SEO CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW
The Marist Italy admissions team approached Response Marketing with the goal of increasing traffic, inquires, and applications for the Marist Italy four-year study abroad program in Florence, Italy. Before beginning optimization we carefully assessed the needs, competitors, short-term and long-term goals of the four-year study abroad program, and tailored our optimization tactics to meet Marist’s goals.
STRATEGY/APPROACH
Upon initial analysis of the Undergraduate program, we encountered a few red flags that could have turned into a potential penalty if detected by search algorithms. This included thin content on the majority of pages, and duplicate content created within the CMS structure. Due to the urgency of wanting to avoid penalization, we decided to tackle these issues first. In order to make the process as smooth as possible, our SEO team worked closely with the college’s web services team to pinpoint issues and determine the appropriate solutions. It was concluded that the implementation of a series of rewrite rules and 301 redirects would eliminate duplicate content.
We also discovered a lack of calls to action and conversion points within the site. This created a difficult navigation and user experience for visitors.
CONTENT OPTIMIZATION / DEVELOPMENT
Our solution and plan for increasing traffic and inquires for the Undergraduate site began by optimizing content. The content was revised for the overall program, four-year study abroad experience, and individual Majors offered through Marist Italy. During the optimization process, we paid close attention to variations between programs and Marist’s specific language. Our team made sure that all content was in keeping with Marist’s brand and design guidelines.
We continued content creation and optimization throughout the entire 12-month period. Our content writing and SEO team developed each piece of |content to ensure it was inline with high volume keyword searches. We also sought to create interesting content that helped solidify Marist Italy as an expert in the Italian study abroad experience.
A/B TESTING
While our content optimization efforts began to be crawled by search engines, we began conducting A/B tests on the program in order to increase conversions for the new incoming traffic.
ADDITION OF CALL-TO-ACTION / CONVERSION POINTS
During the optimization process our team had a hypothesis that conversions on the client’s website could be improved by the addition of strategically placed call-to-action forms and buttons. These tests included the addition of conversion forms and call-to-action banners placed on various pages. The addition of the form saw a 13.5% improvement in conversions, while the CTA banners saw as much as a 1451.1% improvement in click through rate.
STAYING ON TOP OF ALGORITHM UPDATES
(E.G. –MOBILE, PANDA, PENGUIN UPDATE)
During the duration of the search engine optimization campaign Google continued to make updates to their algorithm and search results appearance. Our SEO team monitored these updates closely, while continuing to update and educate the client on the various changes in SEO news including the Mobile Algorithm and Panda 4.0 update.
YOY SEO CAMPAIGN RESULTS
Throughout the entire process, we continued to monitor the results of our optimization and testing efforts through monthly reports conducted by our team and shared with the client. After a 9-month duration, our teams’ SEO efforts on the Undergraduate program yielded the following results:
Needless to say, both our internal team and client team were ecstatic with the results.
After analyzing the results of their initial 9-month SEO campaign, the Marist Italy Undergraduate program has continued to partner with Response Marketing on Search Engine Optimization efforts. The program continues to exceed client expectations for increases in traffic volume, program inquires, applications and enrollments.