Here’s a true, mostly feel-good story: An animal shelter in Virginia (won’t name names, but donate to your local animal rescue!) was taking in more dogs than it could care for. The local community rallied behind the undeterred shelter manager, got this local hero and her rescue center featured on a national morning show, and—success!—landed a $20,000 donation. And everyone lived happily ever after…almost. So what was missing? Just one thing: a nonprofit web design agency.
Odd twist, we know. But stick with us.
We were inspired by the rescue’s work, so much so that we swung on over to their Instagram and hearted a bunch of good boys and good girls. We stopped by their Facebook and thumbs-upped their recent events. We clicked on their website, and…our antivirus software told us no.
See? Mostly feel-good, with one big exception.
Too many nonprofits are losing out on donations, connections, and recognition, all due to a website that isn’t working as hard as they are. They need a nonprofit web design agency in their corner, and that’s where we come in.
Slam Media Lab is an award-winning web design agency specializing in building fast, fun, and impactful websites for nonprofits and SMBs. Read all about our past nonprofit partnerships in our in-depth case studies, including:
And check out all our case studies to learn how we provide everyone the products and resources you need to SLAM your next website build. Discover our mission-driven approach, and see how hard we work to help nonprofits succeed no matter what.
So, join us as we cover all the info you need to land the right nonprofit web design agency, boost your site traffic tenfold (or more), and own a website that’ll drive your mission, not hinder it. We’ll answer all your questions, such as:
- What exactly is a nonprofit web design agency?
- Who benefits from hiring a nonprofit web design agency?
- What issues should I be looking out for with my nonprofit website?
- How can I guarantee that those issues stay fixed?
Ready? Let’s jump in!
What is a Nonprofit Web Design Agency?
To clear up any confusion, no, a nonprofit web design agency is not a 501(c)(3) that designs websites. Not sure those even exist, tbh…
A nonprofit web design agency is a company that specializes in building, optimizing, and maintaining websites for nonprofits. Pretty simple, right? Kind of, but let’s focus on that word “specializes.”
Many companies, SMBs, and nonprofits set out to design a website with a one-size-fits-all attitude. A website is a website, right? Any web design agency is more than capable of delivering a product that meets their client’s needs, regardless of industry, correct? Not quite.
Think of it as going to the bakery to order a birthday cake. You’re gonna hit up Carvel or your local cakery, not Dunkin’ (although, not gonna lie, a Dunkin’ donut cake sounds pretty damn good). Can the good folks at Dunkin’ whip up a birthday cake? Probably. But, you want to know you’re getting the absolute best birthday cake for your friends or family. Nonprofit web design agencies are your local cakery, guaranteeing your website is built especially for your nonprofit’s unique demands.
How does a nonprofit web design agency meet those unique demands? So glad you asked, but, before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to answer a really big question…
Ready to dive into your nonprofit website build? Purchase our $79 nonprofit website template now!
Who Benefits From Hiring a Nonprofit Web Design Agency?
Short answer: everyone. Most nonprofits are providing a service to their communities, and, more often than not, are dependent on the charity of their communities to keep the lights on and the donations flowing.
And, let’s be real here, you’ve visited some nonprofit websites that, to put it bluntly, aren’t helping their cause. This can be due to a number of factors, such as:
- Their website hasn’t been updated since Windows 95.
- Their site isn’t optimized for search—especially local search.
- Their behind-the-scenes tech isn’t driving traffic—or, worse, it’s driving visitors away.
Not to mention, nonprofit websites are prime targets for cybercrime and malware. Why is that? Let’s take a closer look at the issues many nonprofit websites experience—and how a good nonprofit web design agency can fix them.
Nonprofits Don’t Update Their Websites Enough
2050—that fake, sci-fi number of a year—is about to be closer than 2000, and we still find ourselves stressing the importance of an optimized website to nonprofits and SMBs. Need a clear reason why?
During the COVID pandemic, 72% of nonprofits that experienced a decline in revenue did so because of a lack of events. How did organizations counteract this loss of in-person fundraising opportunities? Of nonprofits that saw an increase in revenue, 52% relied on their digital presence—website, social media, and online outreach—to make up the difference.
We know—almost all companies that weathered the pandemic did so using their digital platforms. How is this unique to nonprofits? For one, major corporations aren’t as reliant on in-person events to generate revenue. Second, established companies are still able to rely on existing knowledge—hours of operation, locations, business style—to generate revenue, even in ordinary times (not to mention the hefty budgets they have at their disposal for online marketing). Nonprofits, even national ones, don’t always have that benefit.
Let’s pull back for a second. Disregarding the unprecedented circumstances during COVID, a nonprofit can still benefit greatly from an up-to-date website. Returning to the animal shelter from earlier: what happens if we were more than an impressed viewer? What if we were a prospective adopter, looking for a new furry friend (seriously, donate to your local shelter)? An outdated website—especially one that doesn’t get past antivirus software!—could mean the difference between a successful adoption and missing out on stories like this (warning: high risk of happy tears):
Nonprofit Websites Don’t Take Advantage of Local SEO
You may already be familiar with search engine optimization, or SEO, and may even have a handy guide explaining all the terms to know (oh, wait, that’s us). And, yes, just like keeping an up-to-date website is just good common sense for any company, nonprofit, and SMB, optimizing your website's content for search engines is universal advice. How can nonprofit web design agencies give organizations an edge? Local SEO.
Local SEO functions in the same way general SEO does, with one obvious qualifier (spoiler alert: it’s the local part). When anyone searches on Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or any of the other dozens of search engines, these engines locate the most relevant and authoritative content to return to users.
When someone searches “nonprofit near me,” search engines return results in a similar, but also very different, way. Their main concern is still determining relevance and authority, but now their crawlers (the bots sent to locate search results) are operating in a set location limit. Meaning, if your nonprofit website is optimized for local search (more on that later), you should be one of the first results to pop up, which has an almost incalculable impact on converting searchers to in-person visitors, donors, volunteers—you name it.
What we’re saying is: make sure your nonprofit site is optimized for local search.
Interested in a FREE consultation for your nonprofit website? Schedule time with us now!
Nonprofits Don’t Consider—or Know—How Their Website is Built for Traffic
Local SEO is one part of the complex equation bringing visitors to your site. Behind the site animations, hover effects, interactive scroll, and APIs (more on that later), technical SEO is doing a lot of the heavy lifting to make sure your site is both optimized and running efficiently.
More and more website developers are implementing no- or low-code development (more on that later, too), making it easier for even novice designers to put together an eye-catching, functional website. However, not enough nonprofits are aware of the technical aspects that go into ensuring your website runs at peak performance, making it more likely that your site will either get overlooked in searches or not meet the needs of your community and/or patrons.
How do you remedy this? We take a closer look—with useful tips and resources—below.
What Specialties Does a Nonprofit Web Design Agency Offer?
Any good web design agency is going to play the hits when they sell you on their services: fast site speed, sleek design, search engine optimization (or, SEO). You may already be familiar with some of these from your initial research into web designers. And, don’t get us wrong, they are important for any website. But, they don’t quite address the unique demands for nonprofits.
What are those demands we keep mentioning, then? Just like nonprofits, they vary by the specific mission requirements and goals of your organization. Still, we can hone in on a few that most nonprofits should be aware of before hiring an agency, and how they differ from your standard web designers. These are:
- Local SEO
- Technical SEO and ADA compliance
- No- or low-code development software
Got a little technical on you there for a second. Don’t worry; we’ll dive into each one and explain how they impact your nonprofit, and how an expert web design agency implements each one.
Nonprofit Web Design Agencies’ Not-so-secret Weapon: Local SEO
You’re a nonprofit, relying on funds and donations from your loyal supporters. Your digital budget might already be tied up in other projects, or it might be entirely nonexistent. How are you supposed to compete with major corporations and national NGOs able to commit hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to guaranteeing search engines direct users back to them?
Luckily, smart nonprofit web design agencies know how to even the playing field by taking advantage of local SEO.
Those two magic words—“near me”—contain the ability to set your nonprofit apart from even the largest corporations. With close to 100% of searchers using Google or other search engines to locate businesses near them, making sure your website is optimized for local SEO isn’t just valuable in 2024 and beyond—it’s essential.
So, how do you guarantee your website is local SEO-ready? We’ve got some tips, including:
- Set up a Google Business Profile: Google is going to have a much easier time finding your nonprofit and sharing it with searchers if you let them know your info, so be sure to set up a thorough and up-to-date Google Business Profile.
- Keep your location and information current: This may seem obvious, but making sure your address is updated and visible on all review services and socials—Yelp!, Facebook, G2— and search engines are key to both searchers finding your nonprofit and search engines trusting it.
- Interact with your accounts: Going back to outdated websites, we’ve seen too many nonprofits apply the “set it and forget it” method to their sites, updating only for email capture and occasional event announcements. With nearly 95% of searchers rating businesses that interact with reviews more positively, staying up on recent feedback and reaching out can go a long way to maximizing local SEO.
- Hire a nonprofit web design agency: Want to guarantee your local SEO is handled by experts so you have more time to devote to your mission? Reach out to nonprofit web design agencies for free consults, inquiries, and general info to ensure you hire the right agency for your needs.
Guarantee your SEO strategy is working as hard as you are with our Technical SEO Audit Template.
Prioritizing Technical SEO in Your Website Build
We know general SEO is important, and local SEO is a surefire way to boost your visibility both online and in your community. That’s it for SEO, right? Almost.
The beauty and detriment of more no-code or low-code software out there (like our go-to, Webflow) is that technical SEO is often overlooked in personal website builds. Drag-and-drop images, AI generated copy, customizable templates—it’s easier than ever to build a fully functional website.
But, what about page structure? And heading hierarchy? And, especially for nonprofits, ADA compliance? A little lost? Don’t worry, we’ll explain.
When search engines crawl your website, they’re looking for the most pertinent information to who you are and what you do. Think of it like reading a book: you read the title first, then the author, table of contents, chapter, text. Google reads your website the same way, but, and here’s the catch, you have to be the one to make sure the website is structured in a way that tells Google this info.
How can you make sure the backend of your website is optimized? Important steps include:
- Run a basic website audit. This sounds more technical than it is, but all you need to do is visit your own website and scroll around. Do the pages link to one another smoothly? When you search for important keywords about your nonprofit, are they front and center or buried on the About page? Do you enjoy scrolling through your website, or does it feel like a chore? All of these are important considerations before making any technical changes.
- Review your cached pages. Okay, this one is a bit more complicated (we walk you through how to perform it here), but it’s the easiest way to discover how Google is seeing your site. Is all the text the same style across your cached pages? This means Google can’t determine what’s more important, and its crawlers are giving equal weight to everything on your site. Sounds fine in theory, but speed is important, and the faster Google discovers your nonprofit’s mission and purpose, the quicker it will return them to people searching for you.
- Restructure your website in your developer software (or hire a nonprofit web design agency to do it for you). If you’re comfortable performing the technical work yourself, go for it. But, we do recommend reaching out to and/or hiring a nonprofit web design agency for this step to ensure your website is optimized for your organization’s specific needs.
Is your nonprofit website almost ready for takeoff? Download our Website Checklist now!
Still, technical SEO is more than a well-structured site. Other necessary steps are:
- Image compression: If your website features lots of images, animations, and designs—and what website doesn’t nowadays, right?—compressing your files will increase site speed and functionality, without losing any of the visual quality.
- Meta data: Make sure Google and searchers know exactly what your web pages are all about with pertinent, concise meta titles and meta descriptions.
- Alt text: As a nonprofit, you’re a natural helper, and alt text is your website’s sidekick. Alt text provides visually impaired users with text that describes images and their function on the page, ensuring your website is ADA-compliant.
- ADA compliance: Speaking of, ADA compliance is vital for any website, and especially nonprofit sites. Running an audit of your website to ensure alt text is implemented, text contrast is available, forms are easily accessible, videos feature captions, and navigation options are present can guarantee a better user experience for everyone.
Low-code and No-code Developer Software is Your New Best Friend
Once your website is up and running, you want to make sure it remains current and operational. You could hire a nonprofit web design agency long-term to manage any bugs or bumps that occur, but the budget might not provide that flexibility. The solution? No- and low-code software.
With more website developers providing no-code build options, managing an optimized website is easier than ever, especially for the less tech-savvy. Companies like Slam favorite Webflow enable domain owners to make quick, on-page edits, image and blog uploads, and basic structural revisions to keep your website current for its entire lifespan.
Slam Media Lab: Your Expert Nonprofit Web Design Agency
So, when we said earlier that nonprofit web design agencies benefit everyone, we meant it. Sure, they boost site traffic and, hopefully, increase donors, donations, volunteers, and contributors to the nonprofit. But, an optimized and stunning website does so much more than that, such as:
- It makes your work easier, giving you more time to focus on your valuable mission
- It reaches and assists more communities, families, and/or animals in need through local SEO
- It gives all users a better overall experience, making their donation and/or volunteer process smoother
- It can help connect you with other nonprofits, charitable organizations, and mission-driven people to build a network of helpers
Focusing specifically on nonprofits that benefit from hiring a nonprofit web design agency, the answer remains the same: all of them. Slam Media Lab has worked with nonprofits across a ton of sectors, helping to advance essential work throughout communities across the country. These include:
- Educational nonprofits
- Agricultural nonprofit websites and social media
- Professional development nonprofits
- Public health nonprofits
- Charity nonprofit websites
Contact us today to learn more about what our nonprofit web design agency can offer your organization, and let’s elevate your vital mission together!
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