NCCS Online Visibility Campaign
The Challenge
NCCS has struggled with maintaining high rankings and relevancy in the search engine world and was eager to increase its visibility and increase traffic to the website. And, while the organization had a presence on Facebook and other social media sites, it wasn’t actively engaging its audience on a regular basis.
The Solution
At its core, NCCS had a lot of quality Web content – it was just locked in PDF files, which search engines have a very difficult time scanning and linking. It was imperative these resources found their way onto the site. After reviewing site analytics, I discovered that the majority of traffic to the site came from direct links; a sign that new visitors weren’t coming to NCCS through search engine referrals. Another challenge uncovered through analytics is that an overwhelming majority of users perform cancer-specific searches. However, NCCS’s materials aren’t cancer-specific and, instead, marketed as resources for all cancer patients and survivors. It was clear an online advertising campaign was needed to link cancer-specific keywords to NCCS resources.
The Result
I developed an information architecture strategy that incorporated converting NCCS publications into easily navigated Web content. During the website redesign, standard SEO practices were applied when building the new site, including meta descriptions, proper use of HTML tags, and increased use of common search keywords. Within the first month, NCCS rose to the top among common organizational keyword searches – the first time in the organization’s history.
Coupled with the launch of the SEO-friendly website, I initiated a multifaceted online advertising campaign through Google and Facebook, targeting keywords related to common, specific cancers and issues patients face when diagnosed. The campaign is running through the end of 2011 and has already increased visibility and traffic to key NCCS resources.
Finally, I capitalized on Facebook’s increased flexibility in group and page customization to create an interactive welcome landing page for NCCS that aggregates news, resources and stories of cancer survivorship directly from the NCCS website using advanced RSS feeds.