Best Practices for Promoting Your Organization on the Youth Sports Directory

Each organization with either a free HQ or Premium HQ account also gets a listing on SportsEngine.com. We fill in the basic information about your club, but by following these simple steps, you can make sure that your club's listing ranks higher in the search results.

How to Upate Your Organization Listing

1. Log in to your SportsEngine account and select the organization that you'd like to adminster from the 'My Organizations' drop down near the top right corner.
2. In the left navigation locate the navigate to your Organization Settings found under Settings / General in the left navigation, and follow these best practices below.
3. Use the 'Edit' buttons to make changes to each section

Organization Name

This is used when someone searches for your organization by name as well as to construct the URL for your organization. For example, the URL Minneapolis Youth Lacrosse would be sportsengine.com/org/minneapolis-youth-lacrosse

Sport

Make sure the sports you serve are selected. Key search result criteria

Logo

Your logo shows up in search result listings and helps it stand out from the pack. Upload a square logo to appear on your listing

Website

Verify your website information is accurate. If you currently don't have a website, check out our premium package which includes a website, registration, team management & communication as well as a variety of other features for a single price. 

Gender

Gender is filter criteria when searching so making sure you note whether you offer programs for boys, girls or co-ed programs helps parents find the right club. Key search result criteria

Public Contact Information

The first criteria for returning result is a location. Make sure your organization's address represents the area where you offer programs. Also, include contact details for someone to find out more about your organization including your organization's an email and phone number. 

NOTE: You can override play locations and the program level if you offer programs in many areas.

Once you've completed your basic organization settings, you should now complete the details that will be used exclusively in your listing. These help visitors learn more about your philosphy and your offerings. Click on the Organization Settings / Listings tab and complete the items below

Banner Image

Your banner image is the first thing a visitor will notice about your orgaization. Make sure the image no smaller than 1024x341 pixels. 

About

The description tells visitors what your organization does and is also used for Google to help provide context in search results

Website

Include links for your organization's website so that people can learn more about your organization and access other resources you provide

Adding Programs to Your Organization

Once you've completed your organization setup, the next step is to add programs that are offered by your club. Since programs are what parents are actually signing up for, having these in place, provides a direct link to your registration as well as the more granular details that don't fit in your organization profile.

1. Navigate to the your SportsEngine HQ account and click on Promotions / SportsEngine.com Listing
2. Select Add Program
3. You will be prompted to fill in the basic information about your program including the name, dates pricing, and registration URL.

Be thoughtful about naming your program as this is what will show up in the search results listing. Instead of calling it 2019 Season Sign Up, use 2019 Winter Box Lacrosse (Boys 10U). This describes more accurately what a person can sign up for and help them find your listing.

1. Once you've completed entering the basic program information, click the publish button.
2. You will be returned to your list of programs. You can then go back into the program you just created and add additional info that will improve your program's ranking.
3. Top ranking items to update include program description, age range, program type, and schedule
4. Finally, adding a custom image also will separate you from the rest of the programs listed. 

In addition to coming up under organic searches, SportsEngine occasionally features national governing bodies on their home page. During these times, there is a direct link to that governing body and any program and organization affiliated with that governing body will have their programs show up along with others from the same governing body.

Additionally, affiliations show up on the organization page as well as on each program. Here are some examples of these listing pages 

• Orienteering USA
• USA Archery
• USA Artistic Swimming
• USA Diving
• USA Hockey
• US Ski & Snowboard
• USA Swimming

NOTE: To set up an affiliation, speak to your account manager.