Higher Education's Inbound Marketing Survey

Notes on SEO, Analytics, and Content

February 22, 2016

Notes from a presentation by Jay Kelly & Ann Oleson, Converge Consulting

38% of survey respondents don’t know which staff member is responsible for technical SEO.
Recommend performing keyword research quarterly with tools like SEM Rush, Google Keyword Planner, or Moz

Over 70% of traffic earned comes from long tail keywords, keywords that have not been optimized for
There are limitations to SEO keyword gaming. 15% of searches are brand new, never seen before searches.
Google is returning searches that have different (but related) words from the actual search. Search “new rocky movie” and discover Creed or “tiger on a boat” and find Life of Pi.

Trend: Increase use of video ads
LinkedIn lead accelerator: campaigns with ads that change according to lifecycle
Consider retargeting with specific content for open house visitors or specific programs
Segmentation based on Persona, ex. MBA program with separate creative and separate landing pages for Military and Executives
Content Calendar - one of the most important things; American University uses Trello.
Use SEO/Content Dashboard to evaluate content marketing and include: Organic Visits
Top non branded keywords
Organic non brand visits
Source of organic visits

If set up attribution in Google Analytics, can assess touch point. And analyze the last thing (or other significant things)

Set up attribution in GA (now)
Segment ads based on Persona (check in with ads team)
Retargeting ads based on area of website visit (check in with ads team)
Develop Content Calendar (facilitate with department - later)
Keyword Research: Quarterly
Use Content Dashboard to evaluate