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Search is one of the most frequently used online tools among US adults. A 2012 Pew Internet Survey found that 91% of adults use search engines to find information on the Web. This survey also revealed that younger and more educated people, meaning current or prospective college students, are most likely to use search engines. So for these young people, when they make one of the biggest decisions of their life — where to go to college — search is one of the top few resources they use to narrow down their choice. This was confirmed by another Noel Levitz survey of 2,000 college bound students which found that search engines are the second most used resource by prospective students for researching colleges. The popularity of search engines in this user group has led to a huge increase in search engine marketing – both PPC and SEO – in the higher education marketing space. An interesting story recently aired on … Continue reading
Posted in: Inbound Marketing, paid advertising agency, pittsburgh paid advertising agency, Pittsburgh SEO agency
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Google recently introduced a secure search protocol – meaning that every search performed on Google is now secure. Any keyword typed in as a Google search will be listed as “not provided” to the website owners using analytics software. This means that website owners will not have access to the keywords that directed readers to a website through organic search. But the good news is that some keyword data is still available in Google Webmaster Tools. Let’s look at some implications of the secure search protocol and how they can be overcome using data from Webmaster Tools. #1: Branded and non-branded traffic We often see a correlation between branded and non-branded traffic where an increase in non-branded traffic over time provides a lift to branded traffic as well. This data will become more obscure as a result of secure search. In a 100% not provided world, this trend becomes harder to prove. But as searcher habits don’t change over time, … Continue reading
Posted in: Google secure search, Search Marketing
With a rapid change in technology, digital marketing channels have evolved quickly over the past few years. As a result, there has been an increase in investment in digital channels by higher education marketers. We’ve worked with many higher education clients who struggle to find the right balance between investing in the appropriate digital marketing channel. For the purposes of this post, let’s look at paid and inbound marketing channels to understand why a higher education institution should invest in one or the other or both. Why Paid? Paid advertising, which now includes paid social and remarketing ads, is very tightly tied in to the investment that you make. As long as you’re bidding high enough, your ads will appear in the top spots which are most visible to searchers. Paid advertising works well in situations where there is a sense of urgency. If a college or university is faced with a tight deadline for enrollments, for example, paid advertising … Continue reading
There are multiple approaches to building a successful brand for a college or university. I work with brand specialists, designers, writers and content marketers who all have different opinions on what is important to a higher education brand. But from a search marketing perspective, some of the things I consider most important include brand awareness and reputation. An institution that’s not covering these bases is missing some opportunities. For each institution, individual goals may be very different: to train leaders or to increase global understanding, for example. But the common link for every college and university is enrollment: filling the seats with engaged students. In order to continue enrolling students, it is essential that the brand is as familiar to their target audience as possible. Let’s take University of Phoenix as an example. In the for-profit higher education space, Phoenix is the best known brand name. As they have marketed themselves as a for-profit school, they continue to attract the … Continue reading
Posted in: Search Marketing
The Elliance team recently partnered with Manchester Business School’s Miami Center to market its unique global MBA program. Manchester Business School is a prestigious brand in the world of business education. Working with this global client has helped us appreciate some of the changing trends in the higher education world, including the enormous increase in the international student population in the US over the past few years. At Elliance, we started noticing this trend in our own Analytics reports a few years ago. The initial indicator was an increase in search traffic from ‘international student enrollment’ and ‘international recruitment’ related phrases. To see how demand for ‘international student enrollment’ has changed over time, we used Ngram Viewer to chart out the mentions for this topic. In the chart below, we can see the trend appearing around the seventies and then really taking off in the late eighties and nineties. More proof is evident in a recent Open Doors report on … Continue reading
Posted in: international student enrollment
Amy mentioned in her last post the strength of Pinterest as a marketing channel. Pinterest is now the third-largest social network behind only Facebook and Twitter. For marketers, Pinterest is one more channel in the marketing toolkit that we need to think (and worry) about. In the realm of the higher education marketing industry, Pinterest presents an interesting opportunity, which can help reach a completely different segment of your prospect population. But how do you use Pinterest to give a sense of who you truly are as a brand? The first step is to figure out the core of your brand. The next step is to share that brand ideology, and that’s where Pinterest can be very powerful. Here are five things to keep in mind when sharing that ideology on Pinterest: Truly represent brand culture: Trying to choose which college to go to is a big decision. What a prospective student needs to feel is comfort with the brand, … Continue reading
At Elliance we work with clients of all shapes and sizes, from many different industries. Regardless, it’s our passion for the work that helps them to reach their potential and beyond. One of our core beliefs is that SEO is a part of the larger picture. Instead of thinking of SEO as its own silo, we believe that SEO, content, story, brand and UX should be mutually supporting. We believe in tying it all together. Here are five principles that are at the core of Elliance and affect our work with all our SEO clients: 1. Quality Matters, Not Quantity. We spend hours coming up with great content for all our clients. Whether it is copy for a single page or an overhaul of a full website, our copywriters, strategists and search team work in tandem to make good content. 2. One Size Does Not Fit All. Every client has a unique problem. This means that every single client requires … Continue reading
Posted in: SEO Services
A typical Google results page includes ten organic results along with sponsored ads on the top and right hand side of the page. Out of millions of webpages out there, Google selects the top ten pages for page one results for any given query. The listings include a title, URL and short description, called a snippet, which provides an introduction to the website that you are being invited to visit. Imagine standing on a street with multiple storefronts all selling similar things. If there are five candy stores adjacent to each other which one do you choose? Probably the one that looks most attractive from outside. The case is similar on a search results page. The title, URL and description all act as a storefront for your website. They need to be catchy and attractive to stand out from the other results and draw searchers’ attention to encourage them click through to your website. A search result snippet is usually … Continue reading
Google, when determining the ranking of a page, takes hundreds of factors into account. The precise algorithm is a closely guarded secret, but over time and through our work with a variety of clients, we have determined four major optimization factors that one should focus on when optimizing a page. We created an SEO factors infographic to explain this concept. One of those optimization factors is the URL of a page. When we optimize client sites — whether in higher education, manufacturing, or any other industry – we often run into situations where page optimization calls for URL optimization. To have a well-optimized page, the URL of the page should be search friendly, should clearly represent the information on the page, and should be consistent with the overall website structure. But in many cases, this is easier said than done. Here are some issues which can make URL optimization a challenge: The URL is tied to page title, header or … Continue reading
Not long ago, Abu wrote about how social media is being adopted by big name manufacturers. The GE and John Deere examples he shared show that some manufacturers are doing an amazing job with their digital marketing efforts. Data from a recent MarketingSherpa Benchmarking study shows that investments in website design, SEO and social on behalf of manufacturing marketing are all expected to rise in 2012. For success in these marketing ventures, it’s important to implement and integrate your strategies with a purpose. Let’s take GE as an example. GE is doing a wonderful job with its social. The website is well done, the visuals are great and GE is telling compelling stories about its products and services. Images and branding both on the website and associated social channels contribute to the seamless integration between the two. Let’s look at some different views of their homepage: An ongoing campaign — “GE Works” — is at the center of the whole … Continue reading