Search marketing is essential to enhance a university’s visibility and drive traffic to its website, while engaging with a global audience.
With search marketing, several strategies are encompassed to make your website visible on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. And this includes paid advertising (Pay Per Click or PPC) and organic methods (Search Engine Optimization or SEO).
These search marketing strategies are essential in ensuring that when students search with relevant terms, your college appears prominently in the search results.
The Importance of Search Marketing for your University
Search has proven to be the most effective marketing channel for universities and colleges across the United States and Canada. The following list highlights the most important factors:
1. Increased visibility
With over 4000 educational institutions in the United States alone, standing out in search results is crucial. And an effective search marketing strategy ensures that your university appears at the top of Google, Bing and Yahoo, making it more likely that prospective students will find your offerings.
2. Attracting prospective students
Search engines are the primary source for students to search universities, programs, scholarships and campus life. So, you should optimize your website for your chosen keywords for SEO purposes and run targeted ads in Google Ads to capture these students and guide them to your portals.
3. Enhancing credibility and trust
High rankings in the organic results on Google enhance your credibility. And searchers are more likely to trust your university if you consistently rank high for key search queries. This reveals that your institution is reputable and authoritative.
4. Driving engagement
With multiple pages on your website ranking high in the search engines, you can direct users to these pages and get their contact details when they register.
Key Strategies in University Search Marketing
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
This strategy focuses on placing your website at the top of the organic results on Google, Bing and Yahoo.
– Keyword research – research the keywords you want to appear in the top positions for. This can be done with a keyword research tool like Keyword Planner. And the keywords you focus on should be relevant for prospective students, and some examples are “best university for bioscience”, “MBA programs”, and “scholarships for international students”.
– Content optimization – create content that resonates with your audiences and is discoverable in the search results. This includes blog posts, articles, FAQs, videos and more.
– Technical SEO – optimize your website to remove errors and accessibility issues. So, it should be technically sound, with fast loading pages and secure HTTPS landing pages for SEO and PPC traffic. Use the PageSpeed Insights tool to check your website for any errors.
2. Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising
You can run PPC advertising campaigns to promote your university programs, degrees, courses and more. These ads appear in the sponsored section on the Google search engine results pages (SERP).
And you can use demographic targeting to reach specific age groups, such as prospective undergraduates and international students.
Display remarketing is an important part of PPC advertising to re-engage users who previously visited your website but did not complete a desired action, such as filling out a form.
3. Local SEO
As a university, you should create a Google My Business (GMB) account to enhance your visibility in the search results. This will boost your local search visibility and appear in Maps and prominent positions in the search results.
So, ensure that you provide information such as the university address, contact details and accurate operating hours.
Also, ensure that your university is listed in local online directories and educational portals to improve your local SEO rankings.
4. Analytics and Continuous Improvement
There are several analytics tools that will help you to analyze your website traffic and user behavior to understand what is working and what isn’t. But one of the best in the market is Google Analytics.
It’s a free tool and integrates seamlessly with your channels like PPC and SEO and other tools like Google Search Console.
The search marketing strategy for your university should also include ongoing management and improvement. So, you can test different elements of your search campaigns, such as copy, landing pages and keywords to optimize performance.
Conclusion
Implementing a search marketing strategy for your university will help you engage with a global audience as you enhance your online presence. So, you should leverage SEO, PPC and local SEO techniques to attract prospective students and drive engagement.
I’m a search marketing specialist and I work with universities, setting up effective Google PPC campaigns and launching SEO campaigns. Reach out to me to discuss your requirements.
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