Following on from our recent Marketing Monday post about the situation of search in 2023, this Bulletin focuses on some more tips to help you make the most of your content marketing strategy. Because yes, content marketing plays a huge role in SEO (search engine optimisation). 

Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines (which is basically you How to Make Google Happy Guide) has established the EEAT model. Following this will ensure that any written content you prepare for your international education audience will be according to what Google expects. And from there we can hope for better search engine results. Sounds simple, enough right? So, here's what EEAT stands for and how you can apply it when writing your content:

E: Experience - Your content should show that you understand and can empathise with your target audience. So, say you're targeting international students - if you have content that gives real-life examples about being a student at your school, like student testimonials, blogs written by these students, etc., you'll be doing well in this part of the model. What's important is that the experience is authentic and genuine (avoid AI as much a spossible here ;))

E: Expertise - This might be obvious because if you're not the expert of your own business, who else would be? Sure, and rightly so, but how are you showing this on your site? Let's take the example of education agent... put simply, your job is to get students to a specific school, college or university safely and make sure they're happy. Student or parent testimonials would be good, but those fall under Experience a bit more. To truly show expertise, write blogs about topics surrounding international education, visas, what students need when travelling to a specific country. Make sure these blogs have your name, and ideally link that to your LinkedIn profile. The latter should show your experience in the field and a great network of people from the industry. You also need to make sure that the more generl information on your site always stays up to date. Even if some content is evergreen, it will still need some TLC from time to time. 

A: Authorititivness - Here we're focusing on how known you are within the international education industry. Google will consider you or your school/agency/business an authority if it is well-known within the industry it operates in i.e. if it is mentioned on third-party sites, if your followers talk about it, and if the person who's publishing your content is a professional within the education industry. (Remember that LinkedIn profile we mentioned... time to get working on it, it seems!)

T: Trustworthiness - When it comes to SEO, trustworthiness is a big deal. Google wants to make sure that whatever it shows you in search results is reliable and honest. To be trustworthy, you need to be transparent. That means you should clearly say who wrote the content on your website. You also have to make sure that what you're saying is true and backed up by good sources. And, it's important not to bombard your site with tons of annoying ads that hide the real content. But here's the thing: trustworthiness isn't just about what you write. Google also looks at other things on your website. For example, if your website has a shopping/checkout page and the connection isn't secure, Google might think that it's untrustworthy.

In our Friday Bulletin you'll get some more examples of how you can apply EEAT to your business, and if you've missed it don't worry, you can check it out on our YouTube channel:

Here at Schools & Agents we don't just focus on giving you a profile in a Directory. Our aim is to help you improve your marketing strategy and website content, and get you seen within the international education industry, not just on our channels, but also on yours. Get in touch if you're unsure about any of the points we mention here or if you'd like to know how we can help you get your SEO up to speed.

Written by Lynne Farrugia