nonprofit event promotion

Recently, a trade association we work with learned that its members were affected by some underhanded, deceptive search engine optimization (SEO) techniques by a shady SEO provider. The SEO provider, hired by a non-member company in their industry, littered YouTube with multiple copies of the same video, tagging members’ company names, in order to deceptively drive web search engine traffic their own way.

SEO is important to most businesses these days, and there are a lot of SEO companies out there that can help (or harm) a business as it tries to increase its search rankings. But how do you spot a bad SEO company? How do you select a good one?

In general, good SEO companies will use techniques that are ethical and involve no deception. This can take time and money, but the results can make it worth it. Bad SEO companies, on the other hand, often employ deceptive practices that are not approved by search engines, which can result in a site eventually being banned, de-indexed or penalized through lower rankings. Any short-term gain received by bad, deceptive SEO practices is NOT worth this kind of risk.

Bad SEO (or what some call black hat SEO) techniques include keyword stuffing, doorway and cloaked pages, link farming, hidden texts and links, and blog comment spamming. Good SEO (or what some call white hat SEO) techniques include research, analysis, re-writing meta tags to be more relevant, content improvement and web redesign.

Below are several tips and red flags to help you recognize a bad SEO company and avoid getting scammed:

1. They Offer Free Trial Services…and Want Access to Your Website.

Companies using this tactic may make you an offer to try their services free for 30 days, if you’ll just give them access to your site. This is a red flag. Don’t do it. Never give your website login info to anyone offering you a free trial or to anyone else you do not know and trust.

2. You Were Made Aware of the Company Only through Email.

Unsolicited SEO offers via email or a cold call should give you pause. Spammers often use spiders to crawl for a list of URLs and email addresses, so when you get an unsolicited offer via email from someone who claims to have visited your site, be wary and realize that may not be entirely true. Do your research before hiring any SEO company.

3. Their Services are Under Priced or Overpriced.

Beware of really inexpensive SEO service offers from sites like Fiverr and Elance. Good SEO takes time, expertise and working within the rules. Be leery of someone offering services at a significantly low (or high) price.

4. They Make Promises and Guarantees About First Page (or First Rank) Positions on Google or Other Search Engines.

Good, effective SEO cannot be done quickly, unless it is done using bad practices. It takes time, research and likely some rework on your website to do it well. Do not do business with anyone that promises a particular page rank or page ranking in a short time frame. Ranking is done periodically by Google, not on a daily basis, and nothing you can do will speed up the process. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months for a page to get ranked, and your ranking is also impacted by other sites’ rankings.

5. You Are Promised Hundreds (or Thousands) of Links to Your Site.

Lahle Wolfe, CEO of LA Wolfe Marketing says: “Any links you get from such claims are more likely to hurt your site than to help it. Building links too fast to the wrong sites is considered black hat SEO and could damage the credibility of your website in search engines. If Google catches you building links with black hat strategies, your site will be penalized or blacklisted.” Instead, she recommends spending time building your own quality in-bound links by offering meaningful content and suggests avoiding reciprocal linking (an old SEO tactic that is no longer a good idea). “Robots are smart and know when you are trying to cheat the system,” she advises.

6. Companies That Are Not Easy to Reach and/or Will Not Answer Your Questions.

Ask questions (and lots of them). If you get the runaround or get told the answer is a “trade secret technique,” look elsewhere. You are hiring experience, not trade secrets when you work with an SEO company. You should also be able to easily find the SEO company – online, via phone (and not just a cell phone) or meet with them in person. You should also know who is going to do the majority of the work. Will it be done in-house or will it be outsourced to people in another country? Will they answer these questions?

7. The Company Does Not Easily Refer You to Past Clients.

Ask for referrals. If the company refuses, is hesitant or only gives you a couple references, it may be best to look elsewhere for SEO help. It may be that the SEO company is to blame for the deceptive videos pumped out on YouTube that affected our client’s members, but the company they did the SEO work for will be the one reported and harmed. It’s important to choose carefully and to have a clear understanding of what the SEO company will be doing for you and their techniques.

Note: This article was adapted from an article we originally wrote for the North Texas Roofing Contractors Association.

During Thrive PR’s 10 years in business, we have promoted many different types and sizes of events — from conferences to galas to festivals, theater productions and more.

Because many organizations – especially nonprofits and trade associations – rely heavily on events to sustain their missions and operations, we wanted to pass along several tips for successfully promoting your next event:

1. Target Market. Our golden rule is: always start with your target market. Who is your target market, in terms of attendees? Sponsors? Those to help you spread the word? Think about who the decision makers are, not just who you want to attend the event.

2. Planning. Start planning, if possible, 6 to 12 months in advance. The sooner you have the who, what, where, when (and why) details nailed, the sooner you can start promoting your event. We have never heard a client lament about starting the planning process too soon.

3. Branding. Brand your event with a name and logo of its own — one that appeals to your target market and does not conflict with your organization’s brand in terms of color, style, message or other attributes. Make sure your event logo and materials are professionally designed and that the designer knows how to create materials for web use, professional printing and signage. Also, be consistent in your branding across all of your communication efforts.

4. Website. Make sure your event information is on your website and that it can be found easily. Update your site as new activities, speakers, sponsors, etc. are added, and make sure that the event information is easy to find. Don’t make it difficult for visitors to figure out how to attend, buy tickets or sponsor your event.

5. Social Media. Share event details on your social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Instagram. Post topics could include: activities, photos, sponsors, special guests, speakers, agenda info., purchase info., media coverage, deadlines, new announcements, etc. Not all channels are necessarily appropriate for every organization or event. Think about your target market(s) and where they can be found and reached.

6. Email. Email communications/email blasts are a timely and cost-effective way to get the word out to your email database (which you should be mindful of growing all year, every year). I often see organizations fall into one of two categories related to email: they either hardly use this tool, for fear of being a nuisance to their database, OR they inundate people with emails. There is a fabulous place in the middle, and that’s where you should aim to be!

7. Media Relations. Write and send a press release about your event to appropriate media outlets. Be sure that your press release includes who, what, where, when, why and that it’s written using AP Style guidelines. Magazines and industry trade journals have a much longer lead-time than newspapers, TV or radio, so keep their deadlines in mind. Follow up with key media contacts (but not just to say – “hey, did you get my press release?”).

8. Printed Materials. Don’t forget about printed materials you’ll need before (and the day of) your event, such as invitations, marketing postcards, ads, signage, posters/fliers and the event program.

9. Sponsors. Recognize your sponsors (unless they wish to remain anonymous) in all of the above. And recognize them often. Include them, as appropriate, in your press release, on your website, in email blasts, in social media posts, on invitations, on marketing postcards, on posters/fliers, in ads, on signage at the event, in the event program and during the event (have the emcee publicly thank and recognize them). If you can get a media sponsor(s), invite a radio or TV sponsor to serve as your emcee or a magazine sponsor to distribute copies of their publication to your guests (note: it can be much more difficult for a new event or organization to obtain a media sponsor).

10. Photos. Get high-resolution photos taken during your event, preferably by a professional photographer. Post them, afterward, on social media channels and use them to promote next year’s event. Be sure to give photo credit to the photographer.

11. Post-Event Promotion. Your event promotion work is NOT over when the event is. Post photos on social media channels, add a few photos to your website, send thank you messages via email, send high-resolution photos to media outlets (if appropriate) and mail cards and/or letters to say thank you to sponsors, donors, speakers, volunteers and other contributors who made your event a success.

12. Pre-Planning for Next Year. Shortly after your event, hold a meeting to discuss what worked, what didn’t, ideas and steps to take the next year!

If you need help promoting your next event (yes, here’s the shameless plug), please contact us at Thrive PR to discuss how we can help! Contact Kelly Kirkendoll at kelly@thrivepublicrelations.com or 972.330.2882.

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12 Tips for Promoting Your Organization’s Next Event