Interactive Marketing for Colleges and University

What Every College & University Must Know About Internet Marketing

Overview • Search Engine Optimization • Why SEO • Case Study – SLU – School for Professional Studies • Interactive Marketing • Social Media Strategies • Balanced Approach • Benefits • Questions?

Organic – 70% (chemical free!)

SEO Best Practices On Page SEO Off Site SEO

On Page SEO • Crawlable Architecture • Keyword Research • Content • Title Tags • Meta Data • URL Structure • Site Architecture

Off Site Optimization

Off Site Optimization • How Do You Build Links? • Manual Linkbuilding – Associations – Business Partners – City Web Sites – Effective, but slow • There Are More Scalable Methods

Why SEO? • Rightful Position • Others Are Doing It • Test Your Site: – Colleges in <your state> – Business programs in <location> – What’s your top program?

Overview – Benefits of SEO • Highest CPS • Greatest ROI • SEO Gains Are Semi Permanent • Builds Your Brand Equity

Case Study – SLU – School for Professional Studies “We have an online program now, so let’s go national.” – Dean, SLU School for Professional Studies, April 2007

Case Study – SLU – School for Professional Studies How to increase leads/enrollments for new programs/online offerings with same, very small, marketing budget? – Strengths: reputation/brand, adult student focus – Weaknesses: affordability, sufficient resources – Opportunities: new programs, online/alternative formats – Threats: competition, internal resistance

Case Study – SLU – School for Professional Studies In addition… – In 2006, University adopted new Content Management System (CMS) for website – resulting in “lost site syndrome”. – U of Phoenix third quarter report (July 2009) • Gross revenue topped $1 billion for first time • Enrollment is now 420,000 students • “Sales and Promotional Expenses” budget was $246.3 million – for the quarter!

Case Study – SLU – School for Professional Studies • Challenges – Google can’t find us – Going “national” on shoestring budget – Up against for-profit competition – Insufficient resources

Case Study – SLU – School for Professional Studies • Signed on with Plattform Oct 2007 – Started small: SEO only – Targeted top eight pages first for optimization and gradually expanded throughout the year – Resulted in 50 percent increase in both search engine traffic and overall visitors from 2007 to 2008 – During this same time, enrollments grew by 35 percent

Case Study – SLU – School for Professional Studies 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 Total Traffic 2000 Search Engine Traffic 0

Universal Search & Video Optimization • Google’s New Search Results • Video Optimization • Driven By YouTube • Keyword Research • Do You Have Existing Videos? • Video Quality • Ranking Factors

Social Media As A Product • Above All, Differentiate • Social Media As A Product – Good Blogging – User Generated Content – Social Media Applications • Social Media As Promotion: – Social Networking – Engaging the Blogosphere

How To Run A College Blog • Set Your Objectives and Topic Scope • Be Authentic • Differentiate – Niche Content, Resourceful, Timely • Open Up Comments, Living Room Rule • Don’t Blog on Demand • Don’t Blog in a Silo • About RSS Readers • Use Your Instructors • Not Just Content, Great Content.

Modern Social Media Strategies • Facebook & Twitter • Build Your Own Network • Application Decisions Important – Open Source vs Proprietary – Hosted Solution or Not? – Long Term Implications • www.fastcompany.com • www.ifood.tv

Facebook Page

Social Media Promotion • Email current students/alumni • Facebook and Twitter • Digg and Social News Sites • Social Bookmarking • Pitch Lists

A Balanced Approach • What’s the catch? • Much easier than you think • Modern web tools • Platform decisions are critical – Open source? – Hosted solution? • Careful Planning

Benefits • Enriched student experience • Differentiation • Free content • Links to unique features • Great SEO performance • Good SEO = stronger brand

Recap • Search Engine Optimization • Why SEO • Case Study – SLU – School for Professional Studies • Interactive Marketing • Social Media Strategies • Balanced Approach • Benefits

Questions?

Interactive Marketing for Colleges and University

by PlattForm Higher Education

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