Cure Childhood Cancer Case Study
How we helped CURE increase organic traffic by 77.61% for awareness month content.
Meet Mark Myers
“Communication is easy with the Papaya Search team. They provide the support and improvement that we just couldn’t get with our previous partner.”
Mark Myers,
Director of Communications
Mark Myers is a man who understands the mission. He says about Cure, “Our Mission is in our name: To find a Cure for Childhood Cancer.”
Mark is painfully acquainted with this mission. Before he lost his youngest daughter to cancer in 2015, one of her last requests to him was to find a cure for the disease so that no other child would experience it again.
Few missions could be more meaningful. Today, driven by love and commitment to his child, Mark not only authored a poignant book of his family’s journey but also serves as Director of Communications for Cure.
He is the in-house storyteller for the Atlanta based-nonprofit that raises and allocates funds for research and support for young patients and their families while in treatment, or if needed, during bereavement.
It is challenging and rewarding work that would undoubtedly make his daughter Kylie proud.
Cure's Struggle
Even among nonprofit organizations, there’s an element of competition. Though serving worthy, even harrowing, causes, professionals like Mark apply great intention and skill to marketing and driving traffic to their websites to ultimately raise awareness and attract donations.
In the case of Cure, they serve families wherever they reside across the country. Their mission is somewhat different than larger, more well-known organizations like St. Jude Hospital.
No organization leverages partnerships like a nonprofit. Every grant, individual donor, or sponsorship is hard-sought and earned. Each dollar must do the work of three dollars.
Mark’s challenge was finding the right marketing partner.
For several years, Cure relied on a large web hosting company. For most of that time, they found the service less than ideal and non-conducive to their success.
Mark found himself in a real bind. He’s excellent at creating content for the website, newsletters, and social media, but he knows his technical limits. And he knows his financial limitations.
“I can do some content changes and build pages, but there are some things I cannot do. We can’t afford to bring someone on full-time to handle support. Our previous provider did not offer technical support or assistance without sizable upcharges.”
A solution simply had to be found. With over half of Cure’s donations made online, they cannot risk going a single day without a healthy, functioning website.
“Under our last service provider, our site went down for an entire day. It was a complete scramble! Donations are our lifeblood, and people have short attention spans. If our website loads slowly or goes down, site visitors won’t wait. They’ll go elsewhere.”
Competition is a reality, even among nonprofit organizations providing an immense public good.
“A challenge for us is that larger organizations spend more than we can on digital marketing, and we can’t match them. They can spend more dollars that impact their SEO. It’s a challenge to spend all of our Google Ad Grant (an all-or-nothing free advertising program for nonprofits) due to their stipulations.”
Cure could not afford to leave Google ad dollars on the table. Per Google rules, they’d risk losing out on some of the $10,000 monthly grant funds if not used entirely.
A more robust optimization plan using some creativity and best practices could help in this situation, but Mark’s service provider, at the time, provided zero assistance getting his organization there.
He knew it was time for a change.
Papaya Search's Solution
Papaya Search was that solution by supporting Cure’s site and leading their search marketing efforts. Since the agency’s service philosophy differs tremendously from Mark’s previous provider, he can finally enjoy the relationship he has with an actual marketing partner.
Papaya Search’s team stays on top of the nonprofit industry. Between the two organizations, dialogue is always goal-driven and advances Cure’s mission.
Mark appreciates their guidance that informs his content creation and includes best practices that appeal to Google and lead to more organic search traffic.
“They make headline and title suggestions that lead to more visitors. We’ve seen an improved conversion rate too. They’ve swept our pages and produced reports identifying a shocking number of broken links. Papaya Search is a stalwart company.”
Mark looks ahead to what Cure can accomplish by working with Papaya Search and his team.
“Bobby (Kircher, Owner of Papaya Search) is a straight shooter and does what he says he’ll do. Everyone on his team that I’ve interacted with is great at making a follow-up. They tell you a quote and never raise that price. And, that’s what you want in a partner, especially when you are a nonprofit and have to mind your dollars a little more closely than the average business.”
Cure’s Results
Why Papaya Search?
They honor their word.
Mark hails from “The Show-Me State.” As a native Missourian, he takes the state’s nickname to heart. He values Papaya Search’s demonstrated consistency and integrity. Whether it’s providing quotes or following up on services, Mark feels he’s found a true partner. “Their word is their word. They say, ‘It’s fixed. Go check it.’ And it is.”
They are responsive and save your company money.
Mark has been unimpressed by previous partnerships. A previous provider offered “next to no service or help unless you were willing to pay a huge fee. We can’t afford to hire someone internally to do this job. It’s effortless to send an email to the Papaya Search crew and get an issue resolved. ”
They prioritize your customer’s experience.
Cure is a nonprofit organization and utilizes customer (or donor) targeting strategies the same as a for-profit company. Papaya Search enhanced Cure’s user experiences by taking a scalpel to their website. They identified broken links and applied cutting-edge services that improved SEO results, making sure any family needing Cure’s services could connect quickly and smoothly.
There is competition in the nonprofit field. And every one is a great cause. Fortunately, we’ve seen an increase in our traffic and conversions
with Papaya Search.
Mark Myers, Director of Communications
