Blackbaud K-12 User Conference Breakout Sessions An Independent Schools Guide to SEO - Daren Worcester

2. An Independent School’s
Guide to SEO
Daren Worcester
linkedin.com/in/darenworcester

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Today’s Goals
• Understand the various factors that
influence SEO.
• Get into an SEO state of mind!
• Learn actionable ways to better optimize
your school’s site.

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What is SEO?

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Why is SEO important?

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Why is SEO important?
52% }
The average
percentage of
private school
website sessions
acquired by
organic search.

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Why is SEO important?
The click-through rate from Search Engine Result Pages
(SERPs) drops significantly with each position lower in the
standings.
Source: http://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/google-organic-click-through-rates-2014/

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Why is SEO important?
8 - 10%= the average correlation between visits to the Apply page
and actual applications.
Increasing applications is a matter of attracting more site
visitors.

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SEO Industry Evolves Rapidly
Google makes upwards of 500 algorithm
changes a year!
Source: http://mozcast.com/

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Search Result Influences
Today, search results
are influenced by a
variety of on- and off-
site factors.
The best SEO
strategies strike a
balance between each
influence.

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Content Strategy

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Content Strategy } Keywords
“Keywords” — the
phrases users enter into
search engines — are the
core of content strategy.
Think of keywords as
“topics” for the site and
individual pages. In short,
if a keyword phrase
doesn’t appear on a page,
then the page won’t rank
for that phrase.

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Content Strategy } Keywords
Make sure all content
contains the right
keywords to maximize
search visibility.
Use Google Adwords
to search for and
identify relevant
keywords.

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Content Strategy } Keywords
The key is to target
realistic keywords for the
school.
This means focusing on
“long tail keywords,”
which are less frequent
searches that typically
feature a combination of
multiple keywords.

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“Over 70% of the traffic you earn
for any given page will come from
keywords you didn't try to optimize
for.”
— Cyrus Shepard, Moz
Source: https://moz.com/blog/keywords-to-concepts

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Structural SEO

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Structural } Page Titles
•Feature keywords in
page title tags, but don’t
stuff.
•Each page should have
a unique, click-worthy
tag.
•55-60 character limit on
title tags.
•Display the school’s
name in most title tags.

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Structural } Meta Description
•Each page should have
a unique meta
description.
•Keep descriptions to
156 characters or less.
•Keywords have an
indirect impact in meta
descriptions
•Think of descriptions as
the sales pitch for a
page. Why should
someone click?

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Structural } Tags & Descriptions
onMessage has SEO
settings for entering page
title tags and meta
descriptions.

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Structural } Navigation
Google looks at
navigation from the top
down, assuming the
most important pages
are at the beginning.
This is why many
schools are now
electing to begin their
navigation with
Admissions.

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Structural } Navigation
It’s also important to
apply keyword
research to navigation
titles, using terms with
more
search/recognition
value.
Consider “Tuition and
Financial Aid” instead
of “Affording,” “Drama”
instead of “Theatre,”
etc.

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Structural } URL
Readable URLs
with keywords help
the search engines
establish the page
topic.
Try to avoid
“stuffing” URLs with
repetitive keywords.

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Structural } Header Tags
Header Tags provide a
topical hierarchy to the
page. Having keywords
in headers further
emphasizes these
terms.
Other text treatments
such as bold and italic
also signify important
text to the search
engines.

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Structural } Internal Links
Links within body text
aid site optimization
because they help
search engines connect
related topics.
The links should always
be written to aid the
user experience. This
means linking keywords
instead of “click here”
or “learn more.”

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Page Optimization
When we combine
everything we’ve
discussed from
content and
structure, a well
optimized page
would look like this.

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Technical SEO

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Technical } Mobile Friendly
Google has started
favoring mobile-
friendly sites in
searches conducted
on mobile devices.

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Technical } Mobile Friendly
A recent look at
Blackbaud K-12
sites revealed that
26% of visitors were
on mobile devices.

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Technical } Mobile Friendly
All onMessage sites
pass Google’s
mobile-friendly test
(with flying colors, of
course!)
Source:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

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Technical } Mobile Friendly
It’s possible an
individual page could
fail due to content on
the page. Non-
responsive embed
codes are a common
culprit.
Embed Responsively
can help!
Source: http://embedresponsively.com/

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Technical } Page Load Speed
Search engines want to
recommend pages that
load fast, especially for
mobile devices.
The best thing website
managers can do is
optimize images for the
web by saving photos
at 60% of the original
resolution and
uploading .jpg files.

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Link Building

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Link Building
Google highly values
links to a site as they’re
seen as votes of
approval for the site.
The goal is to get as
many quality links as
possible.
Tip: Review pages with
the most links and
create similar content to
get more links.

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Social Media

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Social Media
Social media influences SEO by:
•Building brand recognition and
website traffic
•Increasing web citations and
inbound links
•Cultivating online reviews
•Filling the organic search
results for the school’s name

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Social Media
An important first step
for schools is ensuring
that profile information
on all of its social
properties has been
completed. Always
include a link to the main
site.
It’s also key to have links
on the main site to the
various social properties
to establish authorship.

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Social Media
Don’t ignore Google+!
•Aid local searches
and help populate the
knowledge graph
•Connect YouTube for
increased engagement
•Provide personalized
search results
•Foster online reviews

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Social Media
Get five or more
reviews on Google+
and Google will
display a star rating
in the school’s
search results.
That’s a good thing.
Usually...

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Local SEO

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Local SEO
Google takes user
location into account
when returning
search results.
It’s important for the
school’s name,
address and phone
number (NAP) to
appear EXACTLY
the same in
directories as it
does on the school’s
site.

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Local SEO
When editing the
school’s profile in the
various directories
(Google+, Yelp,
Yellow Pages,
Superpages, etc.),
add the school to as
many “categories” as
are relevant.

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Local SEO
Moz Local offers a
great deal for
updating location
data across the
major directories.
Source: https://moz.com/products/pricing/local

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Brand Recognition

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Brand Recognition
Strong brand
recognition can
have a positive
impact on search
results.
Brand recognition
influences inbound
links, social sharing,
direct traffic, repeat
visitors, and
“branded” searches.

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User Metrics

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User Metrics
Google is looking
for engagement.
How long are
visitors on the
site? What do
they click on? And
do they come
back?

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User Metrics
Google
Analytics users
should consider
signing up for
QuillEngage.
Free weekly e-
mail analytic
reports that are
easy to
understand.
Source: https://quillengage.narrativescience.com/

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Thanks for attending
An Independent School’s Guide to SEO