce the web site on appropriate online discussion group (however, please remember your netiquette and don't announce it on online discussion groups that in no way relate to your organization). Any search engine can help you find appropriate online discussion groups.
- Encourage your staff to regularly participate in relevant online discussion groups to offer relevant answers to queries; this activity will build a reputation for your organization and its Web site as a valuable resource. Don't just post announcements about yourself and your organization; be a member of the online community and help others out. It will greatly increase your organization's reputation and visibility -- and, if you include your web address in every post you make, will drive more traffic to your site. More advice here about online communities.
- Ask your volunteers to link to your web site via their own personal web sites and profiles on Online Social Networking sites like LinkedIn or MySpace (with some cautions to keep in mind.
- When you've made a major change or addition to your site (a homeless shelter adds all of the data of its printed service directory to its Web site, for instance), send out a press release and post on appropriate newsgroups and lists. You may even want to do a special mailing to your clientele, if they will find the information particularly valuable.
Monitor, if you can (via tracking software, online questionnaires, etc.), the number and type of people visiting your site, what pages they are visiting most (other than the home page), what days of the week or month most people are visiting, what they find most valuable, etc. This can help you see how successful your marketing efforts are, and where adjustments need to be made.
Keep Visitors Coming Back
Don't just market to new visitors; market to return visitors as well! There are a number of ways to do this:
- Update your web site at least once a month!
- Make sure ALL departments are using the web site to communicate. Not just the marketing staff but, also, your volunteer manager, anyone who works with clients, your fund-raising staff, etc.
- Have a place on the home page for announcements, upcoming events, links to blog updates, etc., so that a visitor to the home page can immediately see what's new.
- Create a subscription-based email newsletter to promote updates to your web site.
- Create a way to allow people to receive updates about your web site via their RSS readers. For instance, you could create a blog at a free site like posterous (it's what I use for my blog) that you use only to announce events, new services, updates to your web site, etc., and then link these announcements to appropriate places on your web site. Then, anyone who wants to can put your web site announcement blog into their RSS reader, and automatically receive updates whenever you post such (the RSS feed address for the Jayne Blog: is
http://coyoteblog.posterous.com/rss.xml).
The key to successful Internet marketing is to accept that it is a never-ending, integrated process. New web sites and online discussion groups emerge and disappear regularly. You need to track with regular searches new sites with whom to link and new lists on which to announce your organization and its service. To market efficiently and effectively online your entire staff has to immerse itself, at least to some degree, in using the Internet regularly as part of their work.
Other resources from Jayne Cravens and Coyote Communications:
- Promoting Your Nonprofit Online
Advice that goes well beyond just Web sites -- it talks about email, online communities, podcasts, webcasts, and more.
- Don't Just Ask for Money!
Something much more should happen if someone clicks on your web site's "Help Us" link than a message that asks only for money.
- Mission-Based Groups Need Use the Web to Show Accountability
There has never been a better time for mission-based organizations to use technology to show their transparency and credibility, and to teach the media and general public about the resources needed to address critical human and environmental needs.
- Handling Online Criticism
Online criticism of a nonprofit organization, even by its own supporters, is inevitable. How a nonprofit organization handles online criticism speaks volumes about that organization, for weeks, months, and maybe even years to come. There's no way to avoid it, but there are ways to address criticism that can help an organization to be perceived as even more trustworthy and worth supporting.
- Is Your Staff "Walking the Talk" Re: Your Organization's Online Activities?
Mission-based organizations use the Internet in all sorts of ways to interact with the public, or with staff and volunteers abroad: for instance, online discussion groups, an intranet where staff and volunteers can share profiles about themselves and updates about their work with each other, or an online service that is promoted as central to the organization's mission and identity. But is your staff showing leadership in using these online tools? If your organization is to use technology successfully, all staff must embrace it. Here are tips on how to encourage that.
- Online culture and online community
This section of my site provides many ideas and resources on how to work with others online, in language that's easy to understand for those considering or just getting started in using online technologies with volunteers, donors and other supporters.
- What are good blog topics for mission-based organizations?
The word "blog" is short for "web log", and means keeping a journal or diary online. Blogging is NOT a new concept -- people have been doing it long before it had a snazzy media label. The appeal of blogging for an online audience is that it's more personal and less formal than other information on a web site. Readers who want to connect with an organization on a more personal level, or who are more intensely interested in an organization than the perhaps general public as a whole, love blogs. Blogs can come from your Executive Director, other staff members, volunteers, and even those you serve. Content options are many, and this list reviews some of your options.
- For Nonprofits Considering Their Own Podcasts:
Why It's Worth Exploring, and Content Considerations
I present my first podcast about... podcasts (transcript included). Specifically, I talk about how podcasts can be used by nonprofits, and just how easy it is to do.
Other resources from other web sites:
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