Are you missing out on the traffic? Are you looking for ways to improve your brand’s visibility? Most of those reading this post might know what SEO is and why it is essential. But, when it comes to developing and implementing a solid SEO strategy, a winning SEO strategy requires a fast website with informative and engaging content, one that answers the search query comprehensively.
In this ultimate guide to SEO for edtech, you will learn what edtech SEO is and what you need to do to position your website on top of search engine results.
1. What Is SEO for Edtech?
SEO for edtech includes the practices that drive more visitors to your edtech website, increasing the chances of more leads, conversions, and revenue. If you want your website to get more traffic from search engines like – Google, Yahoo, and Bing – you should not overlook SEO.
For example, let’s say you develop software for educational institutions and are trying to drive prospects to your website. To catch the attention of potential customers, your website should rank on the first page of SERP results for relevant keywords, and it is possible by implementing the right SEO strategy.
Many edtech companies use SEO strategies to get noticed by decision-makers of schools, colleges, and universities. There is no “drive traffic instantly” scheme – when it comes to SEO. It is about attracting the right people at the right time with the right content.
2. What is the Significance of SEO for Edtech?
Whether you want to grow your subscriber list or intend to boost sales of your courses, SEO for edtech is a sure-shot way to drive organic traffic. Here is a quick rundown of why you should invest in SEO –
- Build trust with potential customers organically
Your edtech website is more likely to get more clicks, traffic, and leads – when your customers have a positive experience with your business. When this happens over time, your edtech website’s ranking on SERP will get closer, eventually to the top 10 positions. Again, this is because you will establish trust with your customers with a better user experience, natural links, optimized on-page elements, content, and search engine signals.
- Improve your visibility in local search
When your potential customers use phrases like – ‘best colleges near me,’ ‘best universities near me,’ or ‘best DevOps course near me’ within your geographical proximity – your website is likely to appear on the first page. Therefore, increasing your online visibility will increase the chances of growing the customer base.
- Offers impressive return on investment (ROI)
ROI is a priority consideration when evaluating different marketing channels. Although it takes time to show your edtech website on top of SERPs – it eventually delivers high revenue. According to sources, websites on the first page of SERPs receive 33% traffic, which directly correlates to traffic and ROI.
3. A Step-By-Step SEO Guide for Edtech to Boost Their Online Presence
3.1 Opt Mobile-First Index
In 2018, Google’s algorithm was updated for mobile-first-indexing. It means Google predominantly uses the mobile version of the website for indexing & ranking. If your website lacks a mobile-friendly experience, it could negatively impact the site’s rankings. With 63% of search traffic originating from mobile devices, your edtech company must have a mobile responsive website.
Here are some examples of mobile responsive website templates for your edtech –
- Free Education Responsive Web Template – Themezy
- KidKinder – Free responsive website template – Theme Wagon
- Eduma Education WordPress Theme – Theme Forest
There are several tactics to focus on to prepare for the mobile-first index. First, AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), which is an open-source initiative to improve the responsiveness of your website. If you manage a WordPress site, you can use the plugin to convert your pages to AMP. Besides, Progressive Web Apps (PWA) and PWAMP are the best alternatives to AMP.
3.2 Perform Keyword Research
When optimizing your website, you need to figure out what search terms drive user searches. The right tools will help you understand what people are searching for on Google and what content you should provide. Integrating specific keywords into your SEO strategy can drive more organic traffic to your website.
Some education keywords generated using Google Keyword Planner are – education, higher education, homeschooling, online learning, financial literacy, education center, and educational systems. Most of these worlds have a monthly search volume of 10,000 to 100,000 searches. Try incorporating some of them into your website.
To generate a more tailored list of keywords for your edtech website, you can alternately use Google Trends, Keyword Tool, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, and Wordstream.
3.3 Take Care of On-Page Optimization
Now, you have the popular keywords in the edtech industry – it’s time to use them. First, customize your list, and highlight any critical keywords relevant to your school or edtech business. Next, focus on the actual structure of the webpage and improve it.
On-page SEO strategy for edtech can have a tremendous benefit on your website. Examples of on-page SEO elements include –
Title tag – It is the first thing a user sees in the SERPs and decides if it is likely to answer his query. A well-written title tag can increase the chances of clicks and traffic. You can use Coschedule and monster insights to check the score of your headline.
Meta description – It is not a ranking factor but helps the user understand the webpage and increases the chances of CTR.
Heading tag – It is used to identify the main headings and subheadings within your content. Proper usage of H1-H6 tags adds up to the architecture of the content, especially for users and search engines.
Robots meta tag – Page with content = “noindex” attribute instructs the search engines not to index a page. For example, you would want certain pages to stay out of SERPs or while determining the overall health of your site. In such a case, these tags are of great help.
Rel=” canonical” link tag – It connects pages with the same type of content on the same subject. Using canonical tags will help steer the SEO efforts towards relevant pages, disregarding low-priority pages.
Nofollow attributes – These are your website’s external or internal links that point to relevant and high authority sources. By adding the ‘Nofollow’ attribute, you are instructing the search engines not to follow the link or give credibility to that source.
Factors like SSL certification, permalink, social sharing, and URL improve the on-page SEO of your website. To make your website more structured and relevant – enable breadcrumbs and robots.txt.
3.4 Don’t Overlook Technical SEO
To implement SEO-friendly strategies, you need to audit your edtech website thoroughly. Search engines prefer websites that display technical characteristics such as – fast loading time, responsive design, secure connection, and core web vitals.
Register your edtech website with Google Analytics and Search Console. First, create an XML sitemap to tell your search engines where each page is. Then, add structured data markup to your website to help search engines better understand the content.
If there is any duplicate content issue, fix it – as it can confuse the users or be used to manipulate search rankings. Besides this, search engines love websites that load quickly. You can optimize page speed by implementing techniques like – Gzip compression, website caching, reducing the number of plugins, moving the website to a better host, and minimizing using CSS and javascript.
3.5 Enhance Your Local Visibility
Local SEO for edtech brings the local audience to your website. To pull such traffic, you must pick a combination of medium and long-tail keywords. Before that, you need to get your company on Google My Business and get more references.
For example, instead of using specific terms such as “e-learning platform,” you can use more conversational phrases like – “Which is the best e-learning platform?” This is more likely to give the user the information they want.
Optimize your content for conversational search phrases. In addition, use tools like Ask for People and Keyword Everywhere to find common questions your audience is asking about the keywords.
3.6 Add More Internal/External Links
Optimize your website through third-party means, such as by adding more internal/external links. Also known as off-page SEO or link building, this strategy helps you build domain authority, increases the ranking, and boosts online exposure.
You can use multiple methods such as guest blogging, influencer marketing, brand mentions, and social media activity to promote your edtech company. High-quality link building can include submitting websites to relevant directories, promoting good content, reaching out to websites, and building relationships with web admins.
You can also join edtech communities and forums to spread the word about your brand.
3.7 Invest in SEO Tools
From keyword research to backlinks analysis, a wide range of activities is involved in optimizing the website for search engines. SEO is a valuable asset for your edtech; you can capitalize on it using premium tools. You need to create a well-planned SEO strategy to drive the right traffic.
There are many SEO tools that help you find relevant keywords, conduct competitor analysis, do content audits, and analyze the traffic. For example – Moz Pro, Majestic, Screaming Frog Spider, Spyfu, Cognitive SEO, and Advanced web ranking are some of the best SEO tools for edtech.
With limited features in free tools and superficial information, you can’t expect your website to reach the top of SERP results. For instance, a paid tool lets you see all the keywords where your competitor ranks, backlinks, and landing pages. Conversely, with a free tool, you will not be able to see all the keywords and backlinks – missing out on important ranking factors.
3.8 Incorporate Multilingual SEO
Multilingual SEO prepares your website for the international market. It ensures search engines can identify the countries you want to target and attract customers that speak different languages. With more than 70% of non-English speaking countries, edtech must focus on multilingual or international SEO. Suppose your target audience is across the globe; you need to invest in international SEO that ensures visitors from non-English speaking countries can discover your website and see your content.
Some edtech firms target international audiences by making separate marketing places for different countries and then performing local SEO of that country. Include a subdirectory of each country on the main website or create a separate website for each country for an effective SEO strategy.
Implementing multilingual SEO for edtech websites can be a challenging task. For instance, Yandex is preferred in eastern European countries, whereas Baidu is preferred in China. With the right SEO strategy, you can set up an international-friendly website and optimize your website by considering the search engine preferences in every country.
3.9 Optimize Your Website for Voice Search
We see many people speaking into their watches and smartphones and getting voice responses. The reason? It’s hands-free, fast, and lets you multitask. However, if you have not yet included voice search in the SEO strategy of your edtech website – you could be missing out on an essential element.
According to Gartner, 60% of consumers will use voice search by 2025. To make optimum use of voice search, you need to double down on excellent content on your edtech website, written in an interactive and engaging tone.
Google relies on featured snippets to answer the queries of people on voice search. By optimizing your page for featured snippets, you can make sure your website appears at the top of voice search results. Here are some tips for voice search optimization –
- Use schema markup to ensure your content is relevant
- Add an FAQ section that provides short descriptions as answers
- Make sure the website loads at a good speed
- Optimize the website for local SEO
- Ensure the website is mobile responsive
By following the above tips, you can reap the benefits of voice search for your edtech website.
3.10 Clean Your Website Regularly
Did you know – a dusty website not only scares away visitors but damages Google rankings? Broken links, stale content, outdated images, and faulty contact forms are all factors that could deter users from engaging with your website. Here are a few things you can do to keep your edtech website fresh for search engines –
- Publish 3-4 blogs per month, which allows your users to stay connected with your edtech. A fresh and relevant blog post tells search engines that you are trying to solve your audience’s queries.
- Nothing deters users more than the “page not found” (401) page. Fix the broken links by analyzing reports on Search Console. It might provide excellent results about analytics, inbound links, and organic search traffic. You can also use a free broken link checker to find the broken links.
- Replace older images on the website, particularly the ones that have been on the website for more than two years. This will allow you to try out new alt tags to boost your SEO efforts.
- Update the home page content regularly to follow the trend and keep the information up-to-date. This can be like experimenting with tag lines & CTAs, updating the copyright date in the footer, adding new keywords or phrases, and so on.
- Go through the statistics of your contact us page to know if they are exiting from the page or going to the “Thank you” page. If they seem to bounce back to the home page, make some changes to the user experience to boost conversions.
- Make sure all the software and plugins are up-to-date to address security vulnerabilities. Confirm how your edtech website looks on mobile.
4. SEO Case Study Examples
With a few examples, let us understand the significance of SEO for edtech websites.
- BlackBoard
Blackboard, one of the leading edtech companies in the world that serves K-12 and government clients from around the globe, leveraged the power of SEO to attract a dedicated audience to its website. Currently, the site gets more than 82.4 million visitors per month – most of which are from the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru. The search traffic is around 9.03 percent, out of which 99.95 is organic. They positioned themselves as the leader in the education industry by posting purposeful, engaging, and unique content on their website.
- Quizlet
Quizlet is a multi-national American edtech company that makes simple tools like – flashcards and games to study, practice, and master any subject. Pulling nearly 89.9 million visitors per month, Quizlet has gained a dedicated following, with most visitors coming from the US, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. In addition, they are receiving direct traffic of 25.5% and organic traffic with insightful resources across multiple categories like – engineer, design, and news.
- Clever
Clever is a trusted digital learning platform for k-12 students, parents, and teachers. Being a popular e-learning platform in the nation, it receives average traffic of 23.7 million visitors per month, with 12.25 % of traffic coming from organic search.
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