Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of the development and escalation of web traffic. The traffic could be paid and unpaid. The unpaid traffic is more preferred by the SEO specialists. It is an internet marketing strategy and is aimed to boost the search engine mechanisms to gain higher web traffic.  

Most of us when we do an Internet search we enter the links that come out on the first page. Very few people go through the following pages of the search results. Here intervenes in SEO marketing to optimize our website and to make it appear on the first page of the search.

Index

• What is SEO?
• Why is SEO important for College and University Websites?
• Some Tips for College and University Websites.
• Perform an SEO Audit.
• Review Your Keywords.
• Make it Mobile-Friendly.
• Create Unique Content.
• Create SEO Friendly URL structured Website.
• Build Relevant Links.

1. What is SEO?

The online experience starts with a search. We distinguish between two different types of it:

• organic
• paid

For colleges and universities, an organic search is very attractive. This type of search helps to raise the ranking and prestige of your website in the general unpaid ranking.

Here are some advantages of both organic and paid rankings.

Organic

• It is free
• Has more credibility
• Offers actionable data
• Is alluring for relevant users

Paid

• Offers immediate results
• Offers keyword data
• Offers actionable data

The paid ranking can be inconvenient considering that you have to invest money. Nevertheless, you should consider your goals before opting for one or another. There is an opportunity to have the combination. SEO experts can give you better advice once the website is examined thoroughly. 

This term sounds quite complicated for a basic internet user. SEO is a Search Engine Optimizer that helps the web page advance, to have more views through its location in the searching engine. In other words, SEO marketing is a boost of the webpage through the net. It is the ascent of the website in the organic part of the search outcomes.

2. Why is SEO important for College and University Websites?

A high-level College and University receive applications from thousands of students from all over the world. Nowadays, the main source of getting information is the internet. Before applying to any university, students first search to know the institution where they will apply. If the student is undecided, the information that he will find on the university’s website will help him. If the universities have not updated their web pages or do not have the marketing up to date this can cause their information to appear on the following pages instead of the first one. 

With an updated SEO and PPC colleges and universities optimize and broaden their website traffic. Nevertheless, it is not easy to decide where to start. Expert College Admissions Consulting companies can be a good start for your website optimization.

3. Some Tips for College and University Websites 

Most of the Universities in the world have their websites, however, the major part of these colleges and universities only update their location, number of available places, and majors. Consider that there are thousands of universities and the applicants will choose the one which facilitates all the information and appears on the first page of the search engine. 

Here are some useful tips for colleges and universities to optimize their websites and make them accessible and easy to use.

• Pay attention to the content – The content of your site is essential, it should function as a hook in the beginning and as detailed information afterward.
• Informative pages – The ranking of a website depends a lot on the relevant pages it includes. The length of the page, time spent on it count a lot.
•  URLs – This is probably one of the essential parts of the website. if the URLs are a combination of just numbers and characters people will not come back to it and your page ranking will not grow. You can include keywords in the URLs to facilitate the further activity of the site. 
• Student targeted keywords – Make research on who your possible students are. Create your keywords around these possible audiences.
• Non-text element optimization – The optimization of non-text elements of the website is as important as text elements. Thus do not leave them unattended. 

4. Perform an SEO Audit

SEO audit is the starting point of page optimization. Instead of taking some days to do a detailed audit of your site, you can do a so-called quick audit:

• Solve small problems with the site performance.
• Optimize organic search options
• analyze your content

These 3 steps can boost your page forward and help to get more traffic before you start a detailed SEO audit.

5. Review Your Keywords

Keywords are hooks of your page. A good keyword can be a guarantee of the success of the page traffic. While deciding what keywords to use you should consider two parameters:

• How often do the users search those keywords?
• How many web pages appear with those keywords? 

Optimal keywords should be 2-4 words. One-word keywords can lead to mismatches. Before deciding on the keywords you need to set your goals, audience, search volume, and determine keyword opportunities.

Keywords are the bait of your goal. 

6. Make it Mobile Friendly

Millions of people look for information using smartphones instead of computers. Many college and university site visitors are likely to surf through their mobile phones. Thus, make your page mobile-friendly. It is one of the musts in the modern technological world. 

If you have updated our webpage during the last year, you have probably optimized and adapted the page for mobile use. If not, you should hurry and make it mobile-friendly as soon as possible.

7. Create Unique Content

The content of a website is the first impression and a hook. You should be constantly publishing articles and new information. If you want to optimize your website the content you publish should not be less than 800 words. 

There are some things you should not do on your page:

• Do not publish copied texts from other webs
• Do not publish superficial content

Unique content means unique ideas, creativity, open-mindedness, deep and examined information, reliable and multiple sources. 

8. Create SEO Friendly URL structured Website

To optimize the traffic of your website and to make it accessible for the target audience you should create SEO-friendly URL structures. What does this mean?

You should follow some protocols. For instance, follow the HTTPS protocol, choose a domain name and the path.

URL structure can vary depending on the needs of the website. You could ask why you need to focus on an URL structure. It is because the URL is the link, the connection between your site and your audience. If your audience has a positive experience visiting your page your probability to succeed. A proper URL also affects the website ranking.

9. Build Relevant Links

Link building is one of the SEO marketing majors. To be clear, link building is when you make your website accessible through other pages. There are some strategies to be followed. The topic should have coherent content. Google’s algorithm is ranking your page and if the link-building strategies are not coherently respected it would be complicated to climb up in the ranking. The content you publish should be authentic and unique. Thus deep research can make a difference. 

Many web pages offer the opportunity to put your website on their page. If a page with high traffic includes your link in it, this can raise your ranking and make the visits to your page increase day after day. An effective SEO offers to do network outreach to have more link-building possibilities. 

Giving access to college or university site information links means promoting these institutions. The webpage is sometimes the only source to get information, thus its coherent content, unique design, high quality, and reliable information are the pledge of success.