Update August 30, 2023
If your college or university is supplying students with valuable instruction and the tools to succeed in the working world, you’re already an attractive option to a prospective student. But those students have to find you first.
We can help boost enrollment through marketing. Here’s how:
By utilizing college digital marketing services provided by an experienced SEO company like Sixth City Marketing, you’ll draw these potential students to your website. Once there, they will see the valuable education you offer, along with your institution’s numerous attractive services and amenities.
With a tailored campaign of digital marketing for colleges, Sixth City Marketing will help you gain online leads through:
- College/university search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns
- Paid advertising for grad programs
- Social media management
- Univerisity website design and development
By utilizing these proven digital marketing techniques, we can ensure increased web traffic for your school while also providing new branding opportunities.
What Is SEO and How Does It Work for Your School?
SEO stands for search engine optimization and encompasses a variety of techniques to increase your presence in searches through Google, Bing and Yahoo, as well as through social media channels.
One major aspect of SEO involves creating web content with worthwhile keywords, since those keywords are often what actually drives users to your site.
For instance, let’s say your institution recently expanded its nursing program and wanted to draw attention to that fact. A tailored campaign of digital marketing for your college might incorporate search terms like:
- Nursing school
- Nursing college
- Nursing programs
- College nursing programs
- College of nursing
- Nurse practitioner school
All of these keywords could be modified into locational terms too, such as “nursing school in Pennsylvania” or whatever fits your situation, whether you are a physical school or are strictly online.
The popularity of various keywords fluctuates based on many factors, and part of a personalized SEO campaign involves making sure your college ranks well in page searches for the most relevant terms.
Some other tactics that are crucial pieces of well-rounded SEO for colleges include:
- Link building
- Competitor analysis
- Blog writing
- Content updates
- Metadata writing
- Social optimization
- Much more!
Other Digital Marketing Strategies We Provide
In addition to all of our SEO techniques and strategies, Sixth City Marketing can also provide the following services to ensure your college digital marketing is as successful as possible:
- Pay-per-click – These are online ads that are able to be highly customized, pinpointing users based on age, region, state, city and interests to increase the likelihood of their interaction with the ad.
- Paid social media – Along with ads on search engines, paid social media posts that target potential students are great ways to expand your reach. You can target not only the aspects we mentioned above, but also expanded interests.
- Social media marketing – By keeping a steady stream of content available for users to see, and giving your college an approachable and informative persona, you can go a long way in convincing students you’re the school for them. We work with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and more.
- Website design and development – Bringing prospective students to your site is only as effective as the site they’re being brought to. Your site should be easy to navigate, responsive and user-friendly, featuring clear calls to action and attractive visuals. Our experienced team can ensure your online presence showcases a modern and reliable look.
- Email marketing – To help potential students through the application process, or to help them learn more about your program, using email for communication is a great marketing tool. Through email you can instantly share important deadlines, upcoming events, and more.
- Consulting and auditing – Get a better idea of how your website currently performs from both an SEO and technical web perspective, along with a list of actionable items you can work on to improve your presence.
Our Expertise in Digital Marketing for Colleges
We have worked with numerous educational institutions to improve their online presence and create more leads through SEO, PPC, and more. They include:
- Kent State University
- Ohio University
- Columbus College of Art & Design
- New Castle School of Trades
- North American Trade Schools
- West Virginia Junior College
In addition, we’ve worked with a wide selection of businesses in diverse sectors. To see some of the success we’ve had with various campaigns, be sure to check out our case studies.
Digital Marketing Checklist
Get a quick assessment of where you stand with your current digital marketing efforts by asking yourself the following questions:
- Is your website secure with an SSL certificate?
- Do you have Google Analytics tracking installed?
- If so, do you have conversion tracking in place?
- Do you have web forms on all key pages for easy contacting?
- How much are you spending on pay-per-click ads?
- Are you active on social media?
- Does your website load quickly?
- Are you sending emails frequently, or at all?
- Are you ranking for key terms related to your location?
- Have you supplemented your content with video?
- Are your pages optimized with keywords, lengthier copy, and more?
- Is your school linked from major directories?
- Are all mentions on the web linked to your website?
- Are you linking to key program pages throughout your site?
If you answered yes to the majority of these questions, congratulations! You are one step ahead of the game when it comes to marketing. However, if you found yourself saying no to most of these, it is time to step your game up!
Educate Yourself on Digital Marketing
These related articles can help you learn more about the industry and key aspects to be aware of:
- What Do SEO Companies Do?
- User Experience Is Becoming a Google Ranking Factor
- Understanding Google’s Search Factors
- Is Traditional Marketing Really Working for You?
Contact Sixth City Marketing Today
To get the most from your college digital marketing campaign, choose a dedicated and experienced team adept at crafting personalized, tailored campaigns.
Reach out to Sixth City Marketing today and find out all that we can do to refine your school’s online presence!
