Bob Johnson gave a presentation on search engine optimization (SEO) for academic programs. He outlined 4 key steps for SEO success: having good titles, body copy, content, and ensuring the website has no barriers. He also discussed 8 on-page elements programs can impact, like keywords in headings and images. Johnson analyzed search results for "online MBA" programs and showed how elements like URLs, titles, and subheadings impacted search engine rankings. He emphasized the importance of high-quality, human-focused content in the current search landscape.

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ACADEMIC PROGRAMS &
SEARCH OPTIMIZATION:
KEY STEPS TO HELP PEOPLE
FIND YOU
Bob Johnson, Ph.D.
ACT Enrollment Planners Conference
July 11-13, 2012
Chicago, IL

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SEARCH ENGINE
OPTIMIZATION
Most important: content that people want
“Organic search”… fix your website first
Content stewards: high impact possible

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4 steps to success…
• “Eternal” SEO success points:
• Good title tags on your pages
• Good body copy
• Great content
• No barriers on your website to block the search
• No broken links
• Links lead to the expected content
• Danny Sullivan, editor, SearchEngineLand.com

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4 top elements you can impact…
Internet Business Promoter:
http://www.ibusinesspromoter.com/
• “Essential” SEO elements…
• Keyword in page title tag
• External link popularity of your website
• Link text of in-bound links… press releases
• Keyword use in body text
• “Very important” SEO elements
• Age of your website
• Keyword use in primary (H1) headline

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You can impact these 8 elements…
• Keywords in H2 – H6 headline text (important)
• Keywords in ALT text for images (important)
• Keywords in bold body text (important)
• Keyword use in links within your site (moderate)
• Keywords use in outbound link text (moderate)
• Keywords in the meta description (moderate)
• Readability level of the web page (slight)
• Keyword in first sentence of body text (slight)

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Can you impact these elements?
• Keyword use in the page URL (important)
• Links from social networks (important)

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THRIVING IN THE
“ONLINE MBA” JUNGLE…
 Penn State
 Drexel University
 Northeastern University
 Marylhurst University

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Start with Google Adwords…
online MBA, online MBA degree, online MBA programs

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Search for “online MBA”
• Organic search
results…
• Northeastern #3
• Penn State #6
• Marylhurst #10

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Search for “online MBA degree”
• Organic search
results…
• Penn State #2
• Drexel #4
• Marylhurst #5

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Search for “online MBA programs”
• Organic search
results
• Northeastern #3
• Penn State #5
• Drexel #10

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Top performing organic page…

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Checking the pieces… URL
• http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/degr
ees-and-certificates/penn-state-online-
mba-degree-program/overview
• Other URLs…
• http://onlinemba.neu.edu/
• http://www.drexel.com/online-
degrees/business-degrees/online-
mba/index.aspx
• http://onlinedegrees.marylhurst.edu/

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Checking the pieces… title tag
• Penn State – Online MBA Degree Program
– Overview
• Other title tags…
• Online MBA Degree Programs – Northeastern
University
• AACSB Accredited Online MBA Programs at
Drexel University Online
• Online MBA, Online Business Degrees – Online
Business Degree Programs / Marylhurst
University

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Checking the pieces… subheads
• 1st two subheads:
• “Put a Renowned
MBA on Your
Resume”
• “What Makes the
Penn State Online
MBA Program
Different?”

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Checking the pieces: Link deeper
into your site…

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Visual style is not a factor…

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THE SOCIAL MEDIA
ELEMENT…
Social media impact is growing…
Goal: network of links that include the primary
website

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Social media impact for links…

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YouTube is 2nd in Social Media…

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THE IMPACT OF
“PANDA”…
 New importance for the quality of
website pages

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Important Google change in 2011…
• “Panda” raised the value of web content
editors everywhere…
• For example…
• “Removing low quality pages, merging or
improving the content of individual shallow
pages into more useful pages, or moving low
quality pages to a different domain could
eventually help the rankings of your higher-
quality content.” (http://bit.ly/k2uUZX)

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23 “high quality” questions to ask…

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Especially for content stewards…
• “Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual
errors?”
• “Was the article edited well, or does it appear
sloppy or hastily produced?”
• “Does this article provide a complete or
comprehensive description of the topic?”
• “Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise
lacking in helpful specifics?”
• “Would users complain when they see pages
from this site?”

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Key metrics for “quality” content…
• SEO specialists are watching two
measures of “quality” content…
• Time spent on website pages by individual
visitors
• Number of pages visited on a site
• Recommendation for high education sites:
• Check & compare “bounce rate” from entry
page to academic program content

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Find the “Top Landing Pages”…

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Compare results for academic
program pages…

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Find the least visited web pages
you control…

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WRITE FOR THE
HUMANS VISITING THE
SITE…
Use keyword words that real people use…
Add content “Carewords” that people want to
read

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Don’t “stuff” keywords…
The page title and description, primary
headline, one subhead, twice in the text…
More and the page won’t seem well written
Advice…
Read it to yourself… is it “natural”?

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Tips for success… page headings
http://bit.ly/ayzqPH
• Title tag:
• 8 to 10 words – 50 to 80 characters
• Main key word at or close to the start
• Different title tag on every page
• If not, Google may think content is the same
• Meta tag:
• Write for the person visiting the page, not for search
• Primary heading (H1)… one per page
• Write a “Carewords” headline for the visitor first
• Then try to work in a primary keyword

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Tips for success… page content
• Keyword word or phrase
• In the first sentence if you can
• Links
• In the first paragraph if possible
• Write a link using key words rather than “click
here”
• But “click here” might be best for highest response
• In ideal world, link words will be words in
primary heading on the following page

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Final notes…
• SEO isn’t a mystery… be careful of gurus,
ninjas, and evangelists
• Content is the most critical element in SEO
performance
• Web editors should leverage this point
• Keywords, content presentation, links are
still important

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Buy this book…

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Read “Search Engine Land”…
http://searchengineland.com/

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Learn the Periodic Table…
http://searchengineland.com/seotable

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Read Matt Cutts’ blog…
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/

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THANKS FOR BEING
HERE THIS MORNING!
Bob Johnson, Ph.D.
bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com