Link Building for Nonprofits

Link Building: A Brief Overview

Link building is an incredibly valuable strategy nonprofit communities need to practice.

It entails putting high-quality backlinks on the main article, which helps boost search engine rankings.

Adding inbound links is also a great way to boost your online reputation and organic traffic. It allows you to reach as many people as possible to help with your cause.

More importantly, this digital marketing strategy helps you reach the right people to read your awesome content.

Why Is a Link Building Strategy Important?

You can't begin to imagine how many websites there are out there. One can't help but wonder how they land on the first page of search engines.

Is it measured by how long their web presence is? Not in all cases.

Sometimes, it only takes a good digital marketing strategy like link building to get the job done. But it can't just be any link because it also has to have high domain authority.

It has to link to authoritative sites or other websites with high authority. This boosts your chances of landing the coveted spot on Google, getting more traffic for your website.

What Are the Advantages of Building Links for Nonprofits?

Building links isn't just for topping search engines like Google. There's a bigger purpose, which is to promote your nonprofit organization and local presence.

Uplifts Local Charities

Nothing can feel more victorious than having small and local charities getting recognized. This is especially true for small organizations that rarely get much-needed help.

Local organizations always have a good cause to share, often overshadowed by bigger organizations.

Competing with the big names is out of the question, creating organic search results is one of the best solutions.

More Authentic Than Other Companies

Adding a touch of sincerity and genuineness to every content is necessary for nonprofits. Unfortunately, it's one of the few traits many websites don't do anymore.

Link building helps nonprofits connect with like-minded individuals, and promote their activities, like a charity event or a sponsored walk.

Better Communication Opportunities

Reaching the right people on the web is certainly a challenge. But when you build links and practice organic SEO, people can see you more on their search engine results.

You'll be part of the relevant directories people are interested in.

This translates to having more people reaching out to you and gaining access to your community resources.

Working for a Good Purpose

Let's not forget that every nonprofit organization started with the goal of achieving its overall purpose.

Getting more organic traffic for your favorite nonprofits helps support their cause. A blog post can end up on the first page of search engines with the help of relevant links.

10 Tips to Remember When Link Building for Nonprofit Organizations

Building links might sound easy, but it's a tricky task that needs to be understood. You don't need a bachelor's degree but the patience to understand and learn about it.

1: Get Links From Different Sites

As much as possible, add a variety of backlinks to your blogpost. The internet is a landfill of websites you can link to, but not all are the best.
As much as possible, gain links from a website with high page authority. In all cases, NEVER link out to spammy websites.

2: Try Out Guest Posts

Guest posting happens when websites invite other writers to contribute or guest post on their webpage. In exchange, the website can backlink the content of the writer.

It's a win-win situation for everyone because it helps build domain authority and reach out to as many viewers as possible.

Guest posting has become the most effective yet simple way of link building and a good link opportunity. There are many sites out there looking for a guest post, which you can check out.

3: Sign Up for HARO

HARO stands for "Help a Reporter Out." It's become an effective tool to connect journalists with experts or bloggers who know of a particular subject.

Signing up for an account allows you to answer some of the queries on the website. In return, journalists can backlink your content to their webpage.

4: Gain Traction on Social Media

Social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit are among the best ways for people to get to know and reach you.

It can help you build a solid network that believes in your cause.

Remember, you must be active on your socials, like your Facebook page. Maintain constant interaction with your audience and keep them interested.

You can also practice social bookmarking to help you and your audience reach a related website later.

5: Write Unique and Personal Blog Posts

Make your content memorable and impactful with your statements.

Finding a site that offers a unique and personal blog post is hard. Reading the article feels like it's out of touch, which makes the writer seem so distant from the readers.

Keep your blog interesting, and don't be afraid to add a touch of personality to your webpage!

6: Establish Your Brand Locally

Growing your nonprofit means starting from the bottom up.

Although everyone wants to roll with the big players, this wouldn't be possible without looking after your small community.

Every successful endeavor starts small, and this means growing your brand locally.

Start with your communities that matter! Once you've established yourself locally, you can start branching out.

7: Befriend Other Bloggers and Professionals

Consider bloggers and other web writers your friend because link building isn't just about links. It's also about creating organic friendships with other like-minded individuals.

The goal is to help each other out in any way possible. What better way to do this than seeing each other grow and succeed together?

You can build your site and even backlink each other's site with the same goal.

8: Maximize Your Local Search Engine

Get your name across by starting with your local search engine. Nothing is better than having your nearby community know about your nonprofit organization.

Utilizing local listing sites helps you connect with the people close to you. More importantly, it helps others narrow down their search on Google.

9: Go Through Outbound Links

The job of link builders is to put as many outbound links to other sites as possible. This helps increase referral traffic and boost your site's page activity.

But checking the outbound links you plan to include is always important. It must link only to relevant websites and not spammy ones.

Be careful with what link you include in the anchor text, and ensure it's not something you'll lose credibility over.

10: Always Give Back to Your Community

Your success wouldn't be possible without the community that helped you grow. Show some love and give back to the communities where you started!

It doesn't have to be a grand gesture, and a small token of appreciation is enough.

Things to Avoid When Link Building for Your Nonprofit Organization?

To end up with the best link-building strategy, there are a few things you need to avoid.

1: Trading Links

Trading links is a great way to boost your page, especially if it's with a high authority website.

But that doesn't mean you should do it with every website you come across, no matter how tempting the offer might seem.

A good rule is to only trade links with sites relevant to your cause.

2: Cloaking Your Content

Never cloak your content, no matter how good you think the results will be. Google's Webmaster Guidelines prohibit it, and for a very good reason.

Consider cloaking a strategy used to deceive website visitors. Different content appears from the search, often far from the keyword used.

3: Paying for Links

Some digital marketers take a shortcut and use paid links. This is never a good idea because you risk paying for bogus or spam links.

Not to mention, Google and other search engines might flag you as a spam website. When this happens, you might get blocked from appearing on search engines.

4: Using Link Farms

Next to paid links, link farms are one of the things you need to watch out for when putting backlinks.

They don't add value to your site because they're just random links to any website. If you're lucky, it could be a site related to your content.

But if not, you might end up with absurd links at the opposite end of the spectrum from your cause.

Frequently Asked Questions

Building your site and growing it organically is one of the best strategies you can do. Here are a few FAQs to help further your cause for better engagement.