Charity SEO & Keyword Research

Before diving into keyword targeting, it's essential to understand how SEO uniquely serves charitable organisations. Unlike commercial entities, charities need to attract multiple audience segments including:

• Potential donors

• Volunteers

• Service users

• Grant makers

• Corporate partners

• Media and journalists

Each of these groups uses different language and has distinct search intents when looking for charitable organisations.

Understanding Charity-Specific Search Intent

Different user groups typically search with distinct patterns. In SEO-jargon this is refered to this as “user intent”. Below are some examples of typical charity user groups and how to think about intent when it comes to selecting keywords.

Donor Intent:

• "how to donate to [cause]"

• "best charities for [cause]"

• "[location] charity donation"

• "charitable giving tax benefits"

Volunteer Intent:

• "volunteer opportunities [cause/location]"

• "how to help [cause]"

• "charity work near me"

• "[cause] volunteering requirements"

Service User Intent:

• "help with [problem]"

• "[condition] support services"

• "free [service] assistance"

• "[location] support groups"

Identifying and Selecting Target Keywords For Charities

Step 1: Initial Keyword Research

Start with free tools accessible to charities of all sizes:

• Google Search Console: Analyse existing search traffic

• Google Trends: Identify seasonal patterns and emerging topics

• AnswerThePublic: Discover question-based searches

• Google Keyword Planner: Basic search volume data

For charities with larger budgets, consider:

• SEMrush (from £99/month)

• Ahrefs (from £79/month)

• Moz Pro (from £79/month)

Step 2: Keyword Categorisation

Organise keywords into strategic groups:

Awareness Keywords:

• "[cause] statistics"

• "what is [condition]"

• "[issue] facts"

Example: "childhood poverty uk statistics"

Action Keywords:

• "donate to [cause]"

• "volunteer [location]"

• "support [cause]"

Example: "donate to homeless shelter manchester"

Support Keywords:

• "help with [problem]"

• "[condition] assistance"

• "[service] support"

Example: "domestic violence support services london"

Step 3: Keyword Evaluation Metrics

Not all keywords are created equally, and just because a keyword has a large monthly search volume doesn’t mean it is necesarily the best fit for your charity. Assess keywords using these key metrics:

1. Search Volume:

- High: 1,000+ monthly searches

- Medium: 100-1,000 monthly searches

- Low: <100 monthly searches

2. Keyword Difficulty:

- Easy: 0-30

- Moderate: 31-60

- Difficult: 61-100

3. Click-Through Rate Potential:

- Check if SERP features (featured snippets, knowledge panels) might affect CTR

- Analyse current top-ranking pages' titles and descriptions

On-Page Optimisation Best Practices

You can read more about the importance of on-page optimisation and the process we use here: On-page SEO checklist
When we think about keywords-specifc things for charities, the following areas are things we cover.

Meta Title Structure For Charities

Primary Keyword | Secondary Keyword | Brand Name

Example: "Volunteer at Food Banks London | Food Poverty Charity | FeedingHope UK"

Meta Description Format for Charities

[Compelling action verb] + [value proposition] + [call-to-action]

Example: "Help fight food poverty in London. Our food banks serve 1000+ families weekly. Volunteer today and make a real difference in your community."

Content Structure For Charities

H1 Tag (Main Title):

- Include primary keyword

- Keep under 60 characters

Example: "Volunteer at London Food Banks: Join Our Fight Against Hunger"

H2 Tags (Main Sections):

- Include secondary keywords

- Address specific user intents

Example: "Food Bank Volunteer Requirements" or "Volunteer Shifts and Locations"

H3 Tags (Subsections):

- Use long-tail keywords

- Focus on specific details

Example: "Evening Food Bank Volunteer Opportunities" or "Weekend Sorting Team Positions

Common Charity SEO Mistakes to Avoid:

All of the points mentioned in the article so far are great, but in our experience, also helps if you avoid these common mistakes too.

1. Targeting Only Donation Keywords

   Impact: Misses potential volunteers and service users

   Solution: Balance keywords across all audience segments

2. Ignoring Local Search

   Impact: Reduced visibility in community searches

   Solution: Optimise for "[service] near me" searches

3. Poor Mobile Optimisation

   Impact: Lower rankings on mobile searches

   Solution: Ensure responsive design and fast loading times

4. Duplicate Content Across Locations

   Impact: Cannibalisation of search rankings

   Solution: Create unique content for each location/service

We hope this article has helped. If you would like to learn more about SEO for charities head over to the main section there.

If you think a quick chat to learn how to apply these techniques to your own site would be useful, please contact us to book in a free 30-minute chat.