Importance of SEO for Online Courses
Another important factor which needs to be considered is the change in ranking algorithms of a search engine. Search engines frequently change their algorithms and unless a website’s ranking is constantly monitored and updated, the website might lose a lot of traffic which can prove to be very detrimental to the site. SEOÂ also helps in keeping track of these changes and updating the website so as to maintain the ranking. In case of a new online course, attracting new students is the most important thing and an increase in traffic really helps in achieving this. SEO helps in locating the target group of people for the course and then directing the traffic of the search engine to the intended group. This is done by adding relevant keywords, metatags and metadescriptions. If the intended group is students pursuing a particular course, then the keywords can be related to the course and its name, so that the search engine traffic is directed to that group when they search using those specific keywords. This will ensure that the website gets visits from the intended target group.
In simple words, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a term used to describe the process through which the visibility of a website can be improved using the search results on a search engine. For any online course, it is very important to engage a large group of audience and having a good search engine ranking, using SEO can help achieve this goal. A better ranking will always result in a higher possibility of access by a larger audience. The accessibility of internet service in today’s generation is very easy and hence the best way to reach an audience is through a search engine. If the visibility of a page is high, then the traffic directed to that page can also increase, resulting in the services of the intended page being used by a larger number of people.
Benefits of SEO Service for Online Courses
It is concluded that the distinctive benefits of applying SEO to an online course site could be beneficial to the facilitator. The first benefit is that SEO service can attract more prospects in an easier and more cost-effective way. A site that is properly modified has a greater chance of securing a high search engine rank. This is especially useful for a facilitator, since prospects can be attracted to the site without the facilitator actively seeking them. In the traditional offline method of advertising (i.e. distributing flyers, or buying ad space in newspapers), the facilitator would only get responses if he actively seeks them at a time when they’re not ready. Ads printed offline have very limited exposure time, but advertising online with a high search engine rank can continue to attract prospects to a relevant search for unlimited time. Active methods of seeking prospects are also less economical, because they use more time and money. The facilitator can write articles about the subject of his course and submit them to article directories, posting a link to his site at the bottom of the article. If the articles are well written and the SEO service results in a high search engine rank, this can be a very efficient method of attracting targeted prospects. Ads can also be placed on pay-per-click or affiliate advertising, and these methods are also more cost-effective with a high search engine rank. More leads acquired means more potential sales for the course, as an effective SEO service can be a lead generation tool for the facilitator. By acquiring more potential sales with less money spent, the facilitator can either earn more money or have more money to reinvest into improving the course or expanding his business. SEO service can also be a way to wage a form of ‘guerrilla marketing’ against larger companies in the same industry. Large companies have more overhead and higher costs, and may not be as efficient in their online advertising even though they can outspend a smaller business. If a facilitator offering an online course has a limited budget, he can use SEO service as a way to compete with a large company on a more even level at a time when potential customers are harder to reach through traditional advertising.
Optimizing Course Content
Once a student had input a phrase on the search engine and your course title appears, if the course title is appealing then he might click on the course and the next thing he would look is the course description. This is where you would also need to use the relevant keywords again and it serves as a main explanation on the course itself. With correct implementation of keyword and SEO, it would increase the possibility of someone enrolling in your course.
The next step after securing the keywords is by creating engaging and relevant course titles. It is highly important to use the keywords obtained into the course title as it has relevancy to help in optimizing the course for search engine. The keyword would also persuade potential students on the course suitability for their needs. An attractive course title is also essential to ensure potential clients into clicking the course and also to build the brand of the instructor or the course itself.
Keyword streaming, a general optimization approach, has always been a game-changer in the era of online business. It is where you can attract good traffic to your website without spending even a penny. Imagine what kind of possibility you have when you want to sell an item. If your item is optimized for the right keywords, then it would just appear in front of customers who are looking for that item. The possibility of selling it is high with a minimal chance for failure. The same principle applies to when you want to attract your client to take a course. You must ensure that you are using relevant keywords to be able to appear on search engine and being easily discovered by potential students.
Keyword Research and Integration
This doesn’t mean avoid all competitive keywords, but if you’re teaching a course on algebra, don’t set your heart on ranking first for the keyword “algebra”. A better keyword for a smaller website might be something like “algebra tutorials” or “learning algebra online”. These keywords have less competition and thus more potential to rank well. Think carefully when choosing keywords, the more competitive a keyword is, the harder it will be to achieve a high ranking. High competition keywords may be worthwhile for courses on websites with higher authority, while less competitive keywords may be more suitable for newer websites looking to attract visitors.
Keywords are the bread and butter of content, allowing search engines to identify what your content is about. When you know what people are searching for, you can integrate those keywords into your course content to give yourself the best potential to rank. It is important to remember that single courses are not likely to rank very highly due to the large amount of content already on the web, so be realistic when choosing your keywords and consider the authority of your website.
Creating Engaging and Relevant Course Titles
In the previous section, we talked about course titles are actually keyword phrases that should be found using the Google external keyword tool, and the importance of finding viable keyword phrases that are in demand and match the content of the course. However, there is a danger when creating course titles solely for the sake of SEO. Classes names like “marine engineering online training” or “industrial refrigeration e textbooks” might be keyworded perfectly, but don’t sound very appealing or tell students much about the course. Ideally, we want to find titles that are both appealing and heavily searched. To do this we want to remain conscious of the keywords we are using while trying to phrase them into something catchier. Using the Google keyword tool within the search a data filter to find out how many people search a certain keyword in a day, for a new course titled “Human biology and the cell” we found that 35 people a day searched “biology cells”. It might do well to consider renaming the course to match that search. Coming up with title ideas, writing them down and sifting through keywords to find the best possible compromise between an accurate description and an appealing title is a great idea for new courses. Always, make sure that the course title directly reflects the content of the course. This is your first teacher to student interaction and want to prevent misunderstandings about course content that might lead to bad reviews.
Writing SEO-friendly Course Descriptions
When writing your course description, keep prospective students in mind. What would they hope to learn from your course? How would you describe the benefits of this course to them? What kind of person do you think would enroll in this course? What are they looking for? What would make them want your course over others? These are all things to consider in how to better sell your course to the right audience. SEO-wise, anything that matches the likely search phrases of potential students is content that is providing relevance and visibility of your course to the right audience.
High-quality descriptions increase a course’s visibility and appeal. Ideally, they should be long and unique (no copying and pasting!) and contain the same keywords as the course title. It’s a good idea to perform keyword research for the best phrase to describe your course content. Find the keyword in the list that has the most relevance and the least competition. Then create a compelling tagline for your course, which will be used as the meta description in the course information page. Think of these taglines as your sales pitch for potential students browsing through search results.
Incorporating Multimedia Elements
In light of these points, it is wise to use multimedia content sparingly and not to centre course material around it. Simple and direct forms of multimedia such as images and diagrams are fantastic aids for teaching, and can be easily understood by search engines if labeled with descriptive text. Audio or video content might be a helpful addition, though in consideration of search engine capabilities it may be best to accompany it with a transcript or summary. In the end, make sure that the content is still primarily text, as it is the most easily interpreted form by search engine crawlers.
Thankfully some multimedia formats such as YouTube, optimise their content for web crawlers. This means that information such as video titles, descriptions and comments can still be effectively picked up by search engines. Even so, it is a risky move to base vital course information around such formats and it is always best to present multimedia content in conjunction with a text form.
As I mentioned earlier, search engines “consume” content by sending out digital “crawlers” to search for information on web pages. These crawlers are incredibly sophisticated and are constantly being refined in order to trace the rapid evolution of internet technology. However, they still rely mainly on text-based content and have difficulty understanding more complex forms of information. One only needs to glance at the search results on any popular engine to verify the strong bias towards text-based sites. While progress is being made on this issue, it is still far from that search engines can effectively interpret video, audio or Flash presentations. This means that any information exclusively located in multimedia format will be lost on search engines.
Building Backlinks and Authority
How do I build editorial backlinks? Editorial backlinks are best created by providing high-quality and engaging content that other site owners will naturally want to link to. However, this is easier said than done and often requires the sharing of articles through social media and networking to get them noticed. Another strategy would be to carry out a process called broken link building. This is the process of finding a relevant site that links to an article similar to what you have written, but the article link is broken. With broken link building, you can offer your content as an alternative to the broken link. Any backlinks that you create through these methods are much more likely to be higher quality and therefore more valuable to your site.
With a recent algorithm update, Google has been specifically targeting “link spam.” Link spam is the process of creating a large number of low-quality backlinks to a site, with the intention of increasing the site’s ranking in the search engines. An example of link spam would be if someone were to create 50 profiles on different forums whose sole purpose was to link back to their site with a keyword-rich anchor text.
Backlinks are an incredibly important part of SEO, but the wrong kind of backlinks can actually harm your site. Google has become increasingly skilled at identifying when a backlink has been created solely to improve a site’s value in the search engines. The backlinks that Google considers to be valuable are what they call “editorial backlinks.” Editorial backlinks are created when one site links to another with the intention of genuinely directing their readers to more information, rather than with the intention of manipulating search engine rankings.
Guest Blogging and Content Marketing
E-commerce sites can also benefit from guest blogging with product reviews. You can find blogs that are in the niche of the product you are trying to push and send them a sample of the product and ask for a review. Most bloggers will review the product and in return you can ask if they would like to hold a contest for the product to your readers (which will give you more exposure) or if they would like to use the product as a contest giveaway for their readers (a good way to get more links and traffic to the blog post).
Guest blogging is the easiest method to get links to your site that will increase your site’s SEO value. The best thing about guest blog posts is that they often have no restrictions (in most cases) on the anchor text used in the links, which is ideal because it allows you to use whatever anchor text you want to link to your site. Although the original purpose of guest blogging was to get links, it has now become a platform for brand exposure. If you’re not doing it already, you should allocate a portion of your time to guest blogging each week. A great place to start is finding blogs that are in the same niche as you. A simple search in Google with the search query “keyword + write for us” puts together a list of sites that are in your niche that accept guest contributions. If these sites look promising but they do not have any information on guest contributions, you can contact them directly and ask if they are currently accepting any.
Collaborating with Influencers and Industry Experts
Ideally, one wants a diverse mixture of traffic from people interested in the brand from the mention, to those seeking content relating to what the endorsement was based on.
Public relations is about branding, quality in and frequency of exposure. Each mention really serves as a stepping stone, taking the visitor a step closer to the site. This is why targeting the right audience is more useful as a long-term strategy. Often a simple mention will lead to peripheral traffic from curious consumers. But taking the Nintendo Wii approach can also lead to mass market exposure. By meeting the needs of a specific niche, Wii in online cases through innovative toy marketing has fostered a brand identifiable across a broad market. This has led to more conventional PR in sources like magazines and newspapers, which in turn have helped to solidify its online presence.
Working with established figures in the industry can be a windfall for new websites. It’s great PR and in terms of backlink help. This can take the form of celebrity endorsements, having an expert post personally on a site, or through offering an interview. Just one endorsement from a major authority can provide a massive boost to your site and potentially lead to a stream of traffic.
Utilizing Social Media Platforms
Create online communities and brand advocates on the social web. One of the key tactics in effective social media optimization is to leverage the social infrastructure to create communities around your topic. For example, if you are selling consumer goods, you may find that Facebook is a useful channel. When selling B2B consulting services, you may want to make use of LinkedIn as it is likely to be a much more effective platform. The structure and dynamics of a community are a complex thing, but a rough model can be built by encouraging your customers, vendors, or partners to link to your business. At this point, SMO is about social networks becoming more valuable. Imagine you are searching for a good financial consultant to help you invest your money. You have heard about two different firms, one through a friend in the industry, and another through an article that you read online. You may be more interested in the financial consultant from the friend in the industry, who they can link to directly. Because it is often hard to remember a URL of a firm you read about, next, you are likely to want to do a brand search. Before implementing this SMO strategy, a brand search would result in finding and reading information from both firms, with no real indication of which consultant was better. Now the business has an online reputation, no longer is the more friendly consultant at a disadvantage. He can create a profile of his company and add it to the social networks, linking it from his personal profile. The result is that when you draw a brand comparison next time, only one firm’s information will be available, his client’s, and the link will drive directly to the information, cutting out the possibility of the potential client encountering the information of his competitor.
Monitoring and Analyzing SEO Performance
Now that you have set a solid search engine optimization foundation, gathered the right keywords and optimized your site for them, it is time to begin monitoring how your site is performing in the search engines with your target keywords. You will want to focus at first on two main attributes to your site: its keyword rankings in the search engines and the resulting organic traffic. To do this, you will need a good web analytics program. I highly recommend using a paid analytics program such as WebTrends or Coremetrics, but if you are looking for a free solution, Google Analytics is a great tool. Step one will be setting up your web analytics software. This is crucial and should be done to measure the ROI (return on investment) of your SEO efforts. These analytics programs will help you measure your keyword rankings and organic search traffic in different ways. The ROI of your SEO can be measured in many ways. For example, a site that uses a shopping cart may want to measure the checkout step completion rate, whereas a site such as YouTube may measure the brand’s penetration to the site. Figure out the best way to measure the ROI of your SEO efforts to better understand which part of your site to apply more focus to.
Tracking Keyword Rankings and Organic Traffic
When checking traffic levels for specific pages, URL parameters can be used to differentiate between pages and get more specific data. The final step in this process is to compile all the data into a format which clearly shows the relationship between keyword rankings and levels of traffic. This is the criterion for the success of the activity and is important in making decisions for the future optimized content.
This may seem straightforward, but things get tricky when we consider the limited amount of data provided by Google. When a keyword is initially tracked, Google will only display the position the keyword holds if the results are within the top 50. This creates a scenario where there may not be enough data to draw reliable conclusions. A method to work around this is by using filters to set the results to 10 and manually changing the page number in the URL to find where the keyword is ranked.
Step one is to identify your keyword ranking target by producing a list of all the keywords important to a specific page. This list should be updated monthly to reflect the continually changing search landscape. Once keywords are selected, track their rankings on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. In tandem with this process, also track the organic traffic to the specific page the keyword is targeting. This can be achieved from within Google Analytics under “Traffic Sources” and “Search Engines”.
At a fundamental level, tracking keyword rankings and organic traffic focuses on understanding which keywords are most effective in generating organic traffic, and the performance of that traffic in relation to a specific keyword. It is a relatively simple process at first glance, but can become very complex as it is undertaken. The most important aspect of this process is keeping well organized by utilizing keyword ranking reports and traffic analysis reports. In order to do this, you will need keyword ranking software and traffic analysis software.
Analyzing User Engagement and Conversion Rates
The ultimate goal of SEO is to drive more traffic and revenue. Whether it’s the amount of organic traffic to your blog or location-specific traffic to your business, the methods used for measuring this are crucial in order to make data-driven decisions. Setting up a proper funnel with goals in Google Analytics is the best way to track various types of traffic to specific conversions on your site. If you have specific goals set for, say, location-specific organic traffic on your site, you are able to use custom reports to develop strategies and track the effectiveness of these in the long term.
Conversion rate measures are most important for site sales or leads. In this case, a conversion rate is the percentage of total visitors who take action. This action might be making a purchase, signing up for a mailing list, or filling out a form. High bounce rates on keywords with high traffic, yet low conversions, indicate that users are not finding what they are looking for. In the case of a local business, it may be beneficial to put all of your location-specific keywords into a single campaign from that location’s landing page in order to easily compare the conversion rates with the amount of traffic from each keyword.
User engagement can be measured through page views, the time spent on your site, and social media involvement. Since Google started using social signals to rank sites, it’s quite important to have social media presence. When comparing your page views, don’t forget to account for the amount of traffic referred from your social media profiles.
Making Data-driven SEO Strategy Adjustments
The volume of traffic coming in from target organic search is the next thing to look at. This data will almost certainly come from analytics, so having an understanding of filters and segments is valuable. Usually, it’s a straight comparison of traffic at time A with traffic at time B. But don’t be fooled, any major Google update may have affected the volume of search for a group of terms, so it wouldn’t be wise to assume traffic changes are down to on-site work. An experienced SEO consultant may have an understanding of the industry and an idea of the sorts of things to look for in the SERPs when making a traffic comparison. For example, the previous search result had a major brand crowding out organic results. So traffic compared to a similar position may be inflated coming from brand-related terms. This is knowledge the consultant can use to create status reports for clients and work out estimated ROI for a given project.
Rankings are the most common performance indicator for SEO, so this is what we’ll look at first. Manually checking rankings is a mug’s game; it’s too time-consuming and there are better uses of it for an expert. Using some form of rank checker to monitor the movement of the site in search engines is essential. There are plenty of rank checkers to choose from. Some have the added benefit of tracking ranking over time and mixing the data with analytics information to provide better insights into SEO keyword strategy. A basic report that can be drawn from a rank checker is a list of keywords and their positions in search engines. A more detailed report will allow keywords to be categorized and tracked over time, potentially saving hours of data manipulation using vlookups.
