University Website SEO: How to Get More Value From Your Content

University websites are huge.

Like sprawling digital labyrinths.

Course pages. Subject pages. Student stories. Research articles. Employability content. Open day information. Industry partnerships. News updates. Resource hubs.

Over time, university website SEO content builds up – often to thousands of pages, spread over dozens – or even hundreds – of departments and faculties.

On the surface, you’d think that thousands of pages must be a good thing. All that space to sell courses to prospective students, dazzle parents with details of accommodation and support services, and showcase awards and research.

But often, the focus is on creating new content rather than getting the most value out of what’s already there.

And my advice, before investing in new blogs, pages and campaigns, is to see what opportunities are being missed with what’s already in place.

Discover more about my specialist education copywriting services.

University websites often feel like a collection of smaller websites

Most modern university websites didn’t emerge fully formed.

It’s more likely they’ve been added to, edited, redesigned and repurposed several times over the years.

It makes sense, of course. The university itself probably reflects that.

New courses. Merging departments. Fresh funding. Changing recruitment priorities. And the hundred other things that need taking into consideration with every new academic year.

And so, like a university, the website becomes a collection of smaller entities living under the umbrella of the institution.

Which isn’t necessarily an issue. Different departments have different needs. And so do the multiple audiences using the website.

It’s only a problem if the site becomes confusing for your visitors.

Prospective students don’t know which department owns a page or which team is in charge of which section. They may be browsing more than one faculty and find it jarring to discover a completely different tone of voice or page structure.

If all they want to know is what placement opportunities their dream course offers, or where graduates have gone on to work, but suddenly find themselves lost in a maze of links, that’s not ideal.

They just want answers.

• Can I do a placement?
• What kind of job could this degree lead to?
• Will I get support?
• What have other students gone on to do?
• Why should I choose this university over another one?

Your site might have these answers already. But if they’re difficult to find or disconnected from the pages visitors are already viewing, you could be losing potential applicants.

It shouldn’t feel like hard work.

To spot the quick wins and easy opportunities to improve your university website content, think like a student.

What do they need to know? And how can you give them the information they need?

How to write your course pages for SEO

Imagine being a prospective student. What’s the first page you’re likely to look at?

A course page.

For many applicants, it’s their first meaningful interaction with your university.

Be honest – are they working hard enough to recruit the right students?

One of the most common mistakes universities make is treating course pages as information pages.

• Entry requirements
• Module lists
• Assessment methods
• Optional electives

Pretty dry stuff on its own.

Important information, of course. But is it enough to convince someone that this course is the right choice over a similar programme at a university down the road?

These are big life decisions. And your course pages play an important role.

Students aren’t simply choosing what they’ll study. They’re choosing where they’ll spend the next three or four years, what opportunities they’ll have access to and, in many cases, where their future career might begin.

That’s why course pages need to do two jobs.

The first? Get students onto your website in the first place.

For some reason, people think SEO only applies to blog content. They’re very wrong.

Having a clear strategy to optimise your course pages is a powerful approach. You’ll attract organic traffic from prospective students researching course titles, PhD opportunities and career pathways that you might otherwise miss.

The second? Persuade them to stay.

Tell them what the course includes, of course. But also show them where it could take them.

If graduates have gone on to exciting careers, talk about it.

If students have access to placements, internships or industry projects, make them visible.

If employer partnerships are one of your strengths, don’t hide them three clicks away in another section of the website.

Use case studies, testimonials and student stories to bring the course to life.

Answer the practical questions.

But don’t forget to inspire the next step.

Build a stronger university content strategy

One of the drawbacks in the march of technology (AI, I’m talking to you) is the rise of the generic website.

If a student lands on a page and it could belong to one of a hundred other institutions, that’s a problem.

So before making any changes, stop.

If it isn’t already clear, establish the values, the brand and the story of your university.

What makes it unique?

What makes studying here a better fit for some people than others?

How will coming to your university add value to a student’s future?

The best university websites absolutely nail this.

Aston University. Real-world impact. Entrepreneurial mindset. Industry partnerships. These themes run through every part of the website.

Loughborough. Excellence in sport. Creating better futures. Athletic innovation. All front and centre of its digital presence.

Others champion social mobility, global communities or sustainable futures.

What do you stand for? And is it visible?

Not just on the homepage.

Course pages. Student stories. Employability content. Open day pages. Accommodation information.

Every page on the website helps prospective students build a picture of your university.

So what do you want that picture to look like?

Read my case study about my work for Aston University.

Make the most of your case studies and testimonials

Humans love reading about other humans.

Stories matter.

If a prospective student reads a case study or relates to a graduate’s story, it can be some of the most powerful content you have.

But often they’re shared once on social media or tucked away at the bottom of a page, out of sight and out of mind.

It’s a wasted opportunity.

Use SEO best practice to help increase your organic traffic, then present your stories in a way that encourages visitors to become applicants.

Use them to:

• Help prospective students understand what a placement actually feels like
• Show where a degree might lead
• Bring employability claims to life

Rather than simply dotting your case studies and student stories around the website decoratively, ask whether they could be used more strategically to support both search visibility and conversion, linking into the university’s wider journey more effectively.

New content can be a brilliant investment.

But the best place to start is often by getting better value from the content you already have.

If you want some help with your university content strategy, get in touch for a chat today.