Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the process of attempting to improve your website rankings with popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. It’s no secret that these companies regularly update the algorithms that determine who best fits their search engine criteria. It’s also no secret that they generally don’t broadcast the guidelines they use to rank one site over another. Does that mean it’s impossible to keep up? How will your target markets know you exist? How does it impact your education marketing strategy? Before you drive yourself mad trying to play a game without rules, let’s take a look at what we do know.
Many factors contribute to your website’s ranking. Primary among these is traffic. As more people visit your site, search engines will note your popularity and reward you with higher placement in search results. Other common factors include consistent posting of new content, frequent web page updates, the length of time a visitor stays on your website, and quality of images and copy.
What does SEO do for you?
If you are spending hours driving traffic to your website as part of your education marketing strategy, does SEO ranking really make a difference? In a word – yes! The web is a powerful sales tool, but to sell, you must be found. While search engines are smart, they still need some help to draw the attention of your potential customers. The search engine experts at MOZ say:
“The major engines are always working to improve their technology to crawl the web more deeply and return better results to users. However, there is a limit to how search engines can operate. Whereas the right SEO can net you thousands of visitors and increased attention, the wrong moves can hide or bury your site deep in the search results where visibility is minimal.”
How can I boost my search engine rankings?
Every effective education marketing strategy is centered around the anticipated needs and wants of your target audience. The same approach should underscore your SEO strategies. For example, a major strategic asset is keyword targeting. Determine your website’s focus and identify topic keywords to highlight for your desired audience. Deploying these keywords throughout your site’s content creates a powerful, lead generation tool. But this is just the tip of the SEO iceberg. Here are some other best practices for boosting your search visibility.
- Choose keywords that resonate: Create a profile of your ideal customer and develop an array of keywords and phrases that mirror the profile. Incorporating this language in your site’s content will make it a “natural” search destination for the audience you want to reach.
- Create compelling content: Search engines want to showcase interesting and authoritative content and will reward sites that provide it.
- Attract unique visitors: The more unique visitors you have to your site each month, the better your rankings. Make sure you include your website URL with any call to action you publish outside of your site, specifically on social media.
- Provide internal links: Including links to other content on your website helps build credibility and offer additional context to your copy. By linking to similar content, you are creating a library of resources instead of a single article or page.
Wondering if your website could be better optimized? Give us a call.