If your higher education institution relies on an online presence as a way of attracting students and gaining more visibility in the market, you must have a page where you can publish institutional content, related to the course and other news, as well as keep a blog updated with posts of interest to those applying for admission.
But months go by and no registration conversions are generated. Your page and blog are also not showing good numbers in terms of the number of visits or even appearing in search engine results, such as Google. The question in this case is: are you doing your SEO right?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a set of practices that can be adopted to make your website gain more visibility. In other words, when someone searches for a topic such as “what are the best law schools” or “what is the architecture curriculum”, among the results, your brand should appear.
To find out how to do this, stay with us. Today, we’re going to give website optimization tips for educational institutions.
What you will see in the post:
SEO techniques for educational institutions
Now, we will talk about initiatives that can be implemented and also show how to adjust actions that are already underway. Remember that SEO is a practice in constant evolution, it is necessary to keep up with trends, changes in search engines and always be one step ahead so as not to miss opportunities!
#01 Does your educational institution already have a blog?
If your higher education institution doesn't already have a blog, it's time to give it some serious thought. For example, according to data from HubSpot, companies that maintain a blog generate, on average, 67% more leads than those that don’t. This highlights the importance of an active blog in the digital marketing strategy of higher education institutions.
Website content of a college or university is more static, it is information about the courses (enrollment, curriculum matrix, teaching staff, etc.); A blog can already be fed with posts that help users answer questions about what they are looking for, like the questions we mentioned at the beginning of the article.
When your educational institution maintains a blog, it can cover many more topics and subjects of interest to the public you want to talk to. In addition to posts about the courses, you will be able to talk about the market, how to obtain financing, give tips on how to organize your studies, etc.
The page is what your higher education institution has to offer, the blog is the answer to the user's questions, doubts and interests. It is part of inbound marketing strategy, in which the user reaches your institution naturally, without the need to invest in paid advertising.
The college does not even need to have an internal team to plan and execute the posts, it is possible to hire an SEO consultancy for colleges and they will propose a completely personalized action plan designed to help your educational institution attract more students.
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- Rank on Google: what is the ideal size of the blog post?
- CRO, SEO and UX: learn about these optimization techniques.
#02 Promote content with ads
Once you already have varied, quality content that is of interest to your target audience, SEO initiatives for educational institutions can consider the possibility of giving more visibility for your publications through paid advertisements.
This can be done either in social media as in search engines. On Facebook and Instagram, for example, there are complete platforms where you can segment the audience, define the region, choose the way ads are displayed, among other settings, which makes this type of initiative very efficient.
When we invest in paid advertisements in search engines, your institution's website may appear at the top of users' search results. You can see how this works and search for “faculty of administration”, for example, and you will notice that in the first part some entries appear with the word “announcement” next to the institution’s URL.
#03 Create rich materials
Now that you know that having and maintaining a blog is important and why, in addition to having seen that it is possible to boost this content with paid advertisements, let's talk about a particularly interesting type of content, rich materials. Unlike blog posts, rich materials are more extensive and present more details about a particular topic.
The main benefit of rich material is having the opportunity to show everything you know about something. And no one better than your own higher education institution to talk about your sector of activity.
Website optimization for educational institutions benefits from quality content, where concrete data, case studies, and other value-added information are presented.
Among the rich materials, infographics, white papers, guides, simulations, etc. stand out. The great advantage of this type of content in SEO for educational institutions is the possibility of asking for something in return, usually information from the interested party, their futureLead. In other words, to gain access, the user needs to provide their email, which can be used for lead nurturing later.
Caption: Illustration with digital marketing elements and a central target on a notebook, representing SEO techniques and optimization strategies for educational websites.
#04 Use mobile
Iit is possible to create WhatsApp marketing campaigns from lead databases and enhance the reach of your massive communication initiatives. In addition to WhatsApp messages, developing SMS campaign initiatives is also an alternative to taking advantage of smartphone penetration.
In 2023, 92.5% of Brazilian households had access to the internet, according to data from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (PNAD Contínua) by IBGE. This increase in access reflects the growing importance of mobile in the SEO strategy for educational institutions.
Furthermore, mobile phones have become the main means of accessing the internet in Brazil. In 2021, 99.5% of households with internet access used their mobile phones to connect, highlighting the need to optimize websites for mobile devices.
Geolocation also allows your actions to be more assertive and appear to individuals in the region, or at the exact moment they are nearby. Mobile also allows actions in other media to be replicated across multiple channels, aligning with the omnichannel experience, particularly appreciated by new generations.
Conclusions about SEO for websites
Not everything involves optimizing the page itself. Search engines also tend to favor pages and blogs with many visits. Google, to name one of them, understands that if many people enter a page, it is because it is adding value to users.
Summary: SEO for educational institutions improves visibility on Google and attracts more students. With an active blog, rich content, a responsive website and mobile strategies, your educational institution can generate qualified traffic, capture leads and increase enrollments in an organic and scalable way.
4RevOps specializes in SEO consulting for colleges and is always looking for best practices to increase your higher education institution's visibility and enrollment. Want to know more about what we saw today? Follow this other content: Online positioning: is your college doing it right?
How to apply SEO to college websites to attract more students?
Why is SEO important for educational institutions?
SEO increases the visibility of your college in Google results. With appropriate techniques, such as optimized content, strategic keywords and a responsive website, your institution appears to those who are actually searching for courses, increasing traffic and chances of enrollment.
Does having a blog really help with college SEO?
Yes. An active blog allows you to address topics that answer questions from college entrance exam candidates, attracts visitors organically and improves positioning in search engines. Institutions with a blog generate up to 67% more leads, according to data from HubSpot.
How do rich materials help with educational SEO?
Materials such as e-books, guides and infographics delve deeper into relevant topics and encourage visitors to leave their contact information. This generates qualified leads and increases the time spent on the page, two factors valued by Google.
Is it worth boosting institutional content with paid ads?
Yes. Promoting content via social media or Google Ads can accelerate SEO results, bringing qualified traffic to strategic pages. It is an efficient way to highlight courses or seasonal campaigns, such as entrance exams.
Why is it essential to optimize your college website for mobile?
More than 99% of Brazilians with internet access use their cell phones as their main device. If your website is not responsive, it will lose positions on Google and visitors will give up browsing — which directly affects the conversion of leads into students.
What practices make college SEO more efficient?
Keeping a blog updated, investing in specific keywords, optimizing the website for mobile, creating rich materials and applying geolocation strategies are actions that boost SEO and attract the right audience at the right time.
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