A Nonprofit Web Design Guide to Turning Visitors into Donors

Do Nonprofits Need SEO?

Yes. Every company, even more so nonprofits, needs a strong online presence, and search engine optimisation (SEO) provides the highest returns on investment. SEO is the process of optimising websites to increase organic visibility in search results. In the case of nonprofits, this involves utilising keywords related to topics like education, fundraising opportunities, volunteer opportunities, or other aspects that promote common non-governmental organisation (NGO) goals.

By increasing your website’s organic visibility, you also increase the visibility of your nonprofit’s mission and what you stand for as a group while growing your brand awareness. By using SEO to raise your website’s search result rankings, you also bring more traffic to your site, convert more visitors, and, most importantly, increase the number of donations.

How to do SEO for an NGO?

Optimising your nonprofit website for search intent is simple enough for most NGOs. Here’s how you can optimise your site for SEO:

1. Conduct keyword research: Find keywords targeted towards nonprofits, such as “donate” or “nonprofit”.
2. Regularly create SEO content relevant to nonprofits: High-quality content is necessary for keeping your website high in the search rankings. Most importantly, your site should be kept up-to-date and relevant with new content.
3. Optimise for users and Google: Your website should be attractive to users and Google bots. This includes boosting web page loading speed, optimising for mobile friendliness, including meta tags, and linking internally.
4. Optimise for local SEO: Many NGOs operate locally or regionally. As such, it is good to optimise your website to rank highly in the local SEO lists.
5. Perform link building: Backlinks (links that point from other websites to your nonprofit site) can help improve your website’s relevance, making them important for SEO. However, it is equally important to consider the reputation of the websites you’re linking. The more relevant and trustworthy a web page is, the more likely it is to rank higher in the SEO lists.

Remember, SEO optimisation is a long-term project. Your website must be regularly updated with relevant content to maintain its ranking in search engine results.

Excellent Web Design for Nonprofit Organisations: Tips and Best Practices

Now that you’ve familiarised yourself with the importance of SEO and web design for a nonprofit, here are some tips and best practices to help you create a professional and user-friendly website that brings in traffic and boosts your search result rankings. Also included are some nonprofit web design examples for you to take a few inspirations from:

1. Navigational Tips

   Provide easy navigation

   Newcomers should be able to navigate your website with as few clicks as possible. Making your web pages easily navigable is not just a common courtesy; it's a necessity.

   • Make your navigation options clear and intuitive. This means avoiding jargon or abbreviations.
   • Use conventional navigation titles that users expect,. such as “About Us” or “Contact Us”.
   • Don’t overcrowd your navigation bar with too many options.Start with broad topics and use a dropdown menu if needed.

   Use a visual hierarchy to guide visitors

   One of the easiest ways to make your website easily navigable is to implement a clear visual hierarchy. Clever and efficient use of colours, tone, fonts, and layouts will guide newcomers to important pages like the “About Us” section.

   Example: To promote its Aren Palm Sugar drink, the Tealive website implores readers to scroll down the page, “Flipping” a cup of the drink in the process. This feeds into visitors’ curiosity, prompting them to continue scrolling down in order to learn more about Tealive’s other offerings.

   Link internally

   One of the most common SEO best practices is to include internal links, which are links to a page with related content from within your website. For example, you may link to the donation page from a blog post or a specific service page from your mission page. Internal linking helps improve the overall user experience and makes navigation easier while also boosting page views and time spent on your website.

2. Layout Tips

   Use compelling imagery

   Strong visuals and graphics will help bring your nonprofit’s mission to life. Use custom photos to highlight your organisation’s impact, including the work you do, the communities you support and your dedicated team. These images will complement your storytelling and help potential supporters relate to your cause.

   Example: The Mind is a platform for sharing information and resources on mental health. BikeBear utilised a variety of different visuals, graphics and imagery to invoke a sense of comfort and connection, assuring visitors that they are not alone in their mental issues.

Keep things clutter-free

Sometimes, simplicity is best. Including too many things on a single page will only confuse visitors and make navigation difficult. All you really need is an eye-catching headline that immediately answers users’ questions, text that concisely explains your NGO and its mission in as few words as possible, a few strong visuals to keep users’ attention and some Call to Action (CTA)-format buttons to guide visitors to other pages for more information.

3. Accessibility

   Optimise for mobile friendliness

   Mobile optimisation is an increasingly vital part of SEO. After all, a majority of users today will likely be using their phone or tablet to check up on websites.

   One way you can optimise mobile friendliness is to design your nonprofit website to fit within a smartphone or tablet screen. This will provide optimal viewing for mobile users, simultaneously enhancing their satisfaction and ranking your site higher in the search results.

   Boost your page speed

   Page speed is a crucial element in SEO. If your web pages take too long to load, users will become irritated, and Google bots may skip your site. The ideal page load time is three seconds, so you should optimise your website to meet that requirement. Some useful tricks include compressing image files to make them easier to load, and using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare to boost page speeds.

   Make donating online easy

   Increasing online donations will likely be one of your main goals for improving your nonprofit’s web design. Our world is becoming increasingly fast-paced. If you can buy something online quickly, we expect donating to be just smooth and fast.

   Here’s how you can make online donations a breeze for your visitors:

   • Link to your donation page with an easy-to-find Call-to-action button. . Use different colours or fonts to make it stand out.
   • Make your donation form simple and to the point.Important information like mailing addresses and phone numbers should be included, but the last thing you want is to bog down your donors with irrelevant information.
   • Keep the donation page on your website.Users may be suspicious of being directed to a new page. Fortunately, most donation platforms will enable you to brand the donation page, blending it seamlessly with the rest of your site. Be sure to find a platform with that feature.

4. Website Content

   Include a blog

   Adding a blog to your nonprofit website is an excellent way to increase traffic (both through SEO and by giving visitors more content to share via social media and email).

   It also provides a space to share stories of your NGO’s impact, can help establish your organisation and staff as thought leaders, and even optimise fundraising through the seamless use of a fundraiser ask (with links to the donation page) in the text.

   Tell an engaging story

   Storytelling is not just a clever means of grabbing attention; it's a crucial element in establishing a strong emotional connection with your website visitors. Share the stories of those you’re helping, whether it's a community without access to clean drinking water or abandoned pets. Then, end things off on a high note by showing how your nonprofit has changed their lives for the better.

   Maintain a consistent brand image

   In addition to how your website looks and feels, you must also ensure its consistency. By maintaining a uniform style, colour palette, tone and structure, users will know what to expect no matter what page they’re on. Additionally, having consistent and high-quality branding gives your site and organisation credibility and a sense of professionalism.

   Example: Cosmic Cookware utilises a cool yet cosy colour palette to invoke a sense of at-home comfort, in keeping with the brand’s goal of bringing joy to shoppers’ homes and promoting the ‘hygge’ lifestyle.

   Create a members-only area

   As an NGO, a majority of your revenue is likely to come from your membership program. Having a members-only area serves as a great incentive for joining your organisation, attracting new members and letting you retain them.

   Additionally, members-only areas can help you establish a sense of community amongst your members, demonstrating the value of your mission. This boosts member satisfaction and retention, which in turn will spread the word about your organisation’s positive culture.

   Show your organisation’s impact

   Simply telling people how good your organisation is will not be enough to convince them. Instead, display the number of people’s lives you’ve improved, showcase stories of real people served through your organisation, and share compelling case studies.

5. SEO to Optimise Website

   Optimise keywords for search intent

   Conduct keyword research to find terms related to your nonprofit’s mission and general NGO terms like “donate.” Once you find suitable keywords, add them throughout your web page, ensuring that there’s enough for the search engines to notice without overstuffing the page.

   Invest in website security

   Not only does Google like a safe and secure website, but potential donors will also feel safer with their money if they know that their personal information is well-protected. Failing to protect this sensitive information will lead to an immediate loss of support and a huge hit to your credibility.

   Protect your nonprofit website with a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate and look for PCI-compliant donation software to ensure your donors’ safety. Above all else, update your site’s software regularly to remove bugs and ensure the safety of your private information.

   Attract donations with a call to action

   Your nonprofit website should always include a CTA to guide readers on where to go next. This may be donating, becoming a member, or signing up for an email list. Whatever you want, the CTA must be easy to find and easy to act on. Here are a few tips on making an effective CTA:

   • Place your CTA in a prominent spot on the top page navigation bar. Make sure it stands out from the rest of the navigation.
   • Take advantage of other spaces in your site, such as the bottom of a blog post.
   • Make the action descriptive and compelling. For example, instead of simply saying “Donate Now”, consider “Save Lives”. Try to make the action as truthful as possible.
   • Limit the number of CTAs per page. One or two per page is preference.

Web Design Services for Nonprofits

If your nonprofit lacks the expertise or tools needed for web design, consider hiring a web design firm instead. These companies specialise in designing attractive yet efficient websites optimised for SEO, providing you with nonprofit web design ideas created to rake in traffic and improve your search results rankings.

In addition to saving time and money on web page design, a professional nonprofit web design firm will also offer vital training to your staff. The knowledge they can learn will prove vital in maintaining your nonprofit’s website regularly.