Community Outreach And Local SEO: Do They Go Hand-in-hand? 

Community outreach is one of the biggest services you can offer mankind! It is somewhat like community service but not entirely the same. Community outreach is a noble cause that you cannot let yourself miss the opportunity to help a needy community.

Yes, we know your pain point too well. Being in the business of community welfare can be tough. These are some roadblocks with funds running dry occasionally and not getting enough volunteers.   

Worry no more! With the help of local SEO, you can boost your community outreach easily!  

What Is Community Outreach, and How Can SEO Help?

Let us enlighten you if you are just here for light reading and have no idea about community outreach. Community outreach mainly deals with providing services to a group or community of people who do not have access to them.

For example, providing hygiene training to people living in a homeless shelter.

Community outreach differs from community service in that the service helps benefit an overall community. Not just a part of that community, as in the example above. For instance, cleaning up trash from a beach or park would be community service.

How can local SEO help a community outreach organization? Simply put, it will help the organization keep doing its good work. Simply boost your organization’s online presence!

SEO is an abbreviation for search engine optimization, a digital marketing technique that helps online businesses boost their business. SEO professionals help optimize web pages, websites, and their content so that they rank higher.

Why Is Search Engine Optimization Relevant Here?

Search engines crawl a web page to read it thoroughly and know about the content that they are offering. This helps them ‘acknowledge’ that page, adding them to their database known as indexes.   

Crawlers begin reading from a known web page and follow the links there. These links may be ‘out-going,’ i.e., they are linking to another page that is different but relevant to the known page’s content. At least that’s how it should be.   

 This is crucial in the search engine’s comprehension of what your site is all about. And how relevant the content is to all the other pages within its index. It is the most important thing to remember, as Google penalizes pages if there is anything fishy in spots.

Now that we know what’s up, it is only organic to follow through on how it can help your community outreach efforts.

Role Of Local SEO In Boosting Your Community Outreach

Local SEO can help you make an impression in your local community digitally. One can promote their services in several ways: rely on word of mouth, share flyers with your advertising, or even take the door-to-door approach.

But in this fast-paced life, people hardly have time to choose any of those manual advertising efforts. There are several ways that local businesses rely on to promote their services and attract potential customers. Being online is one of them.

It is a no-brainer that everything has taken a digital shift. And it’s for the better if we look at the ease of access this provides. So, why should your community outreach miss out?   

You can use the help of SEO professionals to boost your organization’s presence with the help of local SEO. It is no different from taking the help of an advertising agency, but it’s just that they are experts in SEO.

What does that mean?

This means that whenever someone searches for community outreach locally, your organization will pop up for them. For example, if your organization is based in San Francisco, and someone staying in the area searches for community outreach, your organization shows up in the search results.

Through local SEO’s help, you invite people around you to connect with your services and do good for the community.

If you are a community outreach organization with no online presence, you need not worry; you’ve found this article in time! Through the help of local SEO, you can easily use their resources to boost your local visibility.

Starting small will also help you make a dent in the global market, but for that, you will have to start somewhere. This is when you can boost your online presence across the region while helping the communities around you thrive.

Let’s look at the key elements of local SEO that can help your community outreach initiatives.

How Does Local SEO Help?

Local SEO strategies can help you attract customers and improve your online presence. There are several key elements that your organization can get help with from the local SEO service. These are:

Boosting Your Google Business Profile With The Help Of Local SEO

Google My Business (now called Google Business Profile) is a service by Google that helps your business connect with customers. It helps you edit your business information, thus getting insights on how people should find you.

Creating a Google business profile is free, and you can take advantage of your physical location and customer interaction, which can help you improve your business’s presence. Local SEO can help set up your Google Business Profile, which is important for businesses like yours.

Your products and services can help your customers with critical information.

Your details will be filled in for a real-life postcard, a Google verification process. Alternatively, they can verify your business by phone or email. Then, you can check your verification status through the dedicated page on the platform.

Local SEO: On-Page and Off-Page

Google Business Profile is not where it ends. The local SEO will only show positive results after your site’s on-page and off-page SEO is impeccable, for Your site should climb the ranks and show up in the top results whenever someone searches for community outreach. Your site and local content should be well-optimized.

The on-page SEO will include looking at your site’s look and ‘feel’ and using key SEO ingredients (keywords, other optimization techniques.) These can help boost your visibility. 

When your site is optimized and matches the information on your Google Business Profile, you are more likely to see a positive impact on your ranking.   

Boost Ranking

Local SEO efforts will help your website rank better on Google Local Search as they will optimize your site. You should not worry about visibility if your site is optimized and has all relevant and authentic information. The thing is, Google adores authenticity and authority.   

Local SEO efforts will focus on making your site match the customer’s search intent. It will also use the power of proximity to boost your business. Collaborating with SEO professionals to use proximity as a ranking factor can be useful!   

For example, showcasing your local outreach efforts online by sharing pictures would be a good idea. It will help people (and Google) identify your location and make it easier for you to rank in local searches.   

Maintain activity

Once your site is up and running, you must go hand-in-hand with your SEO professionals to keep it active. Inactive sites are neither appreciated by Google, your customers, or people looking to avail your services.   

You can actively check reviews, update them with new photos, and post content on your website to align them.   

Continuous engagement will only help you! It will help you understand your community better, helping you tailor your outreach effectively. You can also mention that you encourage face-to-face interactions.   

Use local keywords to boost your visibility.

Local SEO thrives on targeting local keywords. Using keywords that use your location, your outreach efforts can see a boost in local search results. Local keywords will take you closer to what your customers are looking for, making you the perfect solution to their community outreach needs.   

Online reviews

Online reviews give a signal to Google that your services are genuine and that you provide a solution to people’s problems. You can ask your customers to leave a review on Google so that it helps build confidence in other customers.

Thus, optimizing or setting up your Google Business Profile, targeting local keywords, and managing online reviews are important for your community outreach. And local SEO can help you excel in all these avenues.   

Key Points To Consider

Once you’re done setting up your website and a Google business profile, your (and local SEO’s) work does not end there. Your joint efforts will be needed in these areas:   

• Creating local content on your website. It is only helpful for your business if you keep your site active with the help of blogs, articles, and guides that show people what your efforts are all about. You can add a unique touch to these by sharing the community members’ testimonials or their stories.   
• Mobile optimization. Everything is now available on a finger’s tap. That’s how technologically advanced this generation has become. When you launch your website, you cannot be sure everyone will access it through a laptop or PC.   
  You should optimize your site for mobile use. Local search results will see you frequently once your site is mobile optimized, giving the visitors a seamless experience.   
• Local SEO efforts will include building local backlinks that can help your site gain backlinks from reputable local sites. This is a way of building a relationship with that organization. It can even appear in the local directory. With influencers in full swing, you can even reach out to local influencers who resonate with your brand’s message.   
• Monitor the local SEO efforts. SEO professionals can do this using specified tools.   

Wrapping It Up!

 Local SEO can help boost your community outreach efforts by putting you on the map. Quite literally! This article describes how community outreach differs from community service and how local SEO can help differentiate it locally.   

If you require assistance with local SEO or need any recommendations, let us know in the comments below!