Updated SEO Activity Plans

Search engine optimization (SEO) work on the Program Finder started in May 2021. Work is reversing the negative organic search traffic trend and producing modest results (up 4.3% over Q2 FY21).

SEO Activity Plans

SEO Activity Plans are now running for all academic programs with enough keyword search volume. Some programs have limited national search volume.

Performance reports for each program are in this Dropbox.

When reviewing the reports, keep the following in mind:

• Activity Plans cost credits. We are limited on the number of credits we have.
  • Keywords credits are purchased in 10-unit increments.
    • Programs with more keywords monitored simply have more search term volume than others.
    • Programs with less than 10 keywords do not have any others to pick from.
  • Competitor credits are used individually. Typically, five competitors were selected per program. These are your search competitors on Google and not necessarily competing universities.
• Keywords are selected based on Google data. Keyword volume shows how many people in the United States searched for that exact search string in the last month on Google.
• You will notice we aren’t always targeting the top volume searched keywords. That’s because we tried but couldn’t break into the top 100 results. Lesser volume keywords were selected to try to get into the top 10 results.
• Keyword rankings fluctuate frequently due to changing search volume and competition. Just because a keyword does well one month, doesn’t mean it will do well the next. It’s not uncommon for a keyword to be ranking in the Top 10 one month and not in the Top 100 the next. As a result, you will see ongoing changes to your keyword strategy.
• Some programs can only be successful in targeting one to two keywords, while others can handle up to eight. This is trial and error.
• Keywords need to be worded on your pages exactly the way they are listed and in the same order. The only exceptions are apostrophes and capitalizations.
• Program names can be problematic because our exact program names are often not searched. You may notice the name of your program is slightly adjusted. The formal name of your program is listed on the page, but it might not be in the main headings to boost search performance.
• Some activity plans have been combined due to competing keywords among program levels. For example, the activity plan for Civil Engineering includes undergrad and grad.

Top-Performing Programs in Search

Top-performing programs in January 2021 measured by the software visibility score are:

1. Electrical Engineering B.S.E.E.
2. Communication Ph.D.
3. Behavioral Health Certificate
4. Forensic Psychology M.A. and M.S.
5. Computer Science Ph.D.
6. Mechanical Engineering B.S.
7. Civil Engineering (all)
8. Accountancy B.A.
9. Petroleum Engineering B.S.
10. JD Law
11. Social Science B.S.
12. Special Education Certificates (undergrad and grad)
13. Kinesiology B.S./M.S.
14. Aviation Management B.B.A.
15. Forensic Science B.S.
16. Medical Lab Science (undergrad and grad)
17. Aviation Studies B.S.
18. Electrical Engineering Ph.D.
19. Airport Management B.B.A.
20. Chemical Engineering B.S.

What’s Next

Technical websites adjustments are planned to further improve SEO in FY22. We are also exploring adjusting our content strategy to build stronger domain authority.