Jon-Mark Davey, MCSE, CISSP, IEEE

School Management Consultant - Technologist

» Introduction to new terms – Coined Marketing Phrases – New Language

» Marketing 101 – Marketers create words and stories to help promote ideas and concepts

» Introduction to New Jargon

» What is the Internet? First web site.» “The Web's conception began as a tool to aid physicists answer tough questions

about the Universe”.

» What is SEARCH all about?

“For the last 50 years, companies used large amounts of money to efficiently interrupt their way into businesses and consumer’s wallets using outbound marketing techniques.

The outbound marketing era is over. The next 50 years will be the era of inbound marketing.”

Halligan, Shah and Scott, Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google,Social Media and Blogs

» Examine how Internet search works.

˃ Where do parents search online for private schools?

˃ Which search phrases do prospective parents typically use most?

˃ What types of search results do they typically receive?

˃ What determines the ranking of schools listed on search results pages?

» Recommend key strategies for improving search rankings and overall online visibility.

» Help schools drive more prospective parents to their website.

» Recommend improvements to school websites to convert website visitors to applicants and onto enrolled students.

» Close your eyes and let’s take a journey around the world.

» Picture yourself high in the sky over NYC. You are looking down at all the high rise buildings

» Rising in those buildings are many floors» On each of those floors are rows of offices» In each of those offices many file cabinets with

many drawers» In those drawers many folders and in the

folders many paper records

» Pause a moment and imagine the massive amount of data held all over the world

» The Internet is the electronic mechanism that enables us to reach out and touch that data

» The World Wide Web are the tools used to move that information from paper to electronic data and interconnect all of it together using the Internet

» A search engine is the electronic table of contents for all that information whose purpose is to direct you to the most relevant web pages (those papers in the folders) that is possible using just a couple key words to direct it.

» It’s about someone finding YOUR pages

» Search is all about CONTENT, text, words» Search is all about the placement of those words

on your site and even on a page.» Search is all about sharing content» Search is all about linking sites, pages, sections and

content» Search is even about change

» Google Search Engine 64.4%

˃ Google.com 63.6%

˃ AOL.com 0.8%

» Bing Search Engine 31.6%

˃ MSN.com 17.0%

˃ Yahoo! 14.6%

» ASK + Others 4.0%

» Note: Google provide search results for Google.com and AOL.com. Bing provides search results for MSN and Yahoo!.

Search Phrase

Google Places Local Search Results

Local Search Display on Google Maps

www.google.com/placesforbusiness

» “Big Four Local Search Systems”

˃ Google Places / Google Maps

˃ Yahoo! Local

˃ Bing Local Search

˃ Ask Local

» Local Search Systems are typically accessed as a link above the main search box of the search engine.

Local Search Site Description URL

Google Places / Google Maps

Free. To the user, it appears as Google Maps.

http://www.google.com/ local/add/

Yahoo! Local Free, or $9.95 per month if you want to add pictures.

http://listings.local.yahoo. com/

Bing Local Search Free, including pictures. https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ ListingCenter.aspx

Ask Local Free www.UBL.org

Local Search Display on Google Maps

National School Directory

Local School Directory

Natural Search Listing

Google Places Local Search Results

• These directories will rank highly in national and/or local searches, providing another avenue for people to find your site.

• You’ll accumulate links to your site, and search engines love links (more to come on this point).

• Research and register with other local directories, even if they are not school directories.

• Evaluate their relative rankings in search engines versus their listing fee to determine which ones provide the most value.

• Search engines have one objective – to provide you with the best results possible in relation to your search query.

• The search results are then listed in order of most relevant and most authoritative.

• Relevant means the website contained content that matched the search query.

• Authoritative refers to the website’s influence on the world wide web (www).

• When it comes to relevance, content is king.

• Without rich content, you will find it difficult to rank for specific keywords and search phrases.

• We first need to know which keywords and phrases prospective parents use when searching online, and then we need to create content that features those keywords and phrases.

• But how do we know which search phrases prospective parents typically use most?

• There’s an app for that!

• The Google Keyword Tool allows you to enter a keyword and see what similar keywords and search phrases people are using.

• You can then feature those keywords in your website content.

• Go to www.GoogleKeywordTool.com and select the Google Keyword Tool option.

• Type in the keywords or search phrases you would like to test.

• The keyword tool will tell you how often the search phrases you entered were used, and then how often other, similar phrases were used per month.

• Test different keywords and phrases, then develop a list of the keywords you will want to feature on your website.

• A search on “private schools in Dallas” yielded the results shown.

• Our test key-phrase was searched 8,100 times.

• The key-phrase “best private schools in Dallas” was searched 720 times.

• The key-phrase “Christian private schools in dallas “was searched 260 times.

• From the perspective of determining relevance, not all webpage content is equal.

• When search engines “crawl” your website to determine what the website is about, they give the most weight to the content listed in your page titles and headers, as opposed to just content on the page.

• We need to ensure your page titles and headers are “seeded” with the keywords and phrases used most during searches by prospective parents.

• Load each Page Title Tag with keyword phrases that are appropriate for the content on the page.

• Example: “Welcome to Cornerstone Academy - a Private Christian School”

• Title Tags are the snippet that appears in the upper left corner or on the tabs of your web browser.

• Grandview Preparatory School knew that “Coed College Prep” was an important search phrase for their school, so they included it in their title tag.

• Load H1 Title Tags with keywords that are appropriate for the web page content.

• H1 Titles are the main headings above the content of your webpages.

• Every webpage you create should have a thought-provoking headline to grab the reader’s attention, using a keyword or phrase that the webpage covers.

• Example: “One of the best private schools in Dallas, Cornerstone offers a Christian private school setting.”

There are two types of Meta Tags – Meta Description and Meta Keywords

•Meta Description

• Text snippet that describes what your specific webpage is about.

• Appears with your listing on the search results page.

• Meta Keywords

• Additional text snippet in the webpage’s HTML that allows you to list a few different keywords that relate to your webpage.

• Most search engines today claim they do not use Meta Keywords when evaluating content. Some smaller search engines may still use it.

• As a best practice, it is recommended to load 5-7 keywords as meta keywords for each webpage.

• Identified the most important keywords and phrases.

• Loaded keywords into our Page Title Tags, Headline H1 Title Tags, and Meta Data.

• Registered our website with local search engines (e.g. Google Maps, Yahoo! Local).

• Registered our website with selected school directories and local directories.

• Now we turn to your website’s authority.

• Link Juice drives your website’s authority on the world wide web.

• You accumulate link juice from other websites that link to your website to access your content.

• The more authority a website has that links to you, the more link juice they have to share with you.

• The more inbound links you have, the more juice that pours into your site.

• Dedicate some time to brainstorm the many different ways you can attract inbound links to your website.

• Registering with school and local directories was a good start.

• What about school associations and accrediting bodies? What about local church websites?

• Maintain a blog on your website and share it with Social Media outlets including Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.

• Search engines realize that content shared on social networks is extremely influential, and should therefore rank higher in search results.

• To learn more about Social Media, come by our booth. We’ll provide material on how to expand your school’s online reach using Social Media while increasing your website’s authority.

• We’ve optimized our website’s relevance for the keywords and search phrases used by prospective parents when searching for schools.

• We’ve addressed our website’s authority on the www by attracting inbound links where possible.

• That means we’ve addressed the two primary elements of Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.

• We should now be maximizing the search traffic on our website.

• Let’s now look at other key strategies for improving our Internet Marketing once a prospective parent lands on our site.

» Make a strong First Impression! It determines whether prospective parents researching your website will inquire further about your school.

» Invest in an attractive website design that positively represents your school’s brand and communicates your school’s mission.

» Create an impression that is so powerful, so compelling, so emotionally stirring that you overcome a viewer’s 6 second attention span.

» Brand – It is important to convey a strong brand for your school, including your logo, colors, and tagline.

» Photos – Large, professional photos on the home page will draw the visitor to your school.

» Content – Dynamic content and a compelling message is important to keep users returning to your school’s website.

» Your brand is not only your physical logo and colors but the attitude of and about your school; the perception of your school, your teachers and students;

» Your brand is all about the emotional response of a person seeing, hearing or thinking of your school.

» Your web site has to communicate all of that in a very short time.

» Your website is the entry point to your brand.

» Brand reaches beyond just letterhead and business cards today.

» Host your website in a Content Management Solution (CMS). Advantages include:

» Establishes a consistent and uniform design across the website.

» Enables anyone to upload and edit content and photos.

» Simplifies updating and maintaining content going forward to keep your website current.

» Offer prospective parents a convenient, easy, online web form to inquire about your school.

» Allows your school to collect prospective parent information at the moment they are searching your website

» Enables you to immediately begin your marketing efforts.

» Enhances the online image of your school.

» Eliminates manual key entry if integrated with a student information system.

» Can you think of an application in another industry that you still have to complete by hand today?

» Per Dr. Rick Newberry, President of Enrollment Catalyst:

“Our parents use laptops, smartphones and iPads to shop, pay bills, bank and perform a myriad of other tasks online. [They} expect our application and enrollment process to be online.”

» Online Application processes provide real-time information on prospective families who have begun the process, enabling immediate marketing and targeted communications.

» They are proven to result in higher application rates!

1. Register with Local Search Systems

2. Research and Register with School Directories

3. Identify Keywords with Google Keywords Tool

4. Load Keywords into Page Titles and Headers

5. Load Keywords into Meta Tags

6. Create a Link-Building Plan to Raise Authority

7. Invest in Your Website’s Design

8. Host Your Website in a Content Management Solution

9. Provide an Online Inquiry Form

10. Offer an Online Application Process

» #11 BONUS!

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/http://goqr.me/

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How to Use Internet Marketing to Grow Your School