Some college-bound youngsters are dead set on attending a specific institution or university. On the other hand, most merely feature a list of parameters such as location, size, and available majors. Given that about 5,000 schools and institutions in the United States alone, they have many options. So, how can you attract their attention and distinguish your college from the rest?
SEO and digital transformation strategy for college scholarships is very important in getting your institution recognized by these kids. Most students use search engines like Google to gather information on schools and universities, with 71% clicking on a result on the first page. That implies that if your college does not rank well when potential students use Google and other search engines to discover colleges, they are unlikely to find you. The only way to ensure this is through search engine optimization.
If you still need to establish an SEO plan and digital growth strategy for college scholarships or want to improve the outcomes of your current approach, consider these search engine optimization techniques.
1. Make your content and pages.
Google ranks websites depending on various characteristics, including the number of unique pages and time spent. The higher these figures, the better the site’s prospective ranking. Create as many valuable pages as possible to increase the size of your school’s website and keep visitors on the site for a longer period.
Of course, the keyword here is “useful.” Don’t just make pages for the sake of making pages. This will make your site appear crowded and spammy. Instead, strive to produce interesting and relevant pages on themes such as:
- Individual programs and degrees
- Staff and Faculty
- Financial assistance
- Admissions and application procedures
- Campus and surrounding cities
The scope of your offers ultimately determines the number of pages you may produce. Page length is also important; pages with only one or two paragraphs aren’t worth the effort. Instead, strive for at least 800 words on each page.
You should optimize all of your pages in addition to quantity and length. That may necessitate a bit more SEO expertise than you currently possess, but here are a few pointers to get you started.
2. Improve page URLs
Search engines cannot interpret URLs made up of random digits and characters. As a result, the pages rank lowly, if at all.
Your page URLs should clarify what the pages are about. For example, a sensible URL for a website regarding financial assistance might be “www.yourcollege.edu/financial-aid.” As an extra plus, this will be simple for site visitors to remember and implement.
Try to include page keywords. If a URL contains the phrases students want, search engines may consider it relevant. However, avoid “keyword stuffing,” or employing as many keywords as possible to rank high. Google considers this spam and will penalize your pages as a result.
3. Create keywords and material centred on your target student.
Who would be your ideal student? A high school senior interested in pursuing a business degree? Are you a full-time professional looking to develop your career? Or someone altogether different?
Create your content with your target audience, and then select the appropriate keywords to go with it. To attract more military and veterans, focus on VA benefits, CLEP credits, and other topics pertinent to this audience. Focus on terms like “distance learning” and “online programs” if you want to enrol more students in online programs.
4. Highlight specific programs
When selecting a college, prospective students consider several factors, but one of the most essential is the quality of academic programs. As a result, many prospective students do searches tailored to their desired majors. Assuming you have separate sites for each of your apps (which you should! ), you should optimize them for relevant keywords.
Consider the many terms and phrases people may search for while optimizing your site. This will very certainly necessitate keyword research. For example, instead of only optimizing your business program’s page for “MBA,” optimize it for “masters in business administration” and “graduate business degree.” By incorporating various keywords that people may be searching for, you enhance the likelihood that You will find the proper ones.
5. Think about optimizing for local SEO.
The location of a prospective student can have a significant impact on where they apply. Adult students, for example, choose to attend classes near home, whereas high school seniors may view college as an opportunity to explore a new area or city. Both groups do location-based research, so consider optimizing your website for location-based searches.
Include the name of the city where your institution is located in your online copy, emails, and other stuff. For example, searching “colleges in Philadelphia” yields results for institutions such as Temple, Drexel, and the University of Pennsylvania. Surprisingly, La Salle University needs to be added to the top page. Can you tell which one did not optimize for local search?
Local SEO may help your university rank in local searches.
6. Improve non-text components
Many website owners make the mistake of merely optimizing the content on their sites; while this is crucial, there are a few additional factors to consider. Optimize your title tags, headers, meta descriptions, and picture alt text.
These details may not be important to you (or your visitors), but they are to search engines. As a result, you should pay special attention to them on all of your sites. They have no effect on reading or user experience, yet they may make or break whether a potential student discovers your site—and your institution.
Get to know more about business growth strategy for college scholarships.