Enrollment in a search-eat-search world

March 8th, 2007

At Elliance, we try to stay on top of college and university change not just in admissions marketing and web development, but also how the campus environment is changing. I’ve watched how colleges and universities have been busy upgrading everything from cafeteria menus to campus visit events to web 2.0 sites, all in the hope of satisfying the “me-first” needs of millennials. All great things for your students, but the return on such investments (in numbers of applicants, student quality measures and overall awareness) can be hard to quantify.

Meanwhile, the low hanging enrollment fruit, in many instances, goes unpicked.

I’m referring to the role of search engine optimization or SEO in your overall enrollment management and institutional marketing efforts.

For-profit education sellers have known this for years and beaten endowment-driven college and universities to the punch. It’s time to punch back, and dedicate at least five percent of your marketing and enrollment budget to natural or organic search [defined].

I’d like to hear from those who’ve made search a priority, as well as those who remain search skeptics.

In a search-driven world, site rankings paired with a conversion-driven web site can lead your enrollment efforts. Elliance used a site redesign and aggressive search campaign to boost applications to a Carnegie Mellon University program 118 percent. Read more here.

In another case of integrated site redesign and search marketing, Elliance helped student-guide publisher College Prowler rise to number one on Google for critical keywords, boosting book sales and raising their national profile. Click here.

Organic search involves an ongoing effort, and a willingness to adapt. New developments, such as social search and mobile search, will play a growing role in your perspective student’s decision making. Elliance offers an ongoing series of infographics to help those trying to grasp the ever-changing search world. Click here.

Entry Filed under: eduWeb Conference, Marketing, Web Development, Web 2.0, Enrollment