Colleges and universities around the nation are always looking for the best ways to reach the next generation of eager students before their competitors do. As higher education has always been an extremely competitive field, the rise of prospective students using search engines for college research makes it even more difficult for schools to stand out. Any breakthrough in increasing admissions or building university awareness must now take place behind screens and mobile phones.
At beMarketing, we’ve seen firsthand the unimaginable influence that a purposeful search engine optimization campaign can have on higher education institutions. To provide you with a better understanding of how to increase your web traffic, take a look below at our “SEO” Essentials.
(S)tudy Time!
For those in academia, performing research should make you feel right at home! SEO for higher education should always begin with a calculated audit that properly measures your current organic efforts. This will not only help you identify areas of improvement for your higher education marketing campaigns but also ultimately help to improve search engine ranking. There are plenty of online tools and software that help you run these initial audits, discover the most relevant keywords, and even see what competitor universities are doing to achieve higher rankings.
(E)volve Keywords
Much like every SEO campaign, a higher education marketing strategy should heavily rely on content. We previously discussed how to use conventional apps like Tik Tok to increase enrollment for prospective college students who constantly interact with video content and social media. However, when it comes to online research, written content continues to push the needle when it comes to increasing rankings. It’s important to consistently freshen up your content with keywords that reflect trends in academia or keywords that are more conducive to what people actually search.
For example, if you’re offering programs that are rather broad, (such as marketing), be sure that the content written on the corresponding pages reflects relevant areas. As we move further into the digital age, include keywords in your descriptions like “social media marketing”, “digital marketing”, “modern design”, and more. This way, those searching can learn more about your program and you’re able to rank higher at the same time.
(O)n to the Phones!
It’s clearly no secret that each generation spends more time on their phones than the one before them. This concept does entail that prospective students are more technically savvy, but it also means they are less likely to interact with outdated or unresponsive website layouts. Your SEO efforts, however targeted or successful they are for driving traffic, can be ultimately squandered if your website does not have maximum functionality. More specifically, websites that are designed to be mobile-first will have a much better chance at retaining visitors of their site than those that are designed for desktop use.
Your New Study Buddy- beMarketing!
Understanding the core concepts and the inner workings of SEO is not entirely complicated, but figuring out the most effective ways to implement them is. beMarketing is a full-service digital marketing agency that develops comprehensive optimization strategies for universities and colleges around the country. Our digital team provides high-ranking results on a daily basis, while our web team works to develop the best mobile-friendly websites on the backend. As for content, our copywriters create engaging and informative content to greet your website visitors.
Ready to transform your digital presence? Let’s get started on your SEO campaign today!
