Word of mouth is king when it comes to driving contact-form completion, tours, and admissions. But more and more K-12 schools are amping up their online visibility and making sure they’re findable to their target market, influencers, and referral partners through search and social SEO (search engine optimization). In this workshop we'll pull back the curtain to shed light on the path to modern SEO success. Presented by: Jenny Munn, The Munn Group We’ll explore the following themes: • Why am I not ranking better? • Why are other schools ahead of me? • What do I need to do to get started today improving our presence online?

1. Stop Being the Best-Kept Secret:
Amp Up Your Online Presence, Improve Your Impact
Jenny Munn
The Munn Group
jenny@jennymunn.com

2. Housekeeping
• Leave Your Card
• Raffle
• Copy of this Deck WITH Additional
Resources and Links
• NAIS Conference App
• Feedback welcome
• Poll – who is in the room?

3. Agenda
1. Local SEO for Schools - The
Basics
2. Elements for Powerful
Purposeful, Local Presence
3. Off-Page: Social and
Backlinks

4. About Jenny ->SEO’ing SinceAbout Jenny: SEO’ing Since 2009
2008

5. Local SEO for Schools

6. Why SEO?
Why SEO when there’s so
much to do?
• Buyers have changed
• Smartphone culture
• More choices and models
• ToFu + Inbound Marketing
• Organic diversification

7. 4 SEO Fundamentals
1. SEO = a set of activities to
improve the discovery of
CONTENT
2. Contingent upon having a great
asset
3. Change will have to happen
4. Top Down Buy In

8. Keywords for Schools
• Keywords = marketing 101
the language of your
customers
• SEO requires ACTIVE search:
understanding which
keywords do–and don’t–
drive traffic
• It’s not about you: it’s about
them.
This is NOT SEO
”

9. Case Study: Keywords
The Munn Group | munngroupconsulting.com | Twitter: @jennymunn
Example: “daycare” vs “child learning center”

10. Case Study: Keywords
Example: “upper school” vs “private high school”

11. “Google My Business” for Schools
Google your school name: Do
you have a profile?
https://www.google.com/business/
Accurate, Complete Listing:
hours, address, updated profile with
keywords, photos, reviews, etc.

12. Local SEO – Directories & Reviews
Local Citations: local business listing sites in
your region which you can publish listings for
your business to.
• Ex. Yellow Pages, Kudzu, Yelp
• Exact NAP (name, address, phone)
CRITICAL
Local Reviews: Google and elsewhere
GreatSchools.org, Niche.com/k12,
glassdoor.com, privateschoolreview.com Source:
https://moz.com/local/search

13. Local Map Pack and Local SEO: A Layer
to “Regular” SEO
• Customer
Reviews
• A Well-
Optimized Site
• Local Citations
• Proximity to
Searcher

14. Case Study: Google My Business/Local Map Pack

15. “…..Near Me” Keywords Rise
The Munn Group | munngroupconsulting.com | Twitter: @jennymunn
Distance
matters. A
lot. Ranked by Grades.
In other words, a C-
grade school across the
street was slightly
preferable to a B-grade
school just a mile away.

16. Building a Powerful Local Presence

17. Localized Website Best Practices
• NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number – in the
footer
• Speed
• Schema for Local Businesses
• Mobile-First Mentality
Tools:
https://search.google.com/search-
console/mobile-friendly
https://developers.google.com/spee
d/pagespeed/insights/
https://schema.org/LocalBusiness

18. Takeaway Tip: Title Tags
The Munn Group | munngroupconsulting.com | Twitter: @jennymunn
Page Titles/Title Tags:
• The #1 most important place to put
your keywords

19. Localized Website Content

20. Tip: Be a Content Producer

21. Off-Page: Social and Backlinks

22. Off-Page 101
The Munn Group | munngroupconsulting.com | Twitter: @jennymunn

23. Backlink Ideas
You often have to ask, and keep an eye out for opportunities.
Podcasts, sponsorships, conferences, PR, school promotions, etc.
Identify local organizations, community groups, associations,
affiliations, partners, and other local businesses and ask if you could
place a link on their website.

24. Backlinks – You + Competitors
Door Prize – Backlink Analysis for Your
School + 3 Competitors

25. Social SEO
• Social signals - correlation or causation? Unclear on
impact. Google wavers!
• Trust, authority, and engagement
• Direct links (from your social media profiles and
activity) and indirect links from your content getting
promoted by other users
• Another way to drive awareness, drive traffic, get your
content FOUND (sends good signals to Google, can
generate links and prospects)
• Keywords should and could carry over
Hand in
your
business
card to
get a
copy

26. Recap

27. Raffles and Reminders
• Business Card – get a
copy of this slide deck
• Raffle Prizes
• Rate this in the App
The Munn Group | munngroupconsulting.com | Twitter: @jennymunn

28. Recap: Stop Being the Best-Kept Secret
1. Local SEO for Schools
- The Basics
2. Elements for
Powerful Purposeful,
Local Presence
3. Off-Page: Social and
Backlinks
Basic Checklist/Diagnostic
The Munn Group | munngroupconsulting.com | Twitter: @jennymunn

29. JENNY MUNN – The Munn Group
linkedin.com/in/jennymunn
jenny@jennymunn.com
Questions?
Thank you!