There are No Second Chances at First Impressions (HighEdWeb 2022 Analytics Summit)

Presentation given at 2022 HighEdWeb Analytics Summit.

There Are No Second Chances at First Impressions: Making the Most of Your School’s Google Search Results Page

When you search for your school on Google, what appears?

Your school’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is where visitors make a first impression - before they ever make it to your website. Are you doing your best to make this page stand out?

In this session, we will break down all the secrets behind creating a standout college SERP. By learning how Google discovers, processes, and displays info about your school, you will discover unique opportunities to shape and influence your presence on branded searches.

https://events.highedweb.org/analytics22/session/829687/there-are-no-second-chances-at-first-impressions-making-the-most-of-your-school%E2%80%99s-google-search-results-page

Transcript

1. There Are No Second Chances at First Impressions Making the Most of Your School’s Google Search Results Page Brandon Schmidt Director of Digital Strategy, YDOP brandon@ydop.com
4. School Data
5. Description • Almost always pulled from the introduction of Wikipedia page.
6. Rankings • Awards and accolades for your school. • Rankings are from all over the internet.
7. Alumni • Connect your school to notable people. • Need to already occur within Google’s Knowledge Graph.
8. Your Website • Optimize title tag, meta description, and site structure to fill out this section. • If you have site search, make sure if follows Google’s sitelink search box recommendations to trigger in the SERP.
9. Athletic Website
10. Wikipedia
11. Social Profiles
12. Development Website
13. Images
14. Top Stories • Google generated list of stories about your school. • Usually timely (within a few days)
15. Twitter Cards • Google only displays Twitter in these cards. • Tweets can show up within minutes.
16. Videos • Display popular or recent videos from the school or about the school. • Usually from YouTube but can be from other sources with proper markup.
17. Major Updates to Google Knowledge Panels for Colleges & Universities January 7, 2022 A Tale of Two Panels: Knowledge Panels and Google My Business for Colleges & Universities October 21, 2021
18. Questions? Twitter: @brandonschmidt brandon@ydop.com