Regaining lost ground

Learning how to harness the power of the internet is something that most pro-life organisations have yet to learn.

A 17-year-old girl discovers she is pregnant. She is no longer dating her boyfriend and feels scared and alone. Rather than turn to her parents for advice and support, she logs onto Google and searches for 'unplanned pregnancy'. The websites she finds will heavily influence whether or not she continues with her pregnancy.

What is the outcome of her searching? At the time of writing, not one of the websites presented will encourage her to keep her unborn child. In fact, seven of the first ten results are links to abortion providers or websites supported by pro-choice organisations (eg, Marie Stopes International). Similar results are produced for searches on 'abortion help' and 'abortion information'.

Pro-choice organisations are vitally aware of the importance of the internet in a pregnant woman's decision making process. For example, Marie Stopes International opened their online 'abortion information chat service' after feedback showed that "when it comes to seeking out information on sexual health services, women have nominated the internet as their second preferred avenue for information after their GP." (1)

As it stands today, the pro-choice movement is winning the abortion war. By moving with the times and harnessing the power of the internet, these organisations are ensuring their message is heard.

Regaining Lost Ground: Investing Online

For pro-life organisations, a dramatic shift in campaigning priorities is required. It is no longer enough to simply publish a template-driven website, created by an untrained operator, and then direct all attention to ‘taking action on the streets’. Funds need to be invested online, which one could say is now the 'frontline' in this war against abortion.

First impressions count: Design is important

Firstly, the website. To be taken seriously, the site should have an appealing design and provide informative content that is easy to navigate. It is recommended that a professional designer be engaged for the initial development. A professional, custom website can be acquired for as little as $1000-$2000 (depending on the number of pages required). It will likely be the most 'influential' campaigning investment the organisation ever makes.

Be Visible in Google: Implement Basic SEO Techniques

Secondly, if the website is to have any chance of being effective, it must rank highly in the major search engines - namely, Google, Yahoo! and nineMSN. Of these, Google is by far the most important with 88% of the search market in Australia. (2)

Many pro-choice organisations are well funded (e.g. GetUp.org.au and Emily's List). They therefore have the advantage of being able to commission professional Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) firms. However, it is still possible for non-profit, pro-life organisations to rank well if they focus on implementing five key optimisation techniques:

1. Include the search term on the page. For a page to rank on a certain keyword, then that keyword MUST appear on the page itself! It's sounds so obvious, but if it often completely overlooked. So, if a pro-life organisation wants their website to be found on searches for 'unplanned pregnancy', those words must appear on the page. However, the position of the keywords is also important...

2. Include the search term in the Title and Description tags. These are the two most important meta-tags because they are often displayed in the search results. The Title is what appears in blue in the Google search results. When you click on the link, you will notice those exact words appear along the top of the computer screen. The Description tag, more often than not, appears as the black text in a website's search listing. These tags should be included in the head section of the HTML. (NB: The meta-tags of any web page can be viewed by selecting "View - Source" on the browser.)

3. Include the search term in the headings and several times through the content. Headings should be placed in h1 tags e.g. <h1>Unplanned Pregnancy Counselling</h1>. Search engines identify words within h1 tags as ‘top level’ headings (i.e. highly relevant content). When trying to incorporate keywords through the text, do it naturally. Don't overdo it! Writing the keyword over and over again is called 'keyword stuffing' and could lead to Google removing the site from the index. A good rule of thumb is to make sure the 'keyword' appears no more than 5% of the time.

4. Get other related sites to link back TO your site. This is one of the most important factors that Google considers when ranking websites. In essence, Google ranks sites based on popularity and relevancy. A link TO a website is considered by Google to be a 'vote' for that site. The site with the most 'votes' wins. However, it should be noted that the quality of the link is also important. For instance, for a pregnancy counselling service, a link from a major hospital's website site will have more weighting with Google than a link from the local florist.

5. Use the free Google tools. Google provides numerous useful free tools to assist webmasters in improving their ranking in the search results. The best place to start is www.google.com/webmasters. Upload a text-based site map and you'll be indexed with Google, which is the first step to appearing in the search results. The tools also allow you to learn what sites are linking to your site and what keywords are generating search traffic.

By working through the above steps, the ranking of any website can be improved.

In this digital age, a high ranking website is worth thousands of flyers or placards. To remain relevant, pro-life organisations must start directing a significant proportion of campaign funds to online initiatives - starting with a professional website that is carefully structured to rank highly in Google.

Darren Sproats is the director of a Melbourne-based website services firm.

Notes
(1) What women want when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, Marie Stopes International/WebSurvey, Nov 2006
(2) Source: HitWise June 2008 Search Engine Update