Getting links from external websites is a crucial part of any SEO strategy. As it’ll help you generate more traffic, strengthen your authority in search engines, and get your nonprofit in front of more potential donors.
What is Link-Building?
Link building is the process of getting other websites to link back to yours. These types of links are important because they tell Google and other search engines that your website is trustworthy. Trust is critical to rank you higher on search engine result pages (SERPs). The higher you rank, the easier you can be found.
But how exactly can you get these links?
We’ll take a look at five link-building strategies your nonprofit can start right away.
1. Start Guest Posting
Guest posting is a marketing technique that consists of writing content for another website. The main benefits include getting backlinks to your website, driving targeted traffic, and increasing brand awareness by placing your nonprofit in front of a new audience.
One of the easiest ways to find guest posting opportunities is by performing a Google search using different strings, such as searching for “keyword” plus one of these terms:
- “guest post by”
- “write for us”
- “guest post”
- “contribute”
Another effective technique is to find individuals who write guest posts frequently and do a reverse image search on Google using their photos.
Once you’ve found some websites accepting guest posts, take a look at the authors of those posts. Then save their headshot, visit images.google.com, and drop in their headshot. You should then see a list of other websites where they’ve been published, which your nonprofit can target as well.
After identifying sites you would like to create a guest post for, you can use a free tool like Hunter.io to find the email address of the owner or editor. Armed with this information, you can send an email asking about a guest posting opportunity.
Here are some best practices to follow when sending your pitch:
- Check their guidelines. Some websites will have specific instructions on how to submit a pitch — from specific formatting to topics to cover.
- Give them options. Unless otherwise mentioned, include at least two topics they can choose from but keep them relevant to their website.
- Keep it short. Introduce yourself, mention that you’d love to contribute to their blog, link to your previous work, and include your pitches. If you’re having trouble crafting an engaging email, you can use a tool like Jasper to help you out.
- Follow up. Most guest post submissions don’t get accepted, so don’t get discouraged if you never hear back from the editor. However, it’s always a good idea to send a follow-up email if you haven’t heard from them in some time. For smaller publications, you could wait between 1-2 weeks before sending a follow-up email. For larger publications, you could wait between 2-4 weeks.
- Deliver on time. If your pitch gets accepted, be sure to deliver by the deadline.
- Thank the editor. Last but not least, send an email to the editor thanking them for the opportunity to contribute.
2. Sign Up for HARO
HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is a platform where journalists can submit requests seeking thoughts and interviews for stories they’re working on.
Once you create a free account as a source, you’ll receive three emails each day (5:35 am, 12:35 pm, 5:35 pm) with a list of queries relevant to the preferences you set up.
To respond, simply send a message to the email listed from the email you used to sign up to HARO — their servers will block emails sent from other addresses.
Keep in mind that several other sources are pitching these journalists. Make sure that you’re thorough with your answer and include all the information they’re asking for in your email. If your pitch is accepted, journalists will often quote you and include a backlink to your nonprofit’s website.
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of HARO:
- Be quick to reply. Do your best to reply within the first 24 hours.
- Choose wisely. Most journalists on HARO are looking for real, expert insights. Make sure that you only spend time on queries you’re qualified to answer.
- Add a personal touch. If the reporter adds their name in the query, address them by name in your email.
- Be brief. Write a short intro paragraph. State your name, credentials, places you’ve been featured in, and a link to your nonprofit. Then, jump right into answering their question.
- Make it easy to read. Use short paragraphs and bullet points.
- Add a story. Personal stories tend to do well.
- Don’t send follow-up emails. If they don’t reply or post your answer, just keep swimming.
3. Create Valuable Infographics
The human brain processes visuals better than text. So it’s not surprising that infographics are an excellent way to convey information and keep people engaged. Due to their effectiveness in maintaining engagement, many websites love sharing and linking to infographics, which makes them a great way to earn backlinks.
Here’s an infographic designed by Kevin Chang for Charity: Water that focuses on educating the community on global issues of water poverty and water pollution:
When designing infographics, be sure to:
- Keep them simple. Don’t add too many images or information. If your infographic starts looking a bit cluttered, it might be better to create two separate ones.
- Write a captivating headline. A good headline will describe the infographic and grab the reader’s attention.
- Tell a story. Storytelling is a great way to guide your audience through information — good infographics tell stories that people remember and recall over time.
- Check your facts. Infographics are most commonly used to present data in an interesting way. Make sure that any included statistics are true and that your sources are reliable.
- Choose a good size. Infographics are supposed to be long and full of valuable information.Making them too long can cause reader’s to lose interest. Aim for an infographic no longer than 8,000 px.
If your organization is in need of a design software, Canva is a popular and easy-to-use option. One of the best things about it is that nonprofits can get access to premium features for free with Canva for Nonprofits.
4. Study Other Nonprofits
Entering the crowded nonprofit space might seem scary. However, studying other established nonprofits can be used to your advantage, especially when it comes to link building.
Big nonprofits tend to have several backlinks and are featured on different websites. Using a tool like Ahrefs, you can find out which websites are linking back to those big nonprofits and reach out to them for guest post opportunities or other types of collaboration.
If the website was willing to feature another nonprofit, there’s a good chance they’ll be willing to support your cause and feature you as well. After all, nonprofits are looking to change the world, so your odds of receiving a positive answer are higher than a for-profit company.
To find another organization’s backlinks, just add their website to Ahrefs’ free Backlink Checker.
With the free version, Ahrefs allows you to see the top 100 backlinks (one link per domain). If you’d like to view all of them, you’d have to upgrade to their paid plan.
5. Find Unlinked Mentions
An easy way to get backlinks is by finding organizations and websites that have mentioned your nonprofit but not linked to it. When this happens, you should craft a nice email politely asking them to include a backlink to your website.
What’s so great about this technique is that you’re already halfway towards earning a link — they’re already familiar with your nonprofit and the work you do.
There are multiple ways you can accomplish this. The easiest one would be to use a paid tool like Ahrefs’ Content Explorer.
But, if you’re looking for a free alternative, you could find mentions using the following Google search string:
- intext:”your nonprofit” -site:yournonprofit.com
However, the downside of this approach is that you’ll get a ton of results and mentions, including those who already link to your website.
Another technique is to set Google Alerts to send you a message whenever your nonprofit is mentioned. However, this only works for future mentions, not existing ones.
To set this up, visit Google Alerts, enter your nonprofits’ name (or any term you want to receive alerts for), select the frequency, add your email, and create the alert.
Let’s Build Some Links
Building backlinks can sometimes be a time-consuming process. But it’s definitely an effective (and free) way to increase awareness about your cause and drive long-term website traffic.
Pairing this organic marketing strategy with other paid ones, such as Facebook Ads, can skyrocket your nonprofit’s growth.
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