Non-Profit SEO Tips: Get Found and Drive Impact

Okay, so you’re doing amazing work at your nonprofit, but you need more support: more donations, more volunteers, more everything.

And you’re wondering why your website isn’t pulling its weight. Here’s the thing: If people can’t easily find you online when they’re searching for ways to help causes like yours, you’re missing a golden opportunity. That’s where non-profit SEO comes in. 🦸

Unlike paid ads, SEO is about getting your organization to show up naturally on Google. So, when someone’s looking for, say, “environmental charities in Chicago” or “local food bank volunteer opportunities,” your nonprofit appears. Not buried deep in the results, but right there, ready to connect. 🔗

The really good news is you absolutely do not need to be a tech guru to make real improvements to your search presence and attract the support you deserve.

This guide will show you some practical non-profit SEO strategies, as well as how innovative AI tools help nonprofits grow. 

We’re talking about achievable steps you can take to get more people to your site, boost your visibility, and, ultimately, empower you to make an even bigger difference in the world.

Let’s get you found!

What is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving a website so it ranks higher on search engines like Google. When people search for something like “best charities to support” or “volunteer opportunities near me,” SEO helps your website show up in those search results.

Its main goal is to attract more visitors without paying for ads.

SEO works in a few key ways:

• Using the Right Keywords: These are words and phrases people type into Google. If your website includes these words naturally, it’s more likely to appear in search results.
• Creating Quality Content: Helpful, well-written content keeps visitors on your site longer and encourages them to take action.
• Making Your Website Easy to Use: A fast, mobile-friendly, and well-structured site improves rankings.
• Getting Links from Other Sites: If trusted websites link to yours, Google sees your site as credible and ranks it higher.

Think of SEO as a long-term investment, not a quick fix. Unlike paid ads, which stop working the second you stop paying, SEO keeps working for you. Once you’ve put in the effort to optimize your site, it continues to attract visitors, donors, and volunteers organically, without ongoing costs per click.

The fact that good SEO takes time is usually mentioned as a downside. But this is more true for classic methods, as modern AI SEO tools bring results significantly faster. 

As a platform that has worked with nonprofits, we will share our knowledge with you today. 

8 of the Best SEO Practices for Non-Profits to Get Discovered

Many nonprofits focus on social media and word-of-mouth, which are both fantastic! But Google is often the first place people go when they’re inspired to donate or get involved. If your site isn’t optimized, you might be missing out on connections. 

Here are some practices that can fix that.

1. Respect Search Intent to Give Your Audience What They Want

Search intent refers to the reason behind a user’s search.

Search intent generally falls into four categories:

• informational (e.g., “how to help refugees”)
• navigational (e.g., “Red Cross donation page”)
• commercial investigation (e.g., “best nonprofit organizations for climate change”)
• transactional (e.g., “donate to cancer research”)

Conversion is the last step, where people actually go through with the donation or another action. 

So if your content doesn’t align with the user’s intent, they will leave your site quickly, which hurts your rankings and your cause. 📉

For example, a blog post should focus on education and awareness rather than aggressively asking for donations. Meanwhile, donation pages should be simple, direct, and transactional in nature.

To optimize for search intent, study top-ranking pages for target keywords and match their format.

If most results are in-depth guides, create a guide. If they are list-based articles, consider a list format. Also, structure content clearly with headings and bullet points to enhance readability.

2. Build a Keyword Strategy for Higher Rankings

A well-researched keyword strategy ensures your nonprofit appears in relevant search results. First, identify primary keywords related to your mission, using a reputable keyword research tool. These keywords can be something like “animal rescue organizations” or “animal shelter.”

So this is what SEO experts usually do.

They discover variations and long-tail keywords, such as “how to start a nonprofit animal shelter” or “best ways to support homeless shelters.” These are often easier to rank for and attract highly targeted visitors.

They also focus on a mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords, prioritizing those with moderate competition and high intent. For example, instead of just targeting “donate,” they’d go for specific phrases like “donate to children’s education fund.” 

They’d also include branded keywords, such as your nonprofit’s name, and localized keywords, like “charity events in Austin.”

Seems overwhelming? 

Don’t worry, there’s another way that won’t take hours and days. You also don’t have to be an expert.

You choose your main keyword that best describes your organization, enter it in the Content Planner, and get a full plan completed for you, with keywords and article titles.

After that, you can start creating your blog.

3. Create Excellent Content to Increase Visibility

Content is one of the most effective tools nonprofits have to educate, inspire, and engage audiences. High-quality content attracts visitors, keeps them on your site longer, and encourages them to take action—whether it’s donating, signing up for an event, or sharing your message.

If you have more time to do research, start by identifying topics that matter to your audience. For example, if people search for “how to help foster children,” but there’s little detailed content available, your nonprofit can create a guide covering donation options, volunteer opportunities, and advocacy tips.

You can use the Search Atlas keyword gap tool for this

If you’re short on time and resources, you can create Articles with AI, going to SEO AI Writer directly from the Content Planner.

Here are some other tips on structuring and creating content:

• Structure content well to make it easy to read.
• Use subheadings, images, and bullet points to break up text.
• Incorporate compelling stories to create an emotional connection.
• Diversify content with blogs, videos, infographics, and case studies.
• Regularly update and refresh older content to keep it relevant.
• Prioritize accuracy, depth, and user engagement to rank better

4. Follow Google’s E-E-A-T Guidelines (You Have What It Takes)

Okay, so Google has these guidelines called E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). It’s basically how Google judges if your website is worth showing to people.

• Experience: Show you actually do the work. Share real stories, photos, and impact reports.
• Expertise: This is where your team comes in! Your staff, volunteers, and board members? They’re probably full of knowledge about your cause. Get them to write blog posts, share insights, or create helpful resources. The more voices you have, the better. This turns your website from just a donation page into a valuable community resource.
• Authoritativeness: This builds over time as other websites link to your awesome content, and as people share it.
• Trustworthiness: Be transparent. Share your financials, be clear about your mission, and make it easy for people to contact you.

Basically, E-E-A-T is about showing Google (and your audience!) that you’re the real deal, and that you know your stuff. It makes your non-profit a legitimate resource.

5. Improve Technical SEO Aspects to Make Your Site Easy to Use

Technical SEO isn’t overly complicated, but it does take time to master. Small improvements can make a big difference in how well your nonprofit’s website ranks and how easy it is for supporters to navigate.

Here are some key areas to focus on:

• Improve site speed: Compress images, use a fast web host, and minimize unnecessary scripts.
• Ensure mobile-friendliness: Use a responsive design so your site works on all devices.
• Fix broken links & clean URLs: Descriptive URLs (e.g., “/volunteer-opportunities”) improve usability and rankings. A simple rule of thumb is to use the main keyword of each article as the slug (the last part of the page link).
• Use structured data markup: Helps search engines display extra details like donation options.
• Enable HTTPS encryption: Secures your site and improves trust with Google.
• Run regular audits: Check for duplicate content and crawling errors that could hurt rankings

Now, we get that this part can be difficult even for people with SEO experience. 

But these days, there’s an AI tool for everything, and we created one to make SEO more approachable. 

This tool will automate these technical tasks, so you don’t have to worry about them at all.

In fact, it will automate most of your other SEO tasks, too, and it’s called OTTO the AI SEO Assistant.

This tool helps you manage everything directly from your dashboard, and you can contact the Search Atlas team for support and onboarding if you ever need it. Fix this stuff with one click. 

6. Build High-Quality Backlinks to Boost Authority

Backlinks (links from other websites to yours) are a strong ranking factor in SEO. Nonprofits can build authority by earning high-quality backlinks from reputable sources like news sites, educational institutions, and well-known organizations.

Start by reaching out to relevant blogs, local news outlets, and industry publications to feature your nonprofit’s initiatives. Offer to write guest posts on related websites, covering topics like “The Impact of Community Food Drives.” This positions your organization as an authority while earning valuable backlinks.

Leverage partnerships by getting links from sponsors, affiliates, and government directories. For example, if your nonprofit collaborates with a university, ask them to link to your resources.

Submit your organization to nonprofit directories such as GuideStar, Charity Navigator, and Idealist. These are trusted sources that improve credibility.

Things people want to link to are usually research studies, compelling infographics, and expert opinions that others may naturally link to.

Search Atlas can help you do this more efficiently with its link building and digital PR tools. It automates the process and lets you:

• Find Link Prospects: Access contact information for journalists, bloggers, and influencers in your field
• Send Outreach Emails: Use built-in templates or customize your own for better responses
• Automate Follow-Ups: Ensure potential partners see your request without extra work
• Manage Everything in One Place: Track emails, replies, and successful links in a single dashboard
• Save Time: Automate outreach and follow-ups to focus on other priorities
• Improve Visibility: Secure high-quality backlinks to boost search rankings

You can also use Search Atlas to analyze competitor backlinks and identify link-building opportunities.

For those more interested in SEO, there are advanced tools such as the Backlink Analyzer, but you can also use OTTO automations to ease the process.

7. Optimize Your Pages to Ensure They Rank Well

On-page SEO is essential for making your content discoverable. Every page should be optimized for search engines and user experience.

We will give you a short checklist for on-page optimization (you can do these things in WordPress and also prepare while writing content):

• Catchy Titles and Descriptions: Use clear, keyword-rich titles and descriptions (e.g., “Support Homeless Youth – Donate & Volunteer”). This makes your site more appealing when people search.
• Natural Keywords: Use keywords throughout your site (in titles, descriptions, headings, and content), but don’t overdo it. Quality is key.
• Organize with Headings: Use headings (H1, H2, etc.) to make your content easy to read and understand. Include keywords where appropriate.
• Speedy Images: Make sure your images are small enough to load quickly. Describe them with alt text—this helps people using screen readers and search engines.
• Connect Your Pages: Link related pages together. This keeps visitors on your site longer and helps search engines understand your content better.
• Easy Reading: Use clear formatting, short paragraphs, and bullet points to make your content easy to read and keep visitors engaged.

Search Atlas can save you time by automating this process and looking at all your previous content to find any issues it can fix.

With the On-Page Audit Tool, you get the following:

• Content Quality Audits – Nonprofits can assess their web pages for clarity, relevance, and SEO best practices.
• Technical SEO Checks – Identify and fix meta tag issues, indexing problems, and page performance concerns.
• Competitor Insights – Compare content and authority with similar organizations to improve search rankings.
• Actionable Recommendations – Get clear steps for optimizing content structure, keyword usage, and link-building.
• One-Click Optimization – Easily apply SEO improvements using the SEO Content Assistant.
• Bulk Keyword Audits – Check multiple keywords at once to refine content strategy.
• User-Friendly Interface – No SEO expertise required; simple reports and guided improvements help nonprofits enhance visibility.

8. Utilize Local SEO to Reach Your Community

Many nonprofits serve local communities, making local SEO essential. Start by claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP), ensuring your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all platforms.

First, you should encourage supporters to leave positive reviews—these influence rankings and build trust. Responding to reviews also shows engagement.

Use location-specific keywords, such as “food bank in Seattle” or “animal shelter near me,” in your website’s content and meta descriptions. Creating location-based landing pages can also help attract nearby supporters.

Next, get listed in local directories like Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, and Chamber of Commerce websites. Local backlinks from newspapers and community blogs further strengthen your local presence.

And finally, engage with local media and bloggers to secure coverage of your events and initiatives. Google prioritizes well-connected local businesses and organizations in search results.

Do we automate this as well? Of course we do! 

You can automate your GBP, create Q&As, and manage reviews and comments through the GBP Management Tool. It will help you answer all questions and help your local community get information about what you do. 

Transform Your Reach: Nonprofit SEO and the Power of Search Atlas

For nonprofits, being easily found online isn’t just nice-to-have, it’s essential. It’s the difference between connecting with those who need your services and remaining undiscovered. That’s where strategic SEO becomes a game-changer.

And Search Atlas can help you reach people much faster with the help of AI. For a Texas sensory learning center, the AI SEO implementation brought the following:

• A massive 111% increase in organic traffic
• A jump from #27 to #1 for “autism summer program near me.” 
• A 75.5% boost in their organic keywords

This transformation, achieved in just eight weeks, was powered by OTTO’s recommendations, content optimization, and strategic outreach. Search Atlas and OTTO didn’t just boost their numbers; they amplified their impact, connecting them with more families in need.

Ready to unlock your nonprofit’s full potential? Sign up for a 7-day free trial and get help with onboarding, training calls, tutorials, and a full tour of our tools.