brand storytelling for seo - ama higher ed symposium

Brand StorytellingFor SEO

Joshua Dodson

@JoshuaDDodson

Bentley UniversityDirector of Digital Marketing

Joshua Dodson

Higher Ed ExpertsCourse Instructor

@JoshuaDDodson

#AMABrandStoryUse this:

And be entered to win a scholarship to one of my Higher Ed Experts courses.

Content StrategyBrand-based

Through SEO research and data

182 collegesclosed between 2011 and 2015, affecting more than 43,000 students

Content MarketingIt’s effective and it’s not going away

Schools that thrive in the coming years

Schools that thrive in the coming years

Will reach their audience through their brand story

Why do stories

matter?

FitBrand

Market Demand

Who is shapingthe narrative?

Answer audience questions

Degree in ________Why get a

Degree in ________Why get a

At [my university]

TargetingEach stage of the funnel

Awareness

Information

Decision

Action

Answer audience questionsGoogle Keyword Planner

Ubersuggest

The Long Tail = ~70%

Average Content Length of Top 10 Results

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

SNHU

Non-branded online program page search performance (BrightEdge Data Cube Score)

Change

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

SNHU Liberty PSU DeVry Ashford Capella ASU Phoenix

Non-branded online program page search performance (BrightEdge Data Cube Score)

Lift67%

Lift67%

Tone

Length

Frequency

Examples

Southern New Hampshire University

Bentley University

MemorialUniversity

VanderbiltUniversity

Babson University

Tell the brand storyIn an optimized way

What did we discuss?1 Storytelling must be authentic and

brand-consistent

2 Long-form articles are necessary for SEO

3 Use research to inform the articles

Rock Star

YouThank @JoshuaDDodson