Presented this slide deck to a Pennsylvania College in September 2015.

1. web analytics | search engine marketing | email marketing
SEO Best Practices for Higher Education
September 2015

2. Today’s Speaker
Jeff Tincher
● Owner of 610 Digital, LLC; Founder of Chester County
Marketing Group
● Digital Marketing Consultant, specializing in Web Analytics,
SEO & Paid Search Marketing, Email Marketing and
Automation
● Background in Technology and Digital Marketing
● Husband and father of 2 children
● Youth soccer coach; Community volunteer
● Connect on LinkedIn -- http://linkd.in/TinchLI
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3. Talking Points
1. How Students and Parents SEARCH
2. Best Practices for On-Page SEO
3. Technical SEO
4. Examples of how other Universities improved SEO
5. Optimizing for Local SEO and Events
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4. 4
90% of HS seniors and
80% of HS parents
have access to a
mobile device
source: Noel-Levitz 2014 E-Expectations Report
71% of HS seniors and
45% of HS parents
visited college websites on
mobile

5. 5
education searchers don’t know
which school they want to
attend when they begin their
college search.
8 in 10
source: Google Think Education, 2013

6. 6
people who complete a
conversion on education
websites that are
influenced by search.
78%
source: Google Think Education, 2013

7. 7
source: Google Think Education, 2013
83% of all education queries begin
with non-branded keywords.
source: Google Think Education, 2013

8. 8
Communications preference and influences
source: Noel-Levitz 2014 E-Expectations Report

9. Understand Search Interest: Google Trends
● Higher search interest for College A (blue) over Collage B (red)
● Search queries increase in August through October when high school juniors/seniors are
researching colleges
● Less search interest for colleges in spring/summer months
source: www.google.com/trends 9

10. Optimizing Department Pages with SEO

11. What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the
process and strategy involved in improving
the structure and content of a website to
help improve the ranking on search
engines.
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12. Perfectly Optimized Landing Page
● Unique Title for Every Page
● Unique Meta Description
● Only one H1 header on a page
● Optimize H2 header for sections of page
● Image Filename and Image Alt Attribute
● Use variations of best keywords - but do NOT over stuff
● Write content in human-speak; write for humans NOT search
engines
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Useful Tool:

13. SEO for Page Titles
Page title is what appears on the Search Results
Page (SERPs) and needs to be compelling enough
for a student to click on the headline.
● Most important element for on-page SEO
● Put best keywords at front of Title Tag
● 60-65 characters in length, max of 70
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Optimized Title
Bachelor of Science in Accounting | Example University, Pennsylvania

14. SEO for Meta Description
● Each page SHOULD have a unique Meta Description
● Include a Call-to-Action
● Meta descriptions do not directly impact a SEO or ranking;
but do have a big impact on click-through
Like a title tag, each meta tag for each of your web pages
should be unique. They should be no more than 150 characters
in length, or else Google will cut off your description.
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15. SEO Keywords
● Need to research keywords
● Gather info about competing schools and
programs
● Take advantage of Long-Tail Keywords
(4+ words)
● Write for prospective students and
parents
● Use the keywords in the content but also
as headings on the page
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16. Current Keyword Ranking
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Keyword Rank
masters in engineering pa 14
chemical engineering degree PA 32
civil engineering degree in PA 19
colleges that offer civil engineering in pa 55
pennsylvania colleges Not Ranked
east coast colleges Not Ranked
colleges in pennsylvania Not Ranked
graduate schools in pa 99
graduate schools lehigh valley 1
MBA allentown 33
MBA program PA 89
MBA programs in Pennsylvania Not Ranked
evening classes for masters allentown 42
MBA evening classes PA 78
graduate programs in eastern Pennsylvania 73
sports events lehigh valley 30
lehigh music concerts 1
art show in allentown 52
art show lehigh valley 40
sports events lehigh valley 30

17. Sample Keywords from KeywordTool.io
GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN PA (SEED)
graduate programs in allentown pa
graduate schools in allentown pa
graduate programs near allentown pa
graduate accounting programs in pennsylvania
graduate schools in pennsylvania for business
graduate education programs in pa
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ENGINEERING PROGRAMS EAST COAST (SEED)
chemical engineering programs east coast
top engineering schools east coast
small engineering schools east coast
chemical engineering schools east coast
colleges with engineering programs on the east coast
engineering programs on the east coast
east coast colleges with engineering programs

18. Technical SEO

19. Google Search Center (Webmaster Tools)
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20. Why You Need a Sitemap.xml File
XML sitemaps allow you to notify and communication with
search engines, letting them know about new pages,
changed content, etc. This can help your pages get indexed
quicker.
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21. Why It’s Important to be Mobile-Optimized
● Google is now ranking Mobile-Friendly
pages higher in Mobile-SERPs
● Better User Experience
● Lower Mobile Bounce Rate
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22. Check Your Pages!!
Check your Department’s site and pages at
google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly
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useful tool: http://quirktools.com/screenfly

23. Remember, prospective students use mobile!
Eduventures 2015 Prospective Student Survey
● 67% of all college-bound students use their phones
as part of their overall college application
experience
● slightly higher mobile usage during the early
search process
“Not having a mobile-optimized admissions website
could mean that you reach fewer students at the
earliest part of their college search experience.”
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source: http://www.eduventures.com/2015/05/mobilize-in-response-to-gen-z/

24. SEO Improvements at Other Universities

25. Univ. of Dayton Fixed Low SERP for “Ohio” Searches
● What: Not ranking for in-state searches for graduate programs
(Masters Computer Science Ohio)
● Why: Title tags not optimized for local or state-specific search.
Competing against other Ohio colleges.
● How: Improved low search rankings by adding one word to their
graduate program pages.
25source: http://goo.gl/wOzjfY
Added “Ohio”

26. Be Ready for Multi-Screen
● What: Ashford Univ evaluated how prospective students viewed the website.
● Findings: Prospective students often visited site via mobile early on and for
initial information. These prospects returned later on desktops for more
information and longer duration.
● Results/Changes Made: created a simplified mobile website focusing on
three features: embedded video, programs offered, and a short contact
form.
26Source: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/search-for-knowledge.html
“It’s about optimizing the
experience as it relates to
smartphones and tablets,”
Ross Woodard, CMO says.

27. Case Study: Radford University
● Spent 9 months implementing a comprehensive in-house SEO project
across tens of thousands of its web pages.
● Updated page titles, page descriptions, page headlines and headers to
include relevant keywords
● Increased Organic Traffic by 18% in two years
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4% Organic
in 2011
22% Organic
in 2013
source: collegewebeditor.com

28. Local SEO and Schema

29. SEO for Venues and Events
● Use location keywords in event title,
names, content.
● Improve SERPs with microdata or schema
● Claim your venues on Local Directories,
Google My Business & Maps, Bing Maps
● Make sure to fill out 100% of the fields
(including images) and use the exact
location information on each directory
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Example of a Google search result that has been marked up
with the Event Schema:
useful tool: http://schema-creator.org/event.php

30. Microdata / Schema
Microdata allows you to call out certain types of content from your pages like address,
phone, event dates & times, important people.
Core Business Information (Name, Address & Phone or NAP)
■ Business Name
■ Business Address
■ Business Phone
■ Business Lat / Long
■ Business Logo
■ Business Description
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31. Now that SEO Brought Prospects to Your Site...
Make sure to keep prospective students coming back to Lehigh.edu!
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● Track micro and macro conversions
○ did they download info
○ signup for email
○ follow on Social
○ browse 5+ pages
○ spend 5+ minutes
● Remarket to select audiences that visit your
site but do not convert. Use remarketing ads to
display both text ads and display/image ads to
prospective students and parents

32. Slide Deck @ https://goo.gl/bQq0W0
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Thank you and Questions
Jeff Tincher
jeff@610digital.com
@JeffTincher
linkd.in/TinchLI

33. www.610Digital.com
Jeff@610Digital.com
610.590.4824 33