Search engine optimisation (SEO) isn’t just for businesses and digital marketing agencies. Independent schools like yours can take advantage of it too.
If you’re looking at ways of attracting prospective parents to visit your independent school website, it’s one of the best marketing channels you can use.
So, how to achieve this feat and catch the attention of prospective parents for your school? We’re glad you asked!
Here are some easy ways to get the edge in the search engines.
1. Sign up for a Google Business Profile
One of the first things you should do to boost your online presence is to sign up for a free Google Business Profile, previously known as Google My Business.
Once you’ve ‘claimed’ your school, either through an automated phone call or a postcard sent to your location, you can populate your profile with lots of useful information. This gives Google additional context about your independent school, helping you rank for the right results.
It also significantly increases your chances of appearing in the ‘Google Local Pack’. This map appears at the top of the Google search results when someone searches for local businesses near them.
If you’re looking to attract prospective parents, get more phone calls, and more organic traffic, a Google Business Profile is a must-have!
2. Know your keywords
Optimising your pages for the right keywords is one of the most-effective ways to improve your search engine rankings and the first step in attracting prospective parents to your site.
It’s essential to put yourself in the shoes of prospective parents. What words and phrases will they use to find you?
Remember that you’re more likely to rank for longer keywords, for example, ‘top ranked independent schools near me’ rather than just ‘independent schools’. Also, consider locally-oriented keywords to appeal to prospective parents in your area.
3. Look at your meta descriptions and page title
Meta descriptions and page titles are snippets of text that represent the pages of your website in the search engine results.
These play a crucial part in attracting prospective parents to your school’s website. This is because an expertly worded meta description and page title will entice web users to click on your link and check you out.
An excellent place to start when it comes to reviewing your meta description and page titles is to download Screaming Frog. This free (less than 500 URLs to crawl) desktop app will tell you what descriptions and titles your pages use. Then, it’s a case of making the right tweaks!
- Keep your page title under 60 characters and your meta description under 160 characters. Anything more than this, and they’ll get cut off in the search engines
- If you have a primary keyword for your page, include it in your title and description if you can do so without it feeling forced
- Make sure your title and description accurately represent the content on your page. Otherwise, people will leave straight away
- Include a call to action in your description. What do you want people to do when they visit your page?
4. Give your existing content a review
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to SEO for your independent school. Giving your current website content a tidy-up can work wonders too!
We’ve already looked at the keywords, meta descriptions, and page titles, but there are other things you can do to refine your content.
Doing this doesn’t just make your website easier to read and understand, but makes it simpler for the search engines to crawl your pages. This provides additional context about your site that Google can use to ensure you rank for the right keywords.
Get a list of all your existing web pages; Screaming Frog is great for this. Then, check each page individually and ask the following questions:
- Is the content long enough? If it’s less than 300 words, you might want to add more information or merge it with another page
- Is the content easy to read? If not, add bullet points and spaces between paragraphs to make it easier on the eye
- Is the page URL short, simple to understand, and does it provide page context?
- Are there any images on the page? If not, add some in. If there are, check the size and image alt-text
- Are you using plenty of headings to break up your content, and do these headings contain your keywords of choice?
- Are there any broken links? If so, fix or delete them
- Are there any internal links on the page? If not, add links to other pages on your site, as this makes it easier for Google to identify your most important content
This is a basic audit and doesn’t go into the technicalities, like page loading speed or mobile responsiveness. However, it’s a great starting point if you’re new to the world of SEO!
Find out how to do a more detailed website review.
5. Start a blog
Blogging has many benefits when attracting prospective parents to your school. You can show off your fantastic facilities, talk about your tremendous teachers, and even brag about your excellent exam results.
You can also use your blog to give your school a leg-up in the search engine rankings, too.
- Blogging lets you focus on specific keywords, meaning more opportunities to rank
- Blogging helps position you as a thought leader, meaning Google is more likely to see you as a trusted and reliable source of information
- Blogging means your site is regularly updated, vastly improving your entire website’s search engine presence. Even updating old blogs with new information can give you a well-deserved boost!
So crack those knuckles, pour a cup of coffee, dust off the notepad, and get typing!
Need some inspiration for your blog? Here’s our guide to researching and planning months of titles in 8 simple steps.
6. Create a landing page (or two!)
A landing page is a standalone web page that exists with one specific purpose in mind. It’s a great way to get targeted leads from the search engines as you’re gearing the content, design, and keywords towards a particular audience.
For example, let’s say you’ve got an open day coming up, and you’re looking for a way of attracting prospective parents to come along.
You can create a landing page that uses the keywords you know potential attendees will be searching for and content that answers all their questions. Finally, you can include a form that visitors can complete to confirm their attendance on the day. Job done!
There are a few rules to consider when it comes to creating a landing page that drives results:
- Remove all other navigation from your page – you don’t want people to wander off!
- Stick with one clear call to action, so visitors don’t get confused
- Spend time creating the perfect headline – you want to entice prospects to keep reading
- Understand what your target audience wants and factor this into your page content
- If you include a form on your page, only ask for the information you need
7. Send out some press releases
Got some good news to share?
Whether you want to celebrate your student’s achievements or tell the local community about your latest open day, sending a media release can indirectly do wonders for your search engine rankings.
When you send press releases to local news outlets, relevant community sites, and your local council, they will likely include a link to your site from theirs. This not only gives you free publicity but what is known as a backlink.
Backlinks from trusted and high-quality sites are a positive ranking signal in Google. This means your entire site gets a search engine boost, and you’re one step closer to attracting prospective parents!
It can be hard to get a good backlink, but you’re in a good position as an independent school. Many people are interested in who you are, and what you do, so you’re more likely to get positive media attention.
8. Make sure your site works on mobile
Whether they’re bored commuting to work, browsing the internet at lunch, or scrolling through social media while watching TV, many prospective parents will access your website through their mobile phones.
This means it’s vital to make sure your independent school website looks good and works well on smartphones of all shapes and sizes. Mobile-friendliness is also a positive ranking signal in Google, so the more optimised your mobile website, the higher you’ll rank.
So, how can you attract prospective parents with a mobile-friendly website?
While most fixes will require the assistance of a digital marketing agency or web developer, there are still things you can do.
For example, reducing the file size of your images and removing unnecessary apps and extensions will make your website load more quickly. Formatting your pages for readability will also make them easier to scroll through.
Want to see your school’s SEO scores? Book your free audit with Bubblegum Search today
While there’s a lot you can do yourself when it comes to using SEO to promote your independent school, it pays to get an SEO agency (like Bubblegum Search) on board.
With years of experience when it comes to schools and digital marketing, we’ll suggest effective ways you can raise brand awareness, boost enquiries, and get ahead of other local schools. Take a look at our testimonials, and you’ll see why we’re top of the class!
Why not put us to the test with a bespoke SEO audit?
Our team of experts will review your site and how your school’s SEO compares to that of your competitors. We’ll then suggest some actionable recommendations you can implement to boost your search engine rankings and start attracting prospective parents.