For many schools, search engine optimisation is often the last thing on the minds of their marketing department. However, it shouldn’t be. Visibility in search engines is more important than ever. SEO ensures that a school can attract prospective parents, students, and staff.
Schools that invest heavily in SEO often find that their enrolments go up, and they have an easier time finding staff. It also helps that SEO is one of the most effective forms of marketing that you do from a financial perspective.
Since we know many schools may be unfamiliar with SEO, we want to provide a few tips that can help them see a boost to their incoming site traffic. SEO is not a quick process, but when it gets rolling, there’s nothing better.
1. Optimise Your Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
You’ve carried out a Google search before, right? Chances are that when you do, you’ll click the search result that not only looks the most relevant to your search but says something catchy to pull you in too.
Your page title should always have keywords in it (the words you want people to tap into a search engine to find you). For example, if you’re a primary school in Southport, then ‘Southport Primary School’ or something should be there.
You will also want a brief description of whatever the page has. For example, a page for your Ofsted reports might say “Southport Primary School Ofsted Reports’, or words to that effect. Basically, help people to find relevant pages on your site by ample use of keywords. Think about what people would type into the search engines to find pages on your site.
The meta description (the piece of text that appears under the link in the search results) should also be highly descriptive, but short. There should be a call to action (CTA) that encourages people to click e.g. ‘find out more’ or ‘read our results’.
Always try to optimise your keywords. If something isn’t working, switch it up.
2. Continually Monitor Your Technical SEO Health
You should be registered on at least one SEO technical analysis platform. Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Screaming Frog are the most popular.
These tools will tell you if there are any issues with your SEO. If there are, fix the issues. These tools are all about getting you ranked higher in the searches.
Once your technical issues are fixed, set a reminder to check your SEO health at least once per term. This way you can fix errors as they appear.
3. Improve Mobile Responsiveness and Site Speed
For starters, you need to have a responsive mobile version of your website.
When search engines rank websites, they not only rank for relevancy but also rank based on-site experience. If a website doesn’t perform well (poor loading speeds, etc.) then it’ll rank lower than a less-relevant website. So, if your site performance isn’t up to scratch it doesn’t matter about the quality of your content.
Focus on:
- Using reliable web hosting. If you’re in the UK, use a UK-based web host.
- Compress images on your website. They’ll load faster.
- Responsive content management system (CMS) e.g. School Jotter.
4. Focus on Local SEO
Chances are you’re not targeting the entire country with your website. Instead, you’re aiming for the local area. So, you only need to focus on local search engine optimisation. Do the following:
- Claim your Google business profile. This will often place you at the top of the search results in the ‘local businesses’ section. Your school may appear there even if you don’t have the claimed profile, but when you claim your Google business profile, you’ll have a bit more control over it.
- Aim for using local keywords on your website. For example, “Primary School in Leeds”. Bring up where you are based often, so search engines can properly categorise you.
5. Structure Your Content with Header Tags
You’ll notice that every single one of the tips on this page is under its own header. This serves multiple purposes:
- It makes it easier to scan the content.
- It makes content easier to read. No blocky paragraphs, which can be distracting.
- It allows the search engines to properly scan the content.
When you’re building up any page on your website, use headers. Each new section should have a header above it (when the topic changes).
We’ll get a bit technical here. The main title for each page should always be Header 1 (H1). Each major section beneath that should be a H2 (the titles for each section on this page are H2). If you have a sub-section under your H2, it should be a H3. Basically, organise your content properly. Make it easy to navigate.
When you make blog posts on your site (which you should do, as you’ll see soon), you should always use headers. When you post curriculums on your website, use headers so people can easily navigate the curriculum properly.
If you aren’t quite sure how to structure your content, look at other websites. Decent websites. They’ll show you exactly how to use headers to your advantage.
6. Regularly Update Your Content
Static websites rarely rank that well. This is because the search engines believe that the longer a website goes without fresh content, the less relevant it becomes. So, regularly update your website. Include:
- News posts
- Updated calendar, including term dates.
- Updated curriculum
- Blog posts
Come up with a regular content posting schedule, and you’ll be swimming in traffic.
7. Use Internal Linking to Guide Users and Search Engines
Search engines should be able to find all content on your site. If they can’t access certain content, then that page won’t be listed. This will cause a hit to your search engine rankings. Of course, it will also be ideal for your site users to access all the content too. This means that it should be easy for anybody, search engine or reader, to access content. This means using internal linking.
You should always link related pages. For example, this blog post on SEO tips, links to our SEO for schools service.
There’s no limit to the number of links you can include on a page. If something seems relevant, link it. For example, if you wrote a news piece on the success of a history trip, link to the history curriculum, or history staff page, etc.
Make SEO Part of Your School’s Website Strategy
SEO should play a key role in your school’s marketing strategy. More people than ever before are now looking for potential schools through the search engines, and you need to make sure they’re found. The tips on this page will help. Proper keyword usage, site structure, useability, and regular content will go a long way toward boosting your position in the search engines. However, it can’t do everything. Working with a professional may be the best choice when you’re starting from scratch.
Need help building your schools website or optimising for SEO? Get in touch today.