Best Practices for Academic Institutions

Competition for student admissions has never been greater.

Many colleges and universities struggle to stand out online and attract new students. Without a strong SEO strategy, your school will remain hidden and potential students will not be able to find your school.

This includes the admissions process, available programs, extracurricular activities, and other fine details that attract the average student.

A solid SEO strategy will help you appear in search results, increase brand awareness, build credibility among parents and students, and ultimately increase enrollment.

Here's how to implement it:

Key Elements of an Effective SEO Strategy

Understand your target audience

Identify your audience segments, such as prospective students, current students, faculty, staff, alumni, visitors, etc. Rank the audiences in order of importance based on your institution's goals. For example, you might give first priority to prospective students.

Understanding these audiences, their needs, and search habits will help you create content and SEO strategies to reach them effectively.

But there are over 17 million high school students and over 16 million college students in the U.S. (2021 data) Who is your target audience?

Here's how to find out:

• Use surveys Among current students To understand their motivations and concerns, run a quick survey on your school’s website with questions like, “What are the top three factors you consider when choosing a college?” and “Why did you choose our school?”

Their answers will tell you why your institution was their first choice, so you can include these details when creating your landing pages, program pages, and student experience pages.

This makes it easy to display promises that are important to your target audience on every page.

• Analyze website analytics Identify your traffic sources and most popular pages. Traffic sources reveal the demographics of people who use your website and how they get to it. Analyzing your most popular pages also reveals the content that resonates with your target audience.

Integrating this analytics will help you create content that targets your audience and meets their search intent.

There are four types of search intent:Commerce, trade, information, navigationFor universities, the most common purposes are informational, commercial and trading.

Analyzing search intent can help you target keywords that reflect what searchers are looking for, specifically:

• Information Keywords“Best universities in the US,” “top engineering schools,” and “best liberal arts colleges” are common search queries for general information. These keywords show that searchers are looking for options.
• Commercial KeywordsFor example, “online MBA programs,” “online masters in data science,” and “nursing programs with scholarships” are common queries for specific programs. They indicate that searchers want to know about schools that offer these programs (and what makes each institution unique). Now, create landing pages dedicated to each program, explaining why your school should be top of mind for students during the decision-making process.
• Transaction KeywordsFor example, keywords like “application deadlines,” “tuition,” and “campus dates” indicate intent to do something. These users are close to making a decision and want information about their exact query. These keywords are usually preceded by a branded search (e.g., “UCLA application deadlines”).

Creating content that engages your target audience is essential. When your content matches users' search intent, it sends a positive signal to Google.

This will improve your rankings and drive more traffic. Keyword research plays a vital role in this process, ensuring your content meets your audience's needs and search habits.

read more: How People Search: Understanding User Intent

Keyword research and analysis

Keyword research involves finding the words students use when searching online. These terms help your website appear in search results.

Tips to get started:

• Brainstorming keywords: Create a list of words related to the school or program, such as “computer science,” “business administration,” “online MBA in marketing,” “online courses,” “coastal university,” and “urban campus.”
• Use the Advanced Keyword Tool: Tools like Semrush and Ahrefs provide in-depth insights into search volume, competition, keyword difficulty, and trends. Use these tools to discover keyword opportunities that your competitors may be missing.
• Identify long-tail keywords: Longer phrases like “scholarships for international students studying cybersecurity” have lower search volume but higher conversion rates. They attract users further along in the decision-making process.
• Analyze your competitors' keywords: Use tools to spy on your competitors' keywords and find gaps in their content. Target these gaps to increase your visibility and attract more traffic.
• Consider seasonal trends. Use tools to analyze search trends throughout the year. Optimize your landing pages for terms like “summer classes” or “fall application deadline” during relevant periods.

read more: Keyword Research: The Complete Guide for Beginners

Page Optimization

What is page optimization? Include relevant keywords in your content Increase your visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs) by using your primary keywords:

Search screenshot [online MBA program]June 2024

• Meta description: This is a summary of your content that appears beneath the title page in search results. By incorporating relevant keywords that provide context for your web page, you can encourage users to click on your link. A copy from ASU can be found here.

Search screenshot [online MBA program]June 2024

• header: Headers structure your content and make it easier to read. Use keywords in your main header (H1) and subheaders (H2, H3, etc.) to tell search engines what the page is about.
• Content BodyIncorporate keywords naturally throughout your pages, and also use variations of your keywords (long-term or semantic topics) to avoid repetition and keyword stuffing.

read more: 12 Important On-Page SEO Elements You Should Know

Technical SEO Considerations

The goal of all search engines is to provide searchers with relevant content. Good technical SEO makes your website easier to find and use. Focus on the following areas:

• Page Speed: Your website should load within 1-3 seconds. A slow-loading site will frustrate users and affect your rankings.
  • Choose reliable hosting: Make sure your hosting can handle your website traffic.
  • Compress images and files: Use tools like TinyPNG or ShortPixel to reduce file size without losing quality.
  • Enable browser caching: This helps your site load faster for returning visitors.
• Mobile optimization: Use responsive design to adapt to different screen sizes. Test your site on different devices to make sure it works everywhere.
• Schema markup: Add structured data to your website's HTML. Schema markup, or structured data, helps search engines better understand your organization and what it has to offer. It is a type of code that you can add to your website's HTML that uses specific vocabulary to label and describe different elements of your content.

Schema markup is used by search engines Display rich snippets It will appear in the search results.

These enhanced listings can include star ratings, images, event dates, and other relevant details to make your institution’s search results more visually appealing and informative. Below is an example from Rutgers Business School:

Search screenshot [rutgers university]June 2024

You can find out details about the address, tuition fees, campus type, and other useful links without having to visit the website directly.

Research shows that using structured data improves click-through rates by showing users more contextual information in search results, which helps capture attention and build trust before users even enter your site, ultimately increasing organic traffic.

read more: Complete Technical SEO Audit Workbook

Implementing local SEO for your campus

If your school has multiple campuses, local SEO is important.

• Create a location page: Create a separate page for each campus with details such as address, contact information, and unique programs.
• Optimize for local keywords: Use keywords that include the city or neighborhood, such as “best universities in downtown Chicago.”
• Claim your Google Business Profile. Ensure each campus has an up-to-date Google Business Profile listing.

read more: How to Create a Successful Local SEO Content Strategy

Utilizing video content

Video content can hold students' interest more than text alone.

• Create informative videos: Create videos about campus tours, student testimonials, and program highlights.
• Optimize your video titles and descriptions: Using keywords in your video title and description will help your video appear in search results.
• Embed videos on your website: This keeps visitors on your site longer and increases engagement.

read more: 10 YouTube Marketing Strategies and Tips (with Examples)

Optimizing site structure and navigation

A well-constructed website helps both users and search engines.

• Simple navigation: Keep your menus simple and easy to use.
• Clear hierarchy: Use main categories and subcategories to organize your pages logically.
• Internal Links: Linking related pages together helps users find more information and helps search engines understand your site better.

read more: Why Google recommends a hierarchical site structure for SEO

Conclusion

Improving your school’s SEO is a long-term investment.

However, you can start promoting your brand and building credibility today by creating content targeted to students, which will help increase awareness, attract more students, and improve your school's online reputation.

Whether you’re a new or established institution, good SEO practices can help you achieve your goals.

Additional resources: