Seasonal Trends
Visibility Vs Authority
Link Acquisition
Content Performance
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Updated November 2024
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In our 2024 edition of the Salience Charity Market Report, we examine the top-performing online charitable organisations that are setting the example in SEO. We also take a look at those falling behind on the rankings, highlighting key areas for improvement. Analysing over 100 different charities, we dive deep into keyword opportunities, brand reach, and reviews.
Sharing expert insights on how the market is performing as well as where your brand ranks against competitors, our report is designed to help your business excel in the world of SEO.
In need of a helping hand to boost your rankings? Download the free Charity Market Report or keep reading for our top insights.
In our latest sector report, we’ve given a helping hand to charity sites, taking a deep dive into how charitable organisations perform online. If you’re at the helm of such a site, this is a must-read report – what’s more, it’s completely free!
We’ve gifted those looking for an online leg-up with a generous portion of insights into the online space. From top to bottom, we take a look under the hood of the top 100 charities and run through the most important online metrics, including visibility, social performance, page speed, and more.
Online charities have many features and considerations which set them apart from the big e-comm sites. As such, we’ve taken a closer look into the mechanics of their sites within this report to really get a feel of what makes a charity site tick – we’re talking content placement, transparency, and everything in between.
Looking for an online charity cheat sheet which will broaden your understanding of the market and help to improve your sites organic rankings? Look no further – get the free report now.
As a whole, the online charity space has suffered a -9% decline over the past year. While this may have been partly down to the financial implications of external factors, this indicates an online space which is ripe for rejuvenation.
What better time than now to kick your site into gear with the help of our insights. Not all online charity sites went the way of the overall market, however. In fact, some have had stellar years.
Sites like Children’s Society enjoyed a mammoth climb of 70%, while Comic Relief, NSPCC and PDSA all grew by over 30%. Some big names, such as the RSPCA, kept on an upward trajectory, with growth of 15% and a spot in our overall top 3. Away from the winners, however, the picture is far from rosy.
70% of the sample have hit negatives over the past year. Even up at the top end of the table, grips are being loosened. Take Cancer Research, for instance. While they sit in 2nd place overall, they’ve suffered a visibility decrease of -44% year on year. Their trajectory is heading in the wrong direction, and without a strategy to correct these losses, what’s gone up may well come down.
Want to see which position your charity landed in our rankings? Get your hands on a free copy of our report by downloading it today.
Here is a quick rundown of the top 10 online charity sites;
The top 5 fast growers in the online charity space are;
The 5 online charities who have gone through the biggest losses year on year are;
Social media is an incredibly useful, yet often under-utilised, tool. It’s safe to say there are varying fortunes across the online charities in our report. To assess social performance, we’ve devised a handy scoring criteria, taking followers and engagements into account across the big 4 of social media.
National Trust are our social media giants here, and a peek at their posts will tell you why. Their Owned Social Score of 4,019 dwarfs the competition, much of which is down to their 1 million Instagram followers.
Their posts are littered with idyllic images of the countryside, including educational posts around nature. They also focus on user contributions and engage their followers through ‘challenges’ revolving around user created content which earn a spot on their page.
Over on Twitter, they’re extremely responsive to their 902,300 followers. They encourage discussion from members as well as dealing with issues visitors may have had at their sites. They’re certainly the act to follow if you’re looking to put together a winning social strategy.
Here’s a quick look at the top 5 online charities who are killing it on social;
We also measured which names carry the most weight in this sphere. We do this by taking the overall social score alongside the number of branded searches each site receives. Having a strong brand reach and identity is particularly useful for those looking to achieve improved conversions with their charity site.
Here are the top 5 online charities who top the tree for brand reach;
Analysing where you sit in this brand hierarchy could be key to showing where you need to make tweaks. To survey the lay of the land, download the free report now.
Page speed is among the most vital indicators to Google’s ranking algorithm that your site is well-maintained and legitimate. Super speedy sites sit pretty in the SERPs, and the online charity space is no exception. Any site worth its salt takes page speed seriously and doesn’t leave potential donators waiting.
Here’s what PageSpeed Insights earmarked as the top 5 fastest online charity sites:
You can read more about the importance of page speed here.
If you’re a charity site looking to get your point across, you may be tempted to pen reams of enhanced explanatory content. You’d find yourself among the minority in doing so, however, per the findings of our report.
Straightforward content appears crucial to a well-run charity website. A whopping 83% of the top charities choose to present digestible chunks of vital information. After all, creating a steady donation stream is the primary purpose of most online charity websites, as evidenced by the focus on call to actions over reams of explanatory text.
A lack of enhanced copy hasn’t hampered the online presence of the big hitters. When it comes to visibility, the only charity in the top 10 found to have extended copy on their website is Cancer Research UK. 90% of the most visible charity sites focus on short, sharp, and meaningful content, engaging website visitors through imagery and layout.
Want to find out how to put together an effective content strategy for your site? Download the report today.
Displaying trustworthy and transparent information is particularly pertinent to online charities. After all, there’s no face-to-face door stopping at play here. Legitimacy has to be established through content and UX considerations. Or so it would seem.
As found in the report, only 38% of the sample charities give clear indications of exactly where the money is going. These include some of the more prominent names in the report. There are many ways to display this information to put donators minds at ease and educating them on where there many is going. Oxfam, for example, use attention-grabbing graphics.
A survey ran by Giftcoin suggests that improved transparency, particularly with regards to how money is spent, could see a 50% increase in donations. Opening the doors to the inner workings of a charity leaves potential donors with no questions. Food for thought for fundraising charities and NPO’s.
To find out how transparent your charity was found to be, download our free report today.
In tune with the charitable spirit, there’s no need to pay for this report. In fact, all of our sector reports are completely free. They’re our way of giving valuable industry insight while building relationships with organisations we’d love to work with. To download your free charity report now, simply use the form above.
As is the case with all of our reports, there is a threshold to hit. If your charity has fallen short, fear not. Our expert team are on hand to provide a personalised report and audit of your organisation. Get in touch and we’ll take care of the rest.
For more information about how these findings can help improve your online performance, get in touch from some friendly no-strings information on how we could create a tailored SEO strategy for you.
Charity Market Leaders
The online charity sector has increased its visibility by a steady 9% this year, providing the perfect opportunity for brands to accelerate their marketing. While some charities appear to have utilised this increase to their advantage, others have fallen behind.
These are the brands ranking highest in visibility in the charity market:
1. nationaltrust.org.uk
2. bhf.org.uk
3. cancerresearchuk.org
4. rspb.org.uk
5. ageuk.org.uk
6. diabetes.org.uk
7. rspca.org.uk
8. woodlandtrust.org.uk
9. mind.org.uk
10. macmillan.org.uk
Charity Market Visibility Wins & Losses
With the industry growing, some brands have seen noticeable increases over the past year. Most significantly, samaritans.org saw an impressive 53% increase in visibility, along with alzheimers.org.uk who went up by 47% YOY.
Here are our top 5 winners:
1. nationaltrust.org.uk (11%)
2. bhf.org.uk (19%)
3. woodlandtrust.org.uk (27%)
4. macmillan.org.uk (35%)
5. alzheimers.org.uk (48%)
While the charity sector as a whole has experienced increased visibility, some organisations have seen their online presence drop. cancerresearch.co.uk has lost 6% in visibility, falling in rankings for a second year in a row, while dogstrust.org.uk decreased by 16%, losing their place in the top ten search rankings. These trends highlight the challenges some charities are facing in maintaining their digital footprint.
The top 5 most significant losses in the Charity Market Report are:
1. cancerresearchuk.org (-6%)
2. rspb.org.uk (-24%)
3. ageuk.org.uk (-11%)
4. mind.org.uk (-12%)
5. mariecurie.org.uk (-32%)
Don’t panic if your brand’s visibility has suffered this year. This data is a valuable tool for improving your SEO strategy.
Curious about your brand's position in the full visibility rankings? Download our free Charity Market Report to discover how you performed within the industry.
Social Media & Brand Reach
Social media and reach can significantly boost awareness of your brand, leading to increased conversions. We combined both social media performance and brand reach to give each charity website an ‘owned social score’.
Coming in top with a score of 4692 is nationaltrust.org.uk. In the past year, they saw 450000 searches and reached a huge 3,232,400 followers across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter thanks to their engaging and interactive content and high-quality visuals.
Not far behind, cancerresearch.co.uk had 33100 searches and 2,144,000 total social followers, giving them a combined score of 3913.
Want to know how your brand scores in the social media sphere? Download our free Charity Market Report, or get in touch to find out.
The Most Trustworthy Charity Sites
Trust in a brand or site is extremely important to users and arguably even more so for charities. Moreover, trustworthiness can also aid better rankings on Google.
One of the main ways to build trust in your brand and demonstrate EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is through customer reviews. These establish reliability and give users an honest third-party opinion without any commercial motive.
We analysed reviews submitted on Trust Pilot for all brands in our Charity Market Report.
Here are the top 10 most trustworthy charity websites:
1. sja.org.uk
2. dogstrust.org.uk
3. bhf.org.uk
4. battersea.org.uk
5. bluecross.org.uk
6. redcross.org.uk
7. oxfam.org.uk
8. scope.org.uk
9. cats.org.uk
10. mariecurie.org.uk
The Fastest Charity Sites
Site speed is another important factor in performing well in search engine rankings, with Google prioritising faster sites. Despite good intentions, slow loading times can also frustrate users, causing them to exit the site, decreasing conversion rates. Therefore, keeping your brand up to speed and optimised for all devices, including mobile and tablet, is vital.
The fastest charity websites are:
1. salvationarmy.org.uk
2. rnib.org.uk
3. barnardos.org.uk
4. gosh.nhs.uk
5. booktrust.org.uk
6. oxfam.org.uk
7. canalrivertrust.org.uk
8. breastcancernow.org
9. savethechildren.org.uk
10. autism.org.uk
Download Our Free Charity Market Report
If you didn’t see your brand in our report snapshot and are keen to find out how your charity is performing in the industry, download the full Charity Market Report for free today.
Or, if you’d like advice from our expert SEO team on how to boost your performance, contact us for your free strategy audit and personalised insights.
