Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s ranking and visibility in search engines for certain keywords that are related to your industry or niche. While SEO seems very simple, the process behind it is more complex and you will not get the same results every time. SEO is very important for schools because many applicants and their parents do their research about prospect schools online. Majority of these searches are made on search engines and social media sites.
If your school is not visible on search engine results page, then you are missing out big time. With over 1 trillion searches on Google per alone, we can say that a fraction of these searches are related to schools, colleges and universities admissions and applications. To be on top of search results mean higher application and enrolment rates.
On Page SEO Strategies
Your Website’s On Page SEO plays a big role in telling search engines what your website is about. On page SEO includes meta titles, description and alt texts. To ensure that search engines understand what your content is about, include keywords and make your titles and description short and precise. Another technique is using alt texts and descriptions on images that you use on your content.
Note that .edu websites have big advantage when it comes to SEO, these websites are preferred by search engines because its content are scholarly and often goes through strict editorial processes. While this is true, you have to note that your school’s website is competing with other websites with .edu domain extensions.
Off Page SEO
When websites link to your website and content, search engines like Google take it as a vote of confidence. While this is true search engines also look at the nature of these links. Are the links coming from link farms or from a reputable websites? All of these are counted by search engines and the better your link profile is, the better your website will rank on search results.
Directories and Other Listings
Directories allow you to list your schools or educational institutions. Majority of directories and listing sites have great impact on how your website is ranked for local searches. Searches like “private high school near me” rely greatly on listings such as Google Places, Yelp among others. It is a good practice to list your websites on reputable directories and listing sites. A word of caution, there are some listing sites and directories that search engines have penalized because of quality listings. Be wary and list your website with caution.
Is SEO Worth it?
Implementing new SEO strategies to improve your website rankings is a good idea only if you have solid strategies in place. If you’re unable to come up with one, it’s best to have someone do it for you (preferably an agency with vast experience in this area). If you are in doubt, this good resource for beginners will help you out tremendously.