Higher Education’s SEO & Content Strategy — Brian Piper // University of Rochester

Brian Piper, Director of Content Strategy and Assessment at the University of Rochester, talks about higher education’s take on SEO. SEO is not often considered when institutions approach the process of building brand awareness. The University of Rochester took the opposite approach to increase their organic traffic as a result. Today, Brian explores how higher education thinks about SEO and content strategy.
About the speaker

Brian Piper

University of Rochester

- University of Rochester

Brian is Director of Content Strategy and Assessment at the University of Rochester.

Show Notes

  • 01:59
    Higher education and SEO
    Generally, higher education institutions are segmented and dont consider SEO to build brand awareness. Its important for content creators to be educated on SEO and keyword research.
  • 06:05
    Leveraging content to create calls to action
    Essentially, research stories should drive users toward eventually filling out an application. Topics must align with institutional strategic priorities and audience interests.
  • 08:55
    Challenges to content prioritization
    Before Brian started at the university, they had a reactive approach to content. Now, high search potential content is found based on trends in the world and ongoing research.
  • 10:58
    Competitive research and content strategy
    Research is done to determine keyword gaps and create new content for those areas. Competitive research boils down to who owns the keywords you want to rank for and their DA.
  • 12:43
    Defining SEO and content strategy goals
    Ensure that content aligns with business goals and strategic priorities. Target keywords that will attract your target audience and drive the desired conversions.

Quotes

  • "We were able to increase our organic traffic by 150% just by updating the research stories we had, and doing minor SEO on a handful of stories." -Brian Piper, Director of Content Strategy, U of Rochester

  • "Our stories on the struggles in Ukraine got a lot of organic traffic because we figured out the questions people were asking and had experts answer those questions." -Brian Piper, Director of Content Strategy, U of Rochester

  • "We wanted to compete with everyone putting out COVID content. And we ended up ranking above CDC for several keywords that were driving a lot of traffic to our medical center." -Brian Piper, Director of Content Strategy, U of Rochester

  • "You have to know what your business goals and strategic priorities are. Then, make sure the content you're creating will ladder up to those strategies." -Brian Piper, Director of Content Strategy, U of Rochester

  • "From an SEO perspective, make sure you're targeting the keywords that are eventually going to attract the audience you're looking to convert." -Brian Piper, Director of Content Strategy, U of Rochester

About the speaker

Brian Piper

University of Rochester

- University of Rochester

Brian is Director of Content Strategy and Assessment at the University of Rochester.

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