The Right SEM Strategy for Schools in 2024

In the ultra-competitive world of student recruitment, search engine marketing (SEM) has become a make-or-break necessity for schools. Consider these eye-opening statistics:

• Google processes over 5 billion student-related searches per day (Google, 2023)
• 95% of prospective students use search engines during their school research process (Carnegie Dartlet, 2022)
• Schools that rank on the first page of Google results see a 200% increase in website traffic vs. those on page 2 (SEMrush, 2023)
• SEM drives an average of 50% of all website traffic for schools (HubSpot, 2023)

The takeaway is clear – if you want to get found by prospective students online, you need an effective SEM strategy in place. And with student digital research behaviors continually evolving, what worked in the past won‘t necessarily cut it in the future.

As we look ahead to 2024, schools need to adapt their SEM approach to drive maximum visibility, traffic, and enrollments. Here‘s what you need to know.

Understanding the SEM Landscape

At a high level, SEM consists of two key components:

1. Search engine optimization (SEO) – Improving a school‘s organic (non-paid) visibility in search results through website optimizations and content marketing
2. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising – Paying for ads to appear at the top of search results for target keywords

Think of it like this – if a school‘s online presence is a car, SEO is the engine that provides long-term power and acceleration. The better optimized your website is for search, the more relevant organic traffic you‘ll drive over time.

PPC, on the other hand, is like a turbo-boost. It provides a quick burst of speed to drive immediate visibility and traffic. But that extra power comes at a cost – you have to keep feeding the meter to maintain your position.

To maximize impact and efficiency, schools need both a strong SEO foundation and a strategic PPC approach. Here‘s a closer look at SEM best practices for 2024.

SEO Best Practices for Schools in 2024

At its core, SEO success comes down to two things:

1. Understanding what prospective students are searching for at each stage of their journey
2. Providing the best, most relevant content to meet their needs

With that in mind, here are the key areas schools should focus on to drive organic search visibility in 2024:

Keyword Research & Optimization

The first step in any SEO strategy is identifying the search phrases your target student personas use. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner and Semrush to build a master list of keywords to target across your website.

Some examples of long-tail, student-focused keywords might include:

• Best online MBA programs for working professionals
• Accelerated nursing programs near me
• Affordable bachelor‘s in psychology online
• Top performing arts high schools in [city]
• Financial aid for first-generation college students

Once you have your target keyword list, weave them into key on-page elements like:

• Page titles & meta descriptions
• Header tags (H1, H2, H3)
• Body copy
• Image alt text
• URLs

For example, let‘s say you‘re optimizing a program page for the keyword "online master‘s in data analytics." Here‘s what your title tag and meta description might look like:

Title Tag: Online Master‘s in Data Analytics | [School Name] Meta Description: Earn your master‘s in data analytics online from [School Name]. GRE/GMAT waivers available. Learn from industry experts and graduate in as few as 18 months.

In addition to standard on-page optimizations, schools should also implement structured data markup. Using formats like schema.org, structured data provides additional context about page content to search engines.

Some key types of schema markup for schools include:

• Organization schema to classify your school (e.g. university, high school, trade school)
• Program schema for degrees and certificates
• Event schema for open houses, info sessions, etc.
• FAQ page schema to appear in Google‘s Q&A results
• Local business schema for campuses and facilities

Finally, schools need to monitor and optimize for Core Web Vitals – Google‘s page experience metrics. These include:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – How quickly the main content loads
• First Input Delay (FID) – Time from when a user first interacts with your site to when the browser responds
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – How much page content shifts unexpectedly

To provide a positive user experience and maximize SEO, aim for these Core Web Vitals benchmarks:

Metric	Target
LCP	< 2.5 seconds
FID	< 100 milliseconds
CLS	< 0.1

Quality, Keyword-Rich Content

Optimizing existing site content is only half the SEO battle – you also need to consistently publish new content that aligns with the topics your target students care about.

Blogging is one of the most effective ways to do this. By creating helpful, keyword-focused blog articles, you can attract prospective students at every stage of their decision-making process.

For example, let‘s say your school offers a popular online MBA program. Here are some potential blog topics to target different stages of the enrollment funnel:

Awareness

• What Can You Do With an MBA? 7 Career Paths to Consider
• Online MBA vs. On-Campus MBA: Which Is Right for You?

Consideration

• Faculty Spotlight: Meet the Industry Experts Teaching [School‘s] Online MBA
• Student Success Story: How [Name] Accelerated Her Career With an Online MBA

Decision

• What to Expect in [School‘s] Online MBA Program: A Week in the Life
• 5 Tips for Financing Your Online MBA at [School]

The key to getting the most SEO value from your blog content is to organize it using topic cluster methodology. This involves:

1. Choosing a broad topic you want to rank for (e.g. online MBA)
2. Creating a long-form pillar page that covers the topic in-depth
3. Publishing shorter blog posts on related subtopics that link back to the pillar page

This strategy signals your topical authority to search engines and helps your most important pages rank higher, faster.

Other types of SEO-friendly content to consider creating include:

• Videos (campus tours, student testimonials, expert interviews)
• Infographics (program comparisons, application checklists, career data)
• Ebooks & guides (how to choose a program, preparing for college, study tips)
• Podcasts (alumni success stories, conversations with faculty)

Whatever the format, make sure to optimize your content for relevant keywords and promote it across channels to drive maximum visibility.

Link Building

In addition to creating great content, schools also need to focus on earning high-quality backlinks. When authoritative, relevant sites link to your content, it sends trust signals to search engines and improves your chances of ranking.

Some effective link building strategies for schools include:

• Guest blogging for education and industry publications
• Partnering with influencers and thought leaders in your niche
• Securing links from online directories and resource pages
• Reaching out to sites that link to competing schools
• Creating scholarship pages to attract links from financial aid sites

When evaluating link opportunities, prioritize quality over quantity. A single link from a well-known, high-authority website (think U.S. News, Forbes, etc.) is worth more than dozens of links from low-quality, spammy sites.

Strategic PPC for Schools

While SEO should be the long-term foundation of your school‘s SEM strategy, pay-per-click advertising provides a powerful way to increase visibility for key initiatives and audiences.

Some specific situations where PPC can provide value for schools include:

• Promoting high-priority or new programs to generate awareness and drive inquiries quickly
• Reaching students searching for competitor schools to influence their consideration set
• Remarketing to previous website visitors to bring them back to complete key actions
• Maximizing visibility for time-sensitive enrollment campaigns

When launching PPC campaigns, it‘s important to tailor your strategy to each stage of the enrollment funnel. For example:

Awareness Campaigns

• Target broad, research-based keywords
• Use ad copy that communicates key program benefits and differentiators
• Direct clicks to informational pages or content offers

Consideration Campaigns

• Target category keywords indicating intent to apply
• Highlight program USPs, student outcomes, financial aid in ad copy
• Link to program pages with strong calls-to-action

Decision Campaigns

• Target branded keywords for your school and programs
• Emphasize deadlines, application instructions, and enrollment incentives in ad copy
• Direct clicks to application or request for information forms

To maximize the efficiency of your PPC spending, take advantage of geotargeting options to reach students in specific regions or DMAs. For example:

• Campaigns for on-campus programs within a 50-mile radius
• Campaigns targeting states with tuition reciprocity agreements
• Campaigns promoting satellite campus locations to nearby cities

Allocate your budget strategically across degrees and programs based on enrollment priorities. As a general rule of thumb, plan to invest 70% of your budget on high-priority programs, 20% on growth opportunities, and 10% on maintaining visibility for established offerings.

Finally, make sure to track and analyze key PPC metrics to continually optimize performance. These include:

Metric	Benchmark
Click-through rate (CTR)	4-5%
Cost per click (CPC)	$3-4
Conversion rate	10-12%
Cost per lead	$50-80

Preparing for the Future of SEM

As with any digital marketing discipline, the world of SEM is always evolving. To future-proof your strategy, keep these emerging trends and best practices on your radar for 2024:

Voice Search Optimization

With the rise of virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, an increasing number of students are using voice search to find information online. To optimize for these queries:

• Focus on conversational, long-tail keywords that mirror how people speak
• Structure content in a question-and-answer format
• Claim your Google My Business listing to appear in "near me" searches
• Implement speakable structured data to increase chances of appearing in voice results

Google Analytics 4

In July 2023, Google will officially sunset Universal Analytics and require all websites to switch to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This new platform comes with several key features for tracking SEM performance:

• New engagement metrics like engaged sessions and average engagement time
• Improved conversion tracking and attribution modeling
• Predictive analytics to forecast churn probability, revenue potential, etc.
• Deeper integration with Google Ads for cross-channel reporting

To prepare for the switch, set up a GA4 property for your school‘s website ASAP. This will allow you to start collecting data and familiarize yourself with the new interface before Universal Analytics goes away.

SEM Performance Tracking

As you roll out new SEM campaigns and initiatives, it‘s important to track performance on a regular basis. Key metrics to monitor include:

SEO

• Organic traffic
• Keyword rankings
• Backlinks
• Pages/session
• Avg. session duration
• Bounce rate

PPC

• Impressions
• Clicks
• CTR
• Average CPC
• Conversion rate
• Cost per conversion

Use tools like Google Search Console, Semrush, and Google Analytics to track these metrics over time. Pay attention to benchmark data for the education industry to see how you stack up, and look for opportunities to improve underperforming metrics.

Set up multi-touch attribution models in GA4 to track how SEO and PPC work together to drive enrollments. For example, you might find that certain keywords drive a lot of initial awareness (e.g. "best online degrees"), while others are more likely to convert (e.g. "apply for [school name] online MBA").

This data will help you allocate your SEM budget more efficiently and create a seamless experience across channels.

Bringing It All Together

SEM success for schools in 2024 and beyond requires a holistic, student-first approach. By implementing SEO best practices to drive organic visibility, launching strategic PPC campaigns to reach key audiences, and adapting to new technologies and trends, you‘ll be well positioned to connect with prospective students at every stage of their journey.

The most successful schools will be those that use SEM not just as a tactic for driving inquiries and applications, but as a way to provide value to students. Every optimized program page, helpful blog post, and relevant ad is an opportunity to educate, inspire, and guide someone in their higher education decision-making process.

When you approach SEM with this mindset, the results will follow. You‘ll attract more qualified website traffic, engage prospective students more effectively, and build a strong enrollment pipeline for years to come.

The question isn‘t whether schools should invest in SEM – it‘s how they can maximize their investment to stand out in an increasingly competitive landscape. By following the strategies and best practices outlined here, you‘ll be well on your way.