Best practice article series
A brief introduction to search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization is one of the most useful tools when it comes to digital marketing. That's because internet searches most often use search engines like Google, but also search engines like Bing and Yahoo, and even voice-activated devices like Alexa. Because it's a common starting point for people online to answer questions, solve problems, or ask for something to be solved. Go to a specific location, such as “Where is the Super Bowl this year?” “How do I renew my passport?” “What hours is the New York Public Library open?”
There are thousands, even millions, of web pages that contain information and content related to a particular search term or query (also known as a keyword or keyphrase). That's why Google and other search engines use algorithms, machine learning, and big data to classify and rank individual pages based on their usefulness and usefulness.
According to Google, the ranking results shown on search engine results pages (SERPs) take into account:
- Meaning of the original search query – What is the person's intention? What do they actually need and want? How specific or broad are their searches? Are they trending topics? Different search queries and keyphrases change depending on the different intents and needs of your visitors.
- Web page relevance – Does the page contain the information the person is looking for? Is the information thorough and thoughtful? Are keywords or semantically related words used in the content? , we consider pages with fewer than 300 words to be “thin” content that is unlikely to answer your visitors' questions or solve their problems. As a result, thin content is less likely to rank.
- Content quality – Google’s search algorithm “favors the most trusted sources available.” This means that results from websites that demonstrate trustworthiness, trustworthiness, and authority are prioritized in search rankings.
- Web page ease of use – Do websites and web pages look good in different browsers or on different devices? Do pages load quickly? Google wants to make its results visible and usable to as many people as possible. thinking about.
- Context and settings – Google can take your device's search history and location into account to customize search results.
search engine marketing
Search engine marketing (SEM) is a combination of two approaches aimed at driving traffic through search results.
- paid search, sometimes referred to as “pay per click” or “cost per click.” These are results that appear at the top of the SERP but have “ad” next to the page URL. In other words, institutions and organizations pay to be the first to see results.
- organic search, this is what we mainly mean when we talk about search engine optimization (SEO). Ideally, you want your results to appear on the first page of the SERP (out of the first 10 results).
Organic search typically consists of either branded or unbranded queries.
- brand A query is a keyword or keyphrase that includes your institution's name, nickname, or other brand identifier. For example, “University of Rochester School of Medicine” is a keyword phrase for your brand. Not surprisingly, when you search for keywords for that brand, the university's School of Medicine and Dentistry appears as the first result.
- unbranded queries Keywords or keyphrases that are not specific to a particular brand (e.g. “Best medical schools in the US” or “Top medical schools near me”).
University of Rochester SEO
It's worth remembering that the two main factors that influence search engine rankings are a website's domain authority and the relevance of individual pages.
Fortunately, the university as a whole has strong domain authority. In other words, Google considers us to be a trustworthy, established and authoritative website, which increases the likelihood that our individual pages will rank higher in search results. But only if the individual pages are relevant. Relevant pages consist of high-quality content that incorporates specific and relevant keywords and keyphrases in the right places, including title tags, URLs, meta descriptions, headings, body copy, and alt text.
When it comes to SEO, universities perform well in branded keyphrase rankings across the board.Our challenge now is to rank unbranded Keyphrases – Something that matches people's search queries but is also relevant to us as an organization. By doing so, we may continue to increase traffic to our web pages, thereby increasing awareness of the University and, in turn, benefiting admissions, recruitment, fundraising, and other organizational strategic priorities. there is.
AS&E website SEO
The Arts, Sciences, and Engineering Web Communications team works closely with University Communications on institution-wide SEO efforts. Our team can help you with:
- Make sure the technical aspects of your website are optimized for search engines.
- Monitor and analyze website traffic
- Explore target keyphrases and their semantically related variants
- Optimize your web pages for the right keyphrases to better show relevance to search engines.
- Create original content to help rank for unbranded keyphrases
- Collaborate with other users to improve your rankings
- Discuss paid search opportunities
- Share SEO related tools and resources
To find out how SEO can be an effective part of your team or department’s digital marketing strategy, we encourage you to get in touch with us.
Sofia Tokar is a web writer and communicator in the Department of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering at the University of Rochester. Contact sofia.tokar@rochester.edu.