Prospective students increasingly turn to search engines like Google to research and find educational opportunities. As an education provider, having a well-optimised website is crucial for attracting organic traffic from these searches. In this week's Marketing Monday, we share some key SEO tips to enhance your education website’s visibility.

Conduct keyword research

The first step is understanding which keywords and phrases your target students are using when searching online. You can find these by using keyword research tools, then incorporate them naturally throughout your website content. The emphasis here is on ‘naturally’ – avoid ‘keyword stuffing’, otherwise search engines will consider your content spam.

Prioritise relevant, high-quality content

Search engines favour websites that offer informative, relevant content. Make sure your website has detailed pages covering your institution, programmes, admissions process, student life, and other important topics prospective students care about. This adds value to your website.

Optimise technical on-page elements

Apart from the quality of your content, the layout is also critical for SEO. Structure your content using proper header tag hierarchy (H1, H2, etc.), include focus keywords in titles and meta descriptions, and write content that answers common student questions. Ensure your website also follows other technical SEO best practices, like:

- Mobile-friendly, fast-loading pages

- Alt text for images

- XML sitemaps to help search engines crawl your site

Focus on user experience (UX)

Search engines aim to deliver the best possible results for users. A website with a poor user experience (e.g. confusing navigation, slow loading times etc.) can negatively impact rankings. Invest in improving your website’s UX design to ensure it’s easy to use on all devices.

Build quality backlinks

Earning high-quality backlinks from reputable websites is wonderful for SEO. Look for opportunities for backlinks through partnerships, guest posts, sponsorships and more.

A well-optimised education website can drive sustainable organic traffic from prospective international students. Focus on these core tips and you’ll be able to increase your search visibility and reach your target audience far more effectively. And, as always, don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any assistance with your SEO marketing strategy! 

Written by Stephanie Clark