Paul Rodney Turner — Food for Life Global (FFLG) co-founder — reached out to Ardor SEO for effective search engine optimization (SEO) services in 2019. Since then, the platform has witnessed massive growth and presence in search results. With pin-sharp web optimization, SEO tools integrations, and high-ranking articles, FFLG grew in popularity among charity websites.
What was the focus for us? At ArdorSEO, the goal at the time was to drive up search volumes and donation values for FFLG.
In this in-depth charity SEO case study, we delve into Food for Life Global's relationship with Ardor SEO, examining how the latter delivered effective and long-lasting optimizations in record time. We'll also consider the most relevant strategies that can help you.
If you'd like to set your charity site in the top pages of search results, contact Ardor SEO, and we'll start you up in the right direction. But first, let's show you how we improved FFLG's brand authority using state-of-the-art SEO techniques.About Paul Rodney Turner and Food for Life Global (FFLG)
“I used to be conceited once but now I know I’m brilliant” – Rodney Turner
Paul Rodney Turner co-founded the Food for Life Global (FFLG) initiative in 1995. At the time, FFLG started out trying to facilitate peace and prosperity worldwide through vegan-based meal distributions to the needy.
The initiative drew inspiration from an Indian guru — A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada — in 1974. After witnessing a group of children battle for food scraps, the guru instructed his students to ensure no individual within 10 miles of the temple went hungry. His followers implemented this instruction immediately, and FFLG got established on this mandate.
What’s more, FFLG volunteers were the first respondents to render humanitarian assistance in the troubled Chechnya region (1994 to 1996), providing over 2 million meals to displaced individuals and families.
Since then, the Food for Life Global initiative has eclipsed benchmarks the United Nations World Food Programme initially set. It achieved such an incredible feat by serving an estimated 1,000,000 vegan-based meals daily.
Besides co-founding Food for Life Global (FFLG), Paul Rodney Turner ran OM Guarantee — a company that uses Blockchain Technology to analyze the lifecycle of social impacts by charity organizations.
These days, the organization caters to schools and disaster areas with mobile vans. FFLG has a versatile charitable profile, with unique programs like Leave a Legacy, Sponsor a Child, and Help Animals in their résumé.Before and After | FFLG's Transformation With Ardor SEO Leading the Charge
When Paul Rodney Turner's FFLG struck a partnership with us in 2019, the platform's rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs) needed a better position and higher overall website traffic.
For context, FFLG's organic traffic was 253 in November 2019. As an organization seeking global reach, that number could have looked better. The low traffic score got worse with the new ranking algorithm measures released frequently. They needed a feasible plan for growth and visibility.
Paul called on us to get his organization back on track, so we engaged free tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. That way, we determined Food for Life Global's site traffic position and the issues preventing FFL's web pages from hitting high SERP rankings.
Expectedly, drawing out a solid SEO strategy for the site’s visibility was somewhat challenging - thorough SEO isn't a cakewalk. However, we leveraged our wealth of experience and expertise and found the right formula in no time.
Organic Reach
Organic reach when FFLG worked with Ardor SEO in November 2019
FFLG's organic reach has increased from 254 (November 2019) to healthy traffic values worth 9.6K. Additionally, all niche-related keywords (174) rank among the top three online search results on Google.
FFLG's organic reach (2022) after Ardor SEO employed top-tier SEO strategies
Exponential Donation Growth
A non-profit organization, Food for Life Global (FFLG) relies on fundraising events and donations to sponsor its commitment to ending world hunger.
Since FFLG's journey with Ardor SEO began, donations have increased from $7,400 (2019) to $300,000 (2022), an impressive 4000% increase.
If your website has been struggling with the same issues on search engines, our charity SEO services can help you rank over other pages to attain high visibility.
Practical Strategies We Used to Boost Food for Life Global's Traffic and Search Engine Rankings
Despite SEO's importance to search rankings, many site administrators still need to learn how to implement it properly. Search engine optimization should help you establish your website's value to search engines like Google and Bing. However, you’d have to compete with many other platforms in your niche.
Therefore, fixing the right keywords in your web pages is crucial for visibility to search engine algorithms.
The mistake we’ve noticed many charity website owners make is thinking their business models will sell and rank high on Google search results without integrating SEO.
Sadly, they might only realize SEO's relevance search when they need the traffic. Some don’t get to make things right before the site packs up.
Don't wait until your platform becomes almost non-existent on search rankings; Ardor SEO has proven and tested SEO tips and techniques to place your website at the top of Google or Bing's search engine results pages (SERPs). Here are some SEO tips and techniques we employed to ensure FFLG's improved visibility:
#1 Website Optimization
Website optimization determines how well a site runs. A well-optimized website must be intuitive across multiple devices, with swift page load times and descriptive text. These enable visitors to understand the platform's purpose.
Today's internet users appreciate speed and convenience. Therefore, a site seeking to rank at the top of search results can't afford to have technical issues on its main web pages. If that happens, reduced visits and search queries become the norm.
To ensure Food for Life Global's website was well-optimized to satisfy visitors and make our SEO strategy work without hiccups, we applied these optimization techniques:
Mobile-Friendly and Swift-Loading Platform
The FFLG site passed the "Core Web Vitals Assessment" test with high marks
A recent report shows 83.07% of the world's population have mobile devices. Another statistic indicates that smartphones execute 60% of online searches, and effective SEO strategies factor in mobile platforms.
Since Google tends to favor sites with a streamlined and mobile-friendly platform, it's unsurprising that many charity organizations go all out to ensure their websites have fast load times and aesthetically-pleasing themes to attract potential donors and prevent negative SEO.
On the Food for Life Global website, we integrated an on-page SEO initiative to make the platform load up swiftly for visitors using mobile web browsers — all within one second.
Great Message Targeting
Effective communication with its target audience is crucial for any organization to thrive. Through message customization, charity website visitors and donors can identify with the company's vision and mission.
Targeted messaging lets prospects know your platform, understand your charity's needs and provide swift solutions.
A captivating Call to Action (CTA) also helps: formulating one allows you to personalize visitors' experience as they engage your platform seamlessly.
Fix Technical Issues as They Occur
Technical issues like disjointed Google Ads and unnecessary pop-ups can leave prospects dissatisfied. Likewise, an organization aiming to rank on the first page of search results must fix broken URL paths and upgrade low-quality images to make navigation pleasant and seamless.
Google typically notes platforms with excessive technical problems. If administrators don’t resolve these issues as soon as they happen, a site can get repressed and delisted. If that happens, people who search for a keyword in that niche get redirected to competitors with better website experiences.
When we partnered with Paul Rodney Turner in 2019, the FFLG site was outdated, with old themes, plugins, and permalink structures. We implemented massive tweaks and changes to get the website back in shape.
For example, our team conducted a "toxic link" analysis to spot URLs stopping the site from ranking high on online search results. We found over 1,000 toxic links and deleted them. The removal boosted FFLG’s rank on Google SERPs.
#2 Boosted Organic Traffic By Posting High Ranking Articles
The internet has come a long way from when people utilized its nascent capabilities to buy things.
Nowadays, most internet users favor websites with exciting and diverse content relevant to their interests. Standard features such as blogs, forums, photos, and videos are vital components of an enjoyable user experience for the average netizen. If a website provides quality content and services such as these, it is almost guaranteed to get a steady flow of visitors.
Admittedly, many pressing topics need to be discussed in the charity sector. Site administrators should embrace these complicated conversations to maximize impact on readers and increase engagement instead of ignoring them.
Translating complex stories into more relatable versions adds a personal touch that resonates more with audiences. It's also an effective way to integrate keywords related to charity operations, allowing readers to access crucial information conveniently and quickly. This approach can help charities foster positive relationships with their audience while increasing awareness of their efforts.
Since Google considers quality content when ranking sites, a site with multiple articles will likely stay at the top of search engine results pages longer. Google doesn't favor high-ranking articles aimlessly. They must be in-depth, quality, authoritative content. We created article posts integrating the following critical elements to maintaining SEO relevance:
Title Tags
Title tags tell search engines and readers the purpose of your web page, letting them know what type of content to expect.
Keywords placed at the start of title tags help draw more attention to your page, so it's essential to make sure you're using as much relevant information as possible without exceeding the 60-character limit. It may take some practice, but once you get it right, your web page will be off to a strong start!
Before forming a title tag, consider the article or blog post's intent. Do you seek donations? Is it to sensitize people on pressing humanitarian issues?
Optimizing your website's title tag is vital to ensure that your prospects can find you when they enter relevant search terms. Take some time to think about the right combinations of keywords and phrases so you can capture potential donors' attention.
Research related terms and use the ones most likely used by your target audience in the title tag for a more targeted approach. Adding singular and plural versions or synonyms of the topics can expand visibility and facilitate a higher ranking in search engine results.
Meta Description
Meta descriptions are the text blocks under a title tag in search results, and they give visitors a summary of the article.
Ardor SEO creates compelling meta descriptions; besides giving an overview, we add a CTA to encourage users to open the article.
For example, our piece on Thoughtful Gifting | Make a Donation in Someone’s Name has a meta description with an overview and CTA. Little wonder it ranks 4th on SERPs.
Headings
Headings provide structure to any article. Without them, write-ups might be incomprehensible and hard to read. When creating articles or blog posts, headings must have keywords to make search engines identify their value.
All articles we draft for FFLG have catchy headings with primary and secondary keywords integrated.
For instance, we use primary keywords for the article's main heading (H1) and secondary keywords for H2s and H3s. Such techniques help readers and search engine algorithms understand our pieces easily.
Alt Text
Although it may seem hard to believe, Google's algorithms can't interpret pictures within an article independently. So website content creators must write a descriptive explanation for each photo in a piece. This explanation is an "alt text" and helps Googlebot crawlers understand the image and its place within the write-up.
Using our highest-ranking article (SERP position: 1st + featured image) — Children Hunger Statistics — for perspective, featured images all have short and punchy alt texts to increase the article's relevance.
Anchor Text
An anchor text is a hyperlinked phrase that leads to another web page. These texts are important, and search engines authenticate them to see if they're related to the content featured on the linked page.
When drafting anchor texts for FFLG articles, we always take the "punchy" approach - short, clear, and active. These texts typically include three to six words.
For example, one of our articles — Donations in Memory of the Deceased — uses the "in honor of someone" anchor text. Linking this text back to the page's main title, you can find the correlation, which ultimately points to "cherishing memories."
The concise and descriptive nature of this anchor text, alongside other on-page SEO elements, ranks this page 3rd on search result pages.Since November 2019
we've published over 65 high-quality articles for the Food for Life Global website to cement its place as a "charity" authority.
#3 Strategic Link Building
Link building involves placing URLs on other sites that lead back to our target site — Food for Life Global (FFLG). This SEO tactic ranks as one of the most effective as it grants the platform authority in its niche or sector.
Notable link types include:
Internal links
External links
Backlink links
Internal links connect your valuable article or write-up to other critical pages on your website. On the other hand, external links tie your site's content to information from other reputable platforms, delivering value to site visitors in a way that doesn't overshadow your platform's offerings.
Backlinks ensure that your content reaches the right audience and establishes you or your service as a credible source of information.
These link types are essential because they unify platforms, allowing viewers to learn more about you and eventually come to your website if they are interested in the resources you provide. Those connections, even if small, can make all the difference in growing your online presence.
Formulating top-notch and comprehensive content ranking on the top three search results helped us create organic backlinks leading to our site.
#4 Creating Compelling CTAs and Optimizing Donor Boxes to Maximize Donations
One-liner CTA alongside "Donor Box" on the FFLG site (home page)
Besides formulating CTAs to capture visitors' interests, we placed the "Donate Now" icon on all FFLG-related posts and press releases to increase conversions.
With cryptocurrency's popularity, we gave potential donors the luxury of making donations through a unique innovation called "Giving Block."
Thus, we've been able to list FFLG on multiple cryptocurrency platforms, increasing donation amounts in the process.
Charity donors can donate on the FFLG platform using cryptocurrencies
Donor boxes across the site embed an analytics code to track donations in real-time via Google Analytics.
These integrations yielded tremendous dividends in terms of donations. Here's Food for Life Global's contribution trajectory since they engaged our competent charity SEO services:
2019: The start of FFLG's partnership with Ardor SEO. This charity organization was making $7,400 in donations at the time.
2020: FFLG expands its customer base and gathers $97,000 in donations for the year.
2021: The FFLG and Ardor SEO partnership remains strong, with the former achieving donation values worth $163,000.
If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.
Want to help
Food For Life Global?
SEO for Charities: Frequently Asked Questions
It's pretty straightforward. Just conduct a Google search of your charity site. You need an SEO strategy if it doesn't feature among the first five results.
However, SEO implementation isn't a one-time thing; it's a continuous process. It'll be best to engage the charity SEO services we offer to rank high and receive the donation amounts you seek.
Depending on the SEO strategy, your site can see positive results within six months to a year. This timeline is enough to earn your charity organization the organic traffic required for improved rankings on SERPs.
Although you can perform SEO on your site alone, this route isn't the best in the long run. Since you'll probably be executing other activities, consider leaving your site's SEO to professionals like Ardor SEO.