A recent study conducted by Search Influence and UPCEA (University Professional and Continuing Education Association) concluded that 51% of higher education institutions or universities lack good SEO.
Most universities are often behind the curve in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because they focus more on offering quality education and research.
Consequently, such universities miss out on growth and impact opportunities because they’re not able to:
- Boost their online visibility or have more visibility on Google.
- Attract prospective students who want to learn more about the programs offered.
- Improve their search engine rankings.
- Build trust with users.
The State of Higher Education SEO
Here are the findings from the Search Influence and UPCEA Higher Education SEO research study:
- Institutional leaders and 84% of higher education marketing leaders recognize the critical importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). However, 51% of marketing departments acknowledge the absence of an established SEO strategy or plan within their PCO units.
- Institutional unit leaders don’t receive regular updates on important SEO metrics that can inform strategy.
- Out of 100 random UPCEA member institutions that participated in an SEO readiness audit, only 19% had an excelling score.
How to Overcome Higher Education SEO Challenges
Digital marketers are aware of the critical role of an SEO strategy. However, they may not have the resources, skills, or even personnel to develop or implement SEO strategies.
It’s worth noting the importance of organic traffic in attracting new learners. Most websites receive traffic from organic search through popular search engines like Google.
Consequently, regardless of where prospective students are in their student journey, they expect a search engine to answer their questions about:
- Programs offered and their costs
- Number of students currently enrolled
- The application process
- Where the university is located
- Institution’s reputation
- Campus life
- Online learning
- Enrollment process
Key Challenges for Implementing a Higher Education SEO Strategy
The key challenges are:
- Higher education CMS issues
The study conducted by Search Influence and UPCEA revealed that most universities use the following CMS for their websites:
- Drupal: 31%
- Cascade: 17%
- WordPress: 15%
- Omni: 6%
- Others: Adobe, Blackboard, Slate, Terminal 4, Experience Manager, etcetera
Having so many CMS platforms within PCO units means content managers need more extensive training and support than those who use WordPress.
- Teams with many roles
Many functions are assigned to marketing teams or web support within departments. Among other things, they are updating faculty bios, course descriptions, and social media.
Therefore, it’s difficult for them to establish and maintain deep knowledge and understanding about SEO.
- Inconsistent support
Centralized teams are answerable to the university or college rather than a specific department. While their intention is to serve all departments equally, here’s what happens:
- More resources are allocated to favored programs.
- All programs get basic support.
Thus, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which isn’t as tangible as advertising and email marketing, lacks enough human and financial resources.
- Centralized command and control
In many higher education institutions, centralized functions are often directed from the university level rather than from within individual departments.
That said, a team in charge of marketing at the departmental level may be restricted by the templates, brand guides, and technology choices made at the institutional level.
Individual departments are only allowed to make technology decisions that comply with the general guidelines of the institution as a whole.
Based on the above challenges, it’s evident that most departments in higher education do not prioritize SEO.
University SEO Best Practices
Here’s what good higher ed SEO looks like:
- Demonstrate E-E-A-T in your content strategy
Universities can earn trust by demonstrating E-E-A-T, which stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. To rank in Google’s SERPs, higher education marketing leaders must ensure content is helpful and relevant.
- Focus on content optimization for University SEO success
Higher education marketers can create relevant content that ranks well in search engines by paying attention to:
- Formatting
- Use of headings
- On-page optimization elements
- What is being linked to from within the University content, that is, good links
- Get Google Search Console
Google Search Console helps higher ed marketers know:
- Queries their pages already show up for.
- Phrases Google thinks are relevant for their website.
Google Search Console can help higher education marketers think competitively.
