One of the hardest assignments students and nonprofits had a problem grasping were creating blogs. It was confusing for all parties involved. Nonprofit leaders were uncertain about why they needed blogs on their website and how to position them to help their nonprofits. Students found it difficult to write a blog when they were accustomed to writing structured papers all throughout college, and how to utilize all the components of writing a blog. To be fair, writing a blog is difficult. But, it is also important.
It’s a Resource for Others
One of the main purposes of a blog is to serve as a resource for others. It provides extra insight and information that is not found on a regular website. As a resource, a blog is successful when it makes the author appear to be a subject matter expert in what they are blogging about. One of the nonprofits I oversaw for my internship this semester, Girls on the Run Palm Beach, created topics on exercises for young girls that will teach confidence, positivity, acceptance, and love. Although on their website, they are attempting to get membership into their girls running-curriculum based program, their new blog will give additional insight that will help to further persuade someone to enroll their daughter into the program.
Google Loves Them
Another main purpose of a blog is for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes. Because a blog is meant to serve as a resource, Google will consider this as a resource and rank a nonprofits website higher. So, every nonprofit should be implementing keywords throughout their blog posts for Google and other search engines to use in their algorithms. Keywords are also not enough, as search engines scan for relevant and quality content about the subject at hand. Back to my example about Girls on the Run, if someone were to search confidence exercises for young girls, it would take them to the corresponding blog post from the search engine.
In no way should blogs sound like a sales pitch, instead it should be helpful and authentic. This will help readers to relate to the nonprofits mission and be more inclined to help. Sure, a call-to-action at the end of the blog is the standard, but there shouldn’t be a full-blown sales pitch anywhere in the blog. The more organic and human the blog sounds, the more well-received it will be.
