SEO Best Practices for Higher Education

With the online space becoming more and more competitive, schools need to intensify their SEO efforts to attract students. Gen Z students (born 1997 and after) grew up on digital media, and online search is their natural form of research. 

Even though organic search is a major opportunity to increase site traffic, many colleges haven’t optimized their sites for search engines. Sometimes, faculty and internal compliance teams drive SEO related decisions. It is time for higher education marketing teams to take ownership of the process and exercise best practices.  

Here are our top SEO practices you can implement now: 

Create unique and useful content that will index highly in Google searches 

Higher education institutions should prioritize usefulness and relevance when creating content. Write content that answers the questions potential students are Googling. 

Example 1: 

Purdue Global University’s blog features content with practical advice such as “The 5 Business Skills Required in a Post-Pandemic World.” 

This content is timely for students and graduates navigating a post-pandemic job market and ranks for high-volume keywords such as “business skills” and “best business skills” on Google. 

Example 2: 

Creating useful content also means optimizing keywords for how people search. For instance, if students typically use the phrase “MBA in finance” to find colleges offering such degrees, then ensure that your website copy uses that exact phrase several times in content in addition to more formal alternatives such as, “MBA with a concentration in finance” or “Master of Business Administration with a finance focus” – both of which are awkward, unwieldy phrases that don’t match the way people search. 

Create content based on keywords that match the interests of your audience 

Example: 

Wharton Online shares blog content geared toward continuing education, with posts such as “How to Successfully Navigate a Midlife Career Change and Avoid a Crisis.” Doing so makes it possible for Wharton to direct the right content to the right audience at the right time. 

Optimize your site for local search 

Local SEO is especially important for higher education institutions that offer both in-person and virtual options, as location-specific content is crucial for capturing local keywords. 

Example: 

A college might discuss hiring trends and salary data specific to a local market or share content about community events and outreach. 

Ready to learn more? Download our full report. 

Download our latest report, Higher Education Marketing: 6 Trends in Online Higher Ed, for more ways you can expand your applicant pool this year. 

Contact Investis Digital 

These tips are just three of many. Investis Digital helps several higher education institutions optimize their content for SEO by applying a wide range of best practices. Click here to learn more about our SEO services or here to get in touch with one of our experts.