Google is making it even easier for people to contact your organization.
By using Corporate Contact markup on your nonprofit’s website, you can add your organization’s contact information to Google’s Knowledge panel in some searches. Knowledge panels can prominently display your customer service phone number, which will show up on a search results page next to your NPO’s name.
How does this happen? The brief techie explanation: After you add the Corporate Contact markup to your website, Google’s indexing algorithms will process the phone numbers from your markup and make them eligible to be used in search results. (According to Google, this process may take up to a week.)
But the bigger question you may ask is why should you care about this?
Here are three reasons:
A Phone Number Adds an Element of Credibility and Legitimacy
Nothing says, “this is really a place” like a phone number. When people see your nonprofit show up in search results with contact information right there, it gives them confidence that you’re legit. They may not use that number to contact you, but it’s nice to know that they can.
It Gives People Who Want to Help a Quick Point of Contact
If I decide I’d like to volunteer for a local organization and I search for nonprofits in my community, I’m going to love it if your organization shows up in my search results with a way to contact you. I might still go to your website to check you out—or I might not. I might just take that phone number in my search results and contact you immediately, then later go back and peruse your site to get to know you better.
Either way, with your phone number in my search results, I have the option to contact you immediately—there’s one less barrier to communicating directly with a person at your organization.
It Bridges the Gap Between Online and Offline Engagement
I’m always going to be a proponent of making sure you have a solid online presence, including a website that’s built for your audience as well as active social media networks, if that’s appropriate for your NPO. It’s important to be where your audience is, and chances are pretty high that many of them are online. A lot.
But let’s be face it: Sometimes, people interested in your organization don’t want to engage with you online—they want to catch a live one, as in speak directly with another person. By having your phone number show up in search results, you provide a way for online users to connect with you offline, if that’s their preference. They don’t have to search your website for contact info or find you on a Facebook to send a message. They can simply dial your digits and there you are, without much hassle or browsing for contact information.
If you’re interested in adding this markup to your website, it’s an easy process. Find out more about Corporate Contact markup here.
