AI has changed how people find and engage with charity websites.
A recent blog from our Knowledge Hub explores “The Great Decoupling” and what it means for the sector. Liam Phillips at Creative Blend shares four key shifts shaping digital strategy:
1. AI summaries are reducing click-throughs - When content is surfaced in AI-generated overviews, users are increasingly getting the answers they need without visiting the source website. Some studies suggest click-through rates for top-ranking pages can drop by around 30%, particularly for high-trust, informational content.
2. Lower traffic but higher intent - While AI-driven traffic may be lower in volume, it often signals stronger intent from users. People arriving via AI search are more likely to take meaningful action, making each visit potentially more valuable.
3. Search behaviour has evolved - Search is moving from a traditional “query and link” model to an “answer engine”, where users expect direct, synthesised responses. At the same time, multimodal search is growing, with images, videos and voice playing a larger role in how content is discovered.
4. Rising costs of charity visibility - As organic reach becomes less reliable, more organisations are looking at paid channels to maintain visibility. This increased competition is driving up cost-per-click and may reduce the effectiveness of tools like Google Ad Grants.
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[Image description: Carousel of images sharing the four shifts shaping digital strategy, as seen in the post above.]