A great discussion topic in a public relations master’s class I’m taking at Kent State University is about search engine optimization (SEO). So what is it and how important is it for a college or university?

Simply put, SEO is maximizing the use of keywords and phrases in order to boost rankings on search engines such as Google or Yahoo.

It was only a few years ago that prospective students, including myself, barely scouted colleges online. Now it’s becoming an important stop along the road of a college selection process.

However, just because a college builds a fantastic Web site, doesn’t mean students will come. Future students have to be able to find you. Even for a small institution like Mount Union College (2,200 enrollment) in Ohio that has a solid local base, it’s very important to have a strong web presence, but it is equally important to have the “Google juice” to compete with the other 46 liberal arts colleges and 13 state institutions in Ohio alone.

To prove my point, research shows that future college students are beginning their search online. In fact, a recent STAMATS study of current high school students found:

• 74% conducted general college research on the Web;
• 92% have discussed specific schools with their parents;
• 54% used a search engine for their college search; and
• 67% visited a specific college Web site.

 

Another important fact was 65 percent use a search engine to search for colleges. With search engines coming to the forefront of the overall college search process for prospective students, colleges have to think long and hard if they are using the best online strategies.

So where should a college begin? One of the first steps is selecting the right keywords. As with all promotional materials, colleges need to find a language that is specific to them. Also, conduct a test by searching for some of the popular terms on Google and see where the institution ranks.

Another good step is setting up an analytics tool such as Google Analytics or Web Trends. This will help measure traffic. Colleges will be able to see where visitors are coming from and what the most popular areas are. This can help pinpoint the strengths of the site and the areas that need work.

Start with a keyword analysis and find a way to measure traffic, and then colleges will be on their way to optimizing their Web site.