When you run an independent school, it’s important to keep up to date with all the different trends in learning and education. The same logic applies to your digital marketing too!
SEO is constantly changing and evolving. Keeping tabs on all the latest news and developments can make the difference between the coveted number one spot on Google, and languishing on the second page.
Not got the time to understand the emerging SEO trends for independent schools? That’s what we’re here for! Here are the top school SEO best practices you should be aware of.
1. Artificial intelligence and chatbots
It wouldn’t be right for us to write an article about school SEO best practices and not discuss Chat GPT! Artificial chatbots like Chat GPT, Bard, and Bing Chat have taken the world by storm over the past few months.
These chatbots use artificial intelligence, or AI, to answer your questions. They’re a lot like search engines in that they look at your prompt, determine what you need, and search the internet to generate the most suitable response using human language.
So, what is the role of artificial intelligence in SEO? At this time, we wouldn’t recommend using chatbots to generate your website content.
AI writing tools can only use the data that is available to them, which means the content can be low-quality, potentially plagiarised, and contain inaccuracies.
And because of Google’s helpful content update, low-value content is not ranked highly in the search engines. Carefully researched content written by an experienced human is more likely to see success in the rankings.
However, chatbots can help boost your SEO in other ways and help you save time on your digital marketing.
For example, it can explain complicated concepts to you in simple language, help you cluster your keywords together, and develop suggestions for blog titles.
Think of AI chatbots like helpful marketing assistants that you don’t have to include in the morning coffee run!
2. Voice search optimisation
Hands up, who has a Google Home or Amazon Echo? These voice search devices are now a common feature in most homes. Even if you don’t have one, you’ll definitely have a voice assistant on your smartphone!
Optimising your website and content for voice searches means you’re reaching new prospective parents and students.
Plus, as you need to rank relatively high to be considered as an answer, you’re helping your overall SEO too!
Here are some quick and simple ways to boost the chances of your website being found in voice searches.
- Consider the keywords and phrases that people use to ask questions. These are usually longer and more complete than search engine queries. For example, ‘ best schools near me’ versus ‘which is the school with the best exam results in my area?’. You can then factor these keywords into your content
- Focus on local SEO. Many voice searches request products and services in the local area, so it pays to be seen, or, more accurately, heard. We’ll talk about local SEO in more detail later on in this article
- Create FAQ pages. If people ask ‘what’, ‘where’ or ‘who’ style questions, a FAQ increases the chances of your content being found. Keep your answers short and get to the point as soon as possible. The average voice search result is only 29 words!
- Implement structured data, like schema, on your website. This is additional HTML markup that provides extra context about your pages, increasing the odds of discovery
- Ensure your pages load quickly and optimise for mobile. As time is of the essence when it comes to voice searches, search engines are more likely to choose well-optimised and fast-loading content. This is a trend in itself, and we’ll take a look at it in a short while
3. Mobile-optimised websites
60% of internet visits are now done on a mobile phone, and with faster broadband, more Wi-Fi hotspots and the rise of 5G, this figure is set to skyrocket in the future. If your website isn’t optimised for smartphones, you’re missing out on a lot of traffic.
Mobile responsiveness has been a positive ranking signal in Google for several years. This means that if your site is considered mobile-friendly, you’ll get an SEO boost as a result.
In August 2021, Google took things one step further when it rolled out its Core Web Vitals update. This update was heavily geared towards mobile-friendly websites, considering page loading times, ease of use, and page consistency. So the easier your site is to use on a mobile phone, the more you benefit.
We’ve compiled a comprehensive guide to mobile optimisation for schools that you can use to enhance your independent school website. Keep your pages clear and simple, check your page speed, and get rid of any code or extensions that you’re not using.
4. Local SEO
Our penultimate suggestion when it comes to school SEO best practices? Local SEO.
Local SEO is all about where you rank locally rather than nationally. If you’re an independent school that wants to appeal to parents in a specific city or town, it’s a cost-effective and relatively easy strategy to implement. For example: ‘independent schools in London’ or ‘theatre schools near me’.
After all, would you rather compete with a handful of other local schools, or tens and thousands of schools across the UK? We know which we’d prefer!
The key when it comes to local SEO is solid keyword research. Look at the localised keywords that prospective parents use, and optimise your content to match. We also recommend getting set up on Google Business Profile to provide Google with additional context about your school and what you do.
Check out our complete guide on local SEO for independent schools.
5. E-E-A-T
Source: redcowmedia.co.uk
No, it’s not what you do in the school canteen at half past twelve every day, E-E-A-T is something you should be aware of when it comes to school SEO best practices.
E-E-A-T stands for ‘Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust’ and is a vital part of the Google search quality rater guidelines. It means that Google will prioritise content that it sees as honest, safe, reliable, and accurate.
Think of a website offering health advice. While some websites provide high-quality and reputable information that will help people get the proper support and treatment, there are a lot of other sites that give the wrong diagnosis and can make people more ill. It’s imperative that the trustworthy websites are at the top of the results, and the untrustworthy websites are pushed to the bottom.
As an independent school, you’re in a similar position. The information and advice you offer can make a crucial difference to a child’s education and future career. If you can prove that your content meets or exceeds E-E-A-T guidelines, you’ll have an advantage in the search engine results.
So, how can you do this?
- Telling web visitors who you are – an about us or team page is excellent for this. Alternatively, if you have a blog, create author pages to introduce visitors to the writers behind the articles
- Using experts to create and contribute to content. The good news is that you have many experts at hand in your independent school! For example, if you’re writing a blog about the importance of nutrition, get the head of biology or home economics to provide their thoughts. Link to reputable sources and studies in your content to show you’ve done your research
- Encouraging parents and students to give your independent school positive reviews and feedback. This shows that your content is trustworthy and credible
- Encouraging high-quality websites in your sector to link to your site. This shows that other respected businesses value you as a source of information
- Update content regularly. This demonstrates that your content is up-to-date and can be trusted
Bubblegum Search: always ahead of the curve
Keeping on top of all the latest SEO trends and developments can be a job all in itself. You stay tuned to the experts on Twitter, sign up for all the newsletters and… has Google updated its algorithm again?
At Bubblegum Search, our expert team keeps up to date with SEO best practice, so you don’t have to. This means you have the peace of mind that your website will rank as highly as possible in the search engines, without spending time poring over articles and white papers.
The school term is too short for all that, right?
See why we’re number one when it comes to school SEO best practices, and book your free marketing call today. Give us just twenty minutes of your time, and we’ll show you how you can get ranking for all the right keywords.