In the ever-changing digital landscape we exist in today, having a solid online presence isn’t a luxury for educational institutions anymore – it’s a necessity. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) plays a significant role in attracting new prospective students and parents, as well as improving your institution or business’ overall visibility. This article explores the key steps to optimising your school, institution, or business’ website for maximum SEO impact:
1. Building the foundations for success: your website and its role
- A user-focused design: Your website should cater to both visitors and search engines. Achieve a seamless user experience with a clean, intuitive design, free from technical glitches or slow performance. Ensure easy navigation with a clear structure and logical menus.
- Your website’s accessibility matters: Optimise your website for accessibility by using alt text for images, ensuring proper colour contrast, and providing options for keyboard navigation.
- Optimising for fast loading speeds: Prioritise fast loading times for better user experience and improved rankings. Use Google’s Core Web Vitals for insights. Improve speed by:
- Compressing images without losing quality
- Minimising code
- Leveraging caching mechanisms
- Claim your Google Business profile: For schools with a physical presence, this is crucial to appearing in relevant local searches and attracting parents and students.
2. Your keyword research: understanding search intent
- Step into the shoes of your target audience: Consider how prospective students and parents search for schools or how your audience searches for your business. Focus on location, specific courses, and catchment areas.
- The broad keywords: General terms like “primary school” or “secondary education” have high search volume but also high competition.
- The long-tail keywords: Target specific keywords like “[specific subject] after-school programme” or “[town name] private school fees” to attract high-intent visitors.
- Target keywords with intent in mind: Choose keywords aligned with search intent. While high-commercial intent keywords are competitive, long-tail keywords with lower competition can yield better conversions.
- Search appearance optimisation: Identify opportunities to appear in featured snippets and “People Also Ask” sections to enhance visibility.
3. Content is king: building credibility and authority
- Informative and shareable content: Create valuable content that positions your institution as an authority, attracts backlinks, and boosts domain authority.
- Demonstrating expertise: Showcase your courses and services through blog posts, news updates, and newsletters.
- Course spotlights: Highlight specific courses or programmes, showcasing their unique features, benefits, and student success stories.
- Teacher profiles: Introduce faculty members, highlighting their qualifications, experience, and teaching philosophies.
- Student testimonials: Share positive testimonials from students and alumni to build trust.
- User journey optimisation: Provide dedicated pages for funding, bursaries, application processes, and admissions requirements.
- Enriching content with EEAT: Ensure your content reflects expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
- Faculty authorship: Encourage teachers to contribute blog posts or articles related to their expertise.
- Data-driven insights: Use data and statistics to highlight academic achievements.
- Positive media coverage: Share news articles or media mentions that showcase your institution’s accomplishments.
4. Technical SEO for colleges and schools: optimising your website’s backstage
- Organise your website: Use no-index meta tags for irrelevant pages like login portals and low-quality event pages to focus search engine attention on valuable content.
- Backlink building: Secure backlinks from reputable sources to improve domain authority.
- Quick wins: Target relevant parent forums, school review sites, and local directories for backlinks.
- Brand mentions: Monitor online mentions and request backlinks where applicable.
- Content collaboration: Partner with relevant websites for guest blogging, joint webinars, or co-created resources.
5. Ongoing monitoring and adaptation: SEO for universities and schools never ends
SEO for schools and colleges is an ongoing process. Regularly monitor website performance using tools like Google Search Console. Analyse traffic, keyword rankings, and user behaviour to identify areas for improvement.
- Adapt your strategy: Adjust keyword targeting, content strategy, and technical SEO practices based on data insights.
- Stay updated: Keep up with the latest algorithm updates and best practices to maintain competitiveness.
Conclusion: partnering with an SEO agency for schools
By implementing these strategies, you can significantly improve your SEO audit for schools and attract more prospective students. A marketing strategy for schools requires dedication and ongoing effort. Xanthos Digital offers comprehensive SEO services and marketing tips for schools.
Our team of experts can help you:
- Conduct in-depth keyword research and competitor analysis.
- Develop a data-driven content strategy that resonates with your target audience.
- Optimise your website’s technical structure and on-page elements.
- Build a strong backlink profile through strategic outreach and collaboration.
- Continuously monitor your website’s performance and adapt your strategy for optimal results.
Contact Xanthos Digital today to discuss how we can deliver online marketing for schools and attract the best students.
