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Team 3: Lindsay Bundrick, Maria Ktoan, Conswalia Green, Treasa Johnson

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) audit for the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina (AMEXCAN) is to come up with an online marketing strategy for the organization that will increase its ranking in online searches. Increasing the search engine ranking will bring even more credibility to the site and attention to a very well-connected and respected organization such as AMEXCAN. The team examined each page of the website, noting if elements of each page is either driving traffic to the page or losing their target audience because there is not enough key information to bring the audience to the page.

The report will highlight AMEXCAN’s postingpatternsthat affect page rank and credibility in the following areas:

  • Relevance
  • Recency
  • Social sharing[AJM1]

With the SEO audit,the team chose organizations that do similar work with the Latino community in North Carolina.These organizations also use their websites effectively to communicate with their target audience and by having higher page ranks. For example,The Latin American Coalition site is used to show how back-linking can increase traffic to an organization’s website.

Based on the audit we made recommendations to AMEXCAN that will help create an online marketing strategy and will increase their site ranking from the major search engines: Google, Bing and Yahoo; and as a result will increase the traffic from their target audience.The recommendation will be based on key elements:

  • Identifying the best keywords
  • Choosing quality content
  • Link-building strategies

Each element adds something that will help with the traffic of the audience that AMEXCAN wants to bring to their website. Identifying the best keywords willshow what people will be searching for and how they can add these keywords to their website to bring in the target audience. Choosing quality content will make the website look more professional and cohesive. Allowing the audience to get the latest and best information out there for what they are searching for. Link-building strategies [AJM2]will bring in the target audience with key searchers.

FINDINGS

Key Words:

AMEXCAN is very clear about who their target audience is judging by the content that is already there. The question is how will AMEXCAN's target audience find them with all the available sources geared towards the Latino community on the entire World Wide Web.[AJM3]A look at individual pages from AMEXCAN’s website shows that the content may not be recentenough to increase page ranking.

The organization’s website address is posted on its social media pages, but once a person clicks the link (i.e. Facebook) heperson will findinformation that is not up to date. A link-building strategy could enhance audience engagement. The social media presence is dominant, especially Twitter, but there are not any links to recent posts to a site page that has relevant information. Also, through a quick google[AJM4] search, the results show that AMEXCAN has programs with the major colleges in the area, however such reputable sites like presently does not link back to

We first studied AMEXCAN’s usage of keywords in its content and compared it to that of similar sites. One such site is latinamericancoalition.org (Latin American Coalition). Using the SEOBook’s Keyword Tool to search the best keywords,seventeenterms and phrases were chosen that could increase page ranking.[AJM5] (See Figure 1.) The broad terms and phrases are as follows:

Figure 1

Keywords
Immigrant advocacy services
Immigrant civic participation
Latin American Culture North Carolina
Mexican Culture North Carolina
Immigration Advocacy Organizations
Immigration Advocacy Organizations North Carolina
Latino Advocacy volunteer North Carolina
Mexican Latin American education North Carolina
Immigrant healthcare North Carolina
Immigrant families
Migrant families
Immigrant advocacy groups
Latin American Culture
Immigration and Human Rights
Immigration rights
Latin American
Mexican Immigrant

We performed a search to find the homepage by googling the organization’swell-known abbreviation Google[AJM6] brings up a link to an outdated blog that is on page five (see Figure 2). Using “amexcan” or “amexcan nc” gave almost identical results. On page one is an AMEXCAN site created by ECU, however it is not the official website. This page is very likely ranked number one because it is linked to a trusted domain which is ecu.edu.The [AJM7]result listed second is the Facebook page which, as mentioned before, is constantly being updated with recent information.

A[AJM8] similar search using “Latin American NC” ranked the Latin American Coalition numbers one and two (See figure 4). AMEXCAN is just as active in the community as this coalition, if not more, however the most important strategies that have resulted in the highest ranking in Google.

[AJM9]

Taking a look at keyword usage, the Education page under the Programs tab was reviewed. Thekeyword is Education. Not only is the page title Education, but it also appears as the description (also called meta description) education/AMEXCAN for the URL: amexcannc.org/blog/quienes-somos/262. Thirdly, [AJM10]it’s the title for the heading (H1) as well.The term Educationis very general and would draw more clicks and increased page rank with more precise keywords that target the Mexican community specifically.

A couple of points that are affecting AMEXCAN’s page ranking and therefore interest to their website are:

  • Content quality
  • Recency

AMEXCAN does amazing and very important work with the Mexican and Latin American community;however, their best work is not being translated into content. Keywordsnor key images [AJM11]are being targeted and are getting strategically placed on site pages. Recent 2017 content has not been entered. On the other hand, the most recent entry is a duplicate. See figures 6 and 7.[AJM12]

In addition to duplicate images and posts there are [AJM13]pages that are blank.When a person clicks one of the following pages to get more information, there is not any content available. Under those links are the heading and the banner that scroll photos with a click (these are the same photos on each page).

  • Promoter’s Network
  • Educational forums Health
  • Leadership Forums
  • Consultative Advice
  • Community Partners
  • Leadership Courses

Link Building

To find up-to-date content AMEXCAN’s target audience can find it on Facebook and Twitter. Facebook ranks number two in a google search (see figure 3). The media contact with the organization is already using social media regularly, but presently there are not any successful back links to because the updated content on Facebook and Twitter does not coincide with the content on the site. The twitter site has a steady flow of followers as well as up-to-the-minute tweets[ECU14].

A final observation about linking that is affecting page rank by the search engine is not using the connection the organization has with the local colleges and Universities. AMEXCAN often has programs and special events that are jointly hosted by Pitt Community College, Mt. Olive and East Carolina University. From a Google search the target audience will have to know which keywords and phrases to search to locate the domains has this content. For example, among a host of community building programs, AMEXCAN partners with ECU to offer a summer internship in Mexico. This information is not on their website, but it is on the ECU foreign language and literature website. However,an opportunity for more traffic to go to the website is missed because when the AMEXCAN emblem is clicked, the route is to the Facebook page, not the website.

TAKE-AWAY

There are a number of methods that AMEXCAN can use to optimize their website’s search engine page ranking.

  1. Utilize keywords and phrases in content

A list of eighteen terms has been provided in figure 1. The organization may have additional keyphrases that they would like to use. The group can go to the free SEOBook’s keyword Tool and their selected terms. This can generate a list similar to those searched in Figure 11.

  1. Create Quality Content.

AMEXCAN already has the content available on their social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The information can be written in detail on the website that use keywords and phrase, with a mix of general and more specific terms.

  1. Update Content frequently.

Again, the content that is tweeted and posted on Facebook can be updated on the website.

  1. Social Sharing

AMEXICAN has a strong social media presence, but presently the content on the website is not shared on the social media pages. The more the site increases in page views, the more clicks to quality content, the more the target audience will share that content on various social media.

  1. Link-Building

There is prime opportunity to link very trusted websites that have the domain address ending in .edu such as with partner schools like Having the site to back-link to AMEXCAN’s website would be a bonus and would another that adds to Google ranking the site higher. The organization can create a list of the all sites that mention and link to There are many, but keep in mind the small sites as well as the ones that have a huge reach in the community such as The media group that writes about AMEXCAN as recently as last month ( From this list, the organization can start their link-building strategy.

  1. Write with your target audience in mind.

AMEXCAN has a wealth of information spread out across social media and across the web. Their audience would appreciate the important content delivered on their site as frequently as they receive it on Facebook.

[AJM1]This information is needed, but consider proving an explanation of what social sharing is. You mention it again on page 7, but your client may not have a full understanding to what the term means. Consider providing a definition/explanation on page 7 for the necessary clarity—1 sentence should suffice.

[AJM2]Consider providing your client with a definition/explanation of this term for better clarity and understanding.

[AJM3]Punctuation. Since this is in the form of a question, consider changing the punctuation to maintain the professional document you all have created.

[AJM4]Be consistent with your listings throughout. (e.g. Google vs. google).

[AJM5]Consider creating a description underneath Figure 1 that explains what the figure is referencing, and use this information.

[AJM6]Run-on sentence? If not, then consider rewording this for better sentence structure.

[AJM7]Be careful with your spacing.

[AJM8]There is no reference to Figure in your text, and Figure 3 is the only Figure with a diagram underneath it. Be consistent with your selection throughout the document.

[AJM9]Second sighting. Be mindful of your spacing and placements for Figures. Figures 1-3 are at the top of the actual figure, but here you have it at the bottom of the actual figure. Also, it’s hard to tell if you’re centering your content or using a left alignment. Make the necessary changes throughout. No additional comments will be made regarding the same concern.

[AJM10]Be careful not to provide a listing—1, 2, 3/a, b, c—in the middle of the paragraph when you haven’t used a listing to start the paragraph. I.e. First, second, third vs. what you have: explanation/statement, explanation/statement, thirdly.

[AJM11]Consider restructuring this for better sentence flow.

[AJM12]Consistency. Throughout the document you all have put this in parenthesis, but here you have it free-standing as part of the regular text.

[AJM13]Not sure I follow what the intent of this word is for—or why its here. Be sure to provide the necessary clarity for your client.

[ECU14]Didn’t notice this until now, but be mindful of your font usage for your figures.