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SEO for Schools

Whether you are running a private school, public school, or a college or university, the Internet and a professional website will help draw attention to the programs and services you offer — crucial to attracting the right students.

School SEO services will help drive your website's rank higher in the search engines. As you look for a partner to help with your SEO efforts, make sure that your school SEO strategy includes these critical elements.

Off-site SEO

Much of the work of SEO occurs away from your school's website. Some of the most valuable ways of drawing traffic to your site include:

Building Inbound Links

Inbound links (or backlinks) that point to your website from other authoritative sites tell the search engines that your site is helpful and valuable. For schools, the most powerful inbound links are those from local websites, such as a chamber of commerce, news station, local church — or a blog from a local company. Work with a school SEO firm to find the right types of sites with which to build backlinks.

Positive Reviews

Encourage satisfied families/students to leave positive reviews about your school on local review sites — such as Google My Business, Yelp and similar sites — in addition to education-centric sites such as GreatSchools and Private School Review. If your school has a PTA or alumni association, these can be great resources to elicit reviews.

Name, Address, Phone Number Lists

Name, address and phone number listings on directories need to be accurate — they must match the name, address and phone number on your website to improve local SEO efforts. A school SEO agency can help you locate the most effective directories for these listings.

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On-site SEO

On-site SEO works hand in hand with the strategies built into your website to help it rank well. For schools, some of the most effective on-site SEO strategies include:

Creating Linkable Content

Because backlinks are so important to your school's SEO success, you need to provide content that other sites find link-worthy. A blog is a great place for this content, to encourage more linking. Fill your blog with helpful, education-related content that parents and other education professionals will find helpful and to which they will want to link.

Focusing on Local Keywords

Keyword analysis with the assistance of a school SEO company will help you determine the keywords that people are searching when looking for a new school or education option. Aim for keywords that have strong search intent and high search volume. Since targeting a local audience is critical, add geographic tags, including your city and state, to keywords.

Becoming Mobile Friendly

Make sure your site is user-friendly on all devices. As the search engines become more sophisticated, they are beginning to realize the importance of this search, and are rewarding sites for being mobile-friendly.

Dedicated, Logical Work Brings Good Results

When teaching students, you encourage them to work slow and steady as they grasp new concepts and complete projects. The same strategy applies to SEO. With slow, steady application and effective analysis through a well-executed school SEO campaign, you will see high organic visibility for your school's site, leading to high-quality leads from your local market.

Are you ready to get started? Straight North is a school SEO agency with proven strategies to improve your visibility and online marketing success. Call us today at 855-883-0011 — or request a quote online to learn more.