SEO Higher Education Trends in 2025: How to Compete
December 3rd, 2024 by
Key Insights
- Emerging technologies like Google’s AI Overviews have changed how search engines display information. Universities must adapt their SEO strategies to ensure they stay visible, focusing on creating detailed, authoritative content that meets the evolving needs of AI-driven search results.
- With younger audiences increasingly using social media for search, universities must rethink their SEO strategies to include social platforms. Optimizing for social search, especially through engaging, visual content, is essential for connecting with prospective students.
- An SEO roadmap offers a clear, step-by-step strategy for universities to systematically improve their search rankings and online visibility. By outlining key actions like keyword research, content updates, and link-building opportunities, an SEO roadmap ensures that institutions stay aligned with the latest search engine trends.
Higher education institutions are grappling with a fast-changing online environment, where maintaining visibility is increasingly challenging.
AI-generated search results and social search have transformed user behavior, including how learners research education.
With prospective students relying heavily on search engines to research programs and make enrollment decisions, it’s essential that a university’s SEO strategies stay ahead of the curve.
Yet, according to our recent Higher Ed SEO Research Study developed with UPCEA, 51% of universities lack an established SEO plan.
This oversight in strategy puts institutions at a disadvantage when it comes to improving search engine rankings and standing out in a crowded market.
For universities ready for export guidance for 2025, an SEO roadmap serves as a crucial starting point to bridge this gap and develop a program-focused SEO strategy that incorporates upcoming trends.
Search Influence’s SEO roadmap provides a customized guide for one key academic program including recommendations for:
- Keyword strategy
- Content strategy
- Link building
- Technical SEO optimizations
But before you climb the Everest that is search engine visibility in 2025, you should know what to expect.
In this blog, we’ll explore the key SEO trends impacting higher education and discuss how universities can develop a strategy to improve their search engine rankings and connect with prospective students.
SEO Higher Education Trends in 2025
Impact of AI Overviews on higher ed SEO
As search continues to evolve, higher education digital marketers must leverage generative engine optimization (GEO) to reach their target audiences. Understanding AI Overviews is the first step in mastering this new form of search.
In May 2024, Google introduced AI Overviews as part of its Search Generative Experience at Google I/O. This new feature leverages Google’s generative AI model, Gemini, to provide users with quick answers to their queries. AI Overviews generate brief snippets based on Google AI’s understanding of the question and relevant content from across the web.
Alongside the generated answer, Google includes links to resources, allowing users to dive deeper into the topic if they choose.
Possible challenges of AI Overviews
- Informational content pushed down: Blog posts or general content on university websites are often pushed lower in search results by AI-generated responses, impacting traffic that universities previously earned from organic search results..
- Limited visibility for non-featured websites: Educational institutions not featured in AI Overviews may struggle to gain online visibility, even if they rank well on traditional search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Lack of content attribution: AI Overviews pull content from various sources without clear attribution, making it harder for universities to gain proper recognition or build brand awareness.
- Reduced prominence of featured snippets: As AI Overviews take up more space in search results, traditional featured snippets may become less visible, reducing visibility for universities who worked hard to gain this placement.
Strategies to overcome AI Overview challenges
- Create detailed, well-researched content: AI Overviews often provide brief, surface-level answers. Universities can encourage users to click through and engage with the full material by developing in-depth content that offers more comprehensive insights.
- Target long-tail keywords and specific queries: Focus on relevant keywords and highly specific searches that AI Overviews do not fully address. These keywords can help drive organic traffic from users seeking more detailed information, particularly for degree programs and specialized content.
- Offer interactive content and direct user engagement: AI Overviews can’t replicate the value of user-driven experiences. By providing downloadable resources, webinars, or interactive tools, universities can offer unique value that sets them apart and builds stronger connections with prospective students.
How social search is changing SEO for universities
Social search is rapidly gaining traction, particularly among Gen Z and Millennials, who increasingly use social media platforms to find information, discover products, and learn about services. This shift away from traditional search engines like Google is transforming how universities must approach recruitment SEO. Social search leverages the dynamic, interactive nature of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, where user-generated content (UGC) and real-time interactions play a significant role in how information is consumed and shared.
Beyond social platforms becoming an alternative to traditional search, social content itself has started to rank higher in Google search results. This means that what universities post on social platforms impacts their visibility on social media and plays a crucial role in their overall SEO strategy.
Possible challenges of social search for universities
- Changing search habits: As Gen Z and Millennials shift towards social search, traditional SEO tactics designed for search engines like Google may not be as effective in capturing their attention. As social search continues to grow, higher ed websites must adapt to maintain visibility.
- Limited control over rankings: Unlike traditional search engines, social search algorithms prioritize engagement over keyword optimization, making it harder for universities to rank higher based solely on incorporating relevant keywords. Social platforms are unpredictable, with ever-changing algorithms that often favor highly engaging content like likes, shares, and comments.
- Engagement-driven visibility: Social search tends to favor content that generates high engagement, which can be difficult for universities to achieve organically without paid promotions. Smaller schools or institutions with less interactive content may find it challenging to compete with more popular or active brands.
Strategies to overcome social search challenges
- Repurpose content for social media: Universities can repurpose existing website content into highly shareable formats such as videos, infographics, or student testimonials on social media. This helps maintain a consistent message across platforms while catering to the content preferences of younger audiences.
- Focus on visual content: Social platforms like Instagram and TikTok prioritize visual content, particularly videos. Incorporating multimedia into your digital marketing strategy is essential for keeping content relevant and visible for longer.
- Boost engagement: To rank higher on social platforms —where algorithms prioritize engagement — universities need to focus on creating content that encourages interaction. Developing content that sparks discussions and encourages likes, shares, and comments can increase visibility in social search algorithms. For example, interactive posts like live Q&A sessions can help universities capture more organic search traffic from social platforms.
Optimize “People Also Ask” to answer prospective students’ queries
The “People Also Ask” (PAA) section in Google search results displays a list of questions related to the user’s original query. Each question can be expanded to reveal a brief answer, typically pulled from relevant websites. While PAA helps users quickly find information, it presents both challenges and opportunities for universities looking to attract prospective students through SEO for higher education.
Competition for visibility is fierce, as the PAA box often pushes traditional organic search results further down the page. Even websites ranking on the first page may struggle to gain traffic. That’s why optimizing for PAA is critical. Prospective students increasingly rely on search engines to discover university programs, and the PAA box provides a valuable way to capture their attention.
The good news is that structuring your content to answer PAA questions clearly and concisely also supports AI Overview visibility. This dynamic approach ensures that your educational website stays relevant in search results.
Possible challenges of People Also Ask
- Click-through rate (CTR) impact: Users may find their answers directly in the PAA section without needing to click through to a website, potentially lowering CTR even for high-ranking pages.
- Answer quality control: Google pulls content for PAA from various sources, meaning the quality or accuracy of the answers won’t always reflect the expertise of your site, even if you provide more in-depth information.
- Unpredictability of ranking in PAA: Google’s algorithm dynamically chooses which content to feature in PAA, making it difficult to guarantee your content will appear in this section.
- Content cannibalization: If your content ranks both organically and in the PAA box, users might click on the PAA result, which offers less interaction and brand recognition than a direct visit to your site.
Strategies and insights to overcome People Also Ask challenges
- Provide concise answers to common questions: To increase the chances of appearing in the PAA section, create clear, concise answers within your content. Use structured headings and bulleted lists to make it easier for search engines to identify and feature your content.
- Focus on long-tail queries: Target niche topics and long-tail keywords that have less competition. This can increase the likelihood of your content being featured in the PAA for specific questions related to your degree programs or student services.
Build content around your expertise: Enhance the authority of your answers by including references to credible sources, expert quotes, and in-depth insights. This builds trustworthiness and improves your chances of being featured in PAA. - Use structured data: Incorporate technical SEO strategies such as structured data to help search engines better understand your content and increase its chances of appearing in the PAA box.
Utilize video SEO to boost engagement with your audience
Is video SEO the future of search?
According to Hubspot, 96% of people say they watch explainer videos to learn more about a product.
Let that sink in — 96% of people watch videos to learn more about a product!
This underscores the importance for higher education institutions to create engaging video content.
Video SEO involves optimizing your video content to rank higher in both search engine results and video platforms like YouTube and TikTok. This process includes targeting relevant keywords, optimizing video descriptions, transcribing videos, and creating high-quality content that engages viewers. Video SEO aims to increase visibility, drive organic search traffic, and boost audience engagement — all of which can improve your institution’s brand awareness and conversions.
Not only does video SEO help with audience engagement, but it also contributes to improving your website’s search rankings, benefiting your overall SEO strategy.
Possible challenges of video SEO
- Competition: Platforms like YouTube and TikTok are highly competitive, with millions of videos uploaded daily, making it difficult for your content to stand out.
- Time and resources: Creating and optimizing video content requires significant time, effort, and resources, more so than text-based content.
- Technical SEO elements: Ensuring proper video metadata, schema markup, and fast loading speeds can be challenging, particularly when embedding videos on your site.
User behavior: While video can be engaging, some users may prefer quick text results.
Strategies and insights to overcome video SEO challenges
- Create short-form videos: Whenever possible, create short, TikTok-style videos to answer users’ questions quickly. While longer videos can be valuable, short-form content is especially effective in the era of social search.
- Keyword research: Focus on long-tail keywords specific to your audience’s search intent. This can help you target less competitive niches in the higher education space and boost your video content’s visibility.
- Use engaging thumbnails and titles: Eye-catching thumbnails and compelling, keyword-rich titles can increase your click-through rates and overall engagement.
- Include video transcripts: Transcripts make your content more accessible and provide search engines with additional text to crawl, improving your video’s SEO performance AND your website’s SEO. Transcribing your videos on your website also ensures you reach potential searchers who prefer reading content over watching a video.
- Encourage engagement signals: Encourage viewers to like, share, comment, and subscribe. These engagement signals indicate to search engines that your content is valuable, increasing its chances of ranking higher.
- Implement schema markup: Use proper schema markup to help search engines better understand your video content. This increases the likelihood of your video being featured in search results, especially in video carousels.
- Consistent content creation: Regularly upload videos and promote them across multiple platforms, including your website. This consistency keeps your institution relevant and boosts your SEO efforts over the long term.
Even universities need to prove E-E-A-T
With AI Overviews as a dominant feature in search results, universities must focus more on creating authoritative, trustworthy content. Luckily, the search engine Goliath has laid out criteria for SEOs to do exactly that: Google E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).
These are the key factors Google uses when human reviewers evaluate the quality of content, especially for websites dealing with sensitive topics like higher education.
E-E-A-T ensures that your institution’s content is accurate, well-researched, and delivered by credible sources — a must for higher education websites looking to thrive in today’s search engine results pages
Leveraging authority and trustworthiness online is essential for universities to attract prospective students and build partnerships with academic and research institutions.
Possible challenges of establishing E-E-A-T
- Maintaining consistency: With various contributors producing content, ensuring that all pages across the university’s website meet E-E-A-T standards can be challenging.
- Building authority: Smaller universities or newer programs often find it difficult to compete with established institutions in search rankings.
- User trust: Consistently delivering accurate and up-to-date information is critical. Any outdated or incorrect content can damage the trustworthiness of the university.
- Dynamic content: Frequent changes to curricula, research publications, and academic programs can make maintaining content relevance and authority resource-intensive.
Strategies and insights to overcome E-E-A-T challenges
- Highlight expertise: Feature content authored by faculty members, ensuring their credentials, academic achievements, and research experience are clearly showcased. Author bios and academic qualifications reinforce the expertise of your institution.
- Enhance trustworthiness: Include student testimonials, case studies, and partnerships with respected organizations to build trust with prospective students and academic partners.
- Content review process: Implement a rigorous content review and update schedule to ensure all information remains accurate, relevant, and aligned with the institution’s authority in the field.
- Leverage user-generated content: Encourage reviews and success stories from current students and alumni. This content demonstrates real-world experience and fosters trust with your target audience.
- Structured data and transparency: Use structured data to help search engine crawlers better understand the content on your site. Transparency in policies, admissions, and course details will enhance trust and improve your organic traffic.
- Third-party mentions: Gaining citations or backlinks from respected educational sources, government websites, or reputable media outlets can help boost your university’s authority in search rankings.
How an SEO Roadmap Can Help You Stay Ahead of SEO Trends
In the ever-evolving world of higher education marketing, staying ahead of the latest trends is critical for attracting more prospective students.
But how do you know where to start for an institution that’s attracting thousands of students to sometimes hundreds of programs?
An SEO roadmap offers a strategic guide to ensure your university’s website remains visible and effective in search engine results.
Here’s how an SEO roadmap will help fast-track your enrollment journey:
Optimize for student search behavior
An SEO roadmap provides valuable insights into how prospective students are searching for degree programs and other academic offerings. By understanding the keywords and phrases potential students use, your institution can adapt content to match their queries more effectively, helping you connect with a broader audience of prospective students.
Adapt to algorithm changes
Google’s search algorithms are constantly changing, which can impact your university’s website performance. An SEO roadmap ensures you stay on top of these changes by addressing updates like core algorithm shifts, mobile-first indexing, and search ranking signals. This helps your site maintain strong visibility in organic search results, keeping your content in front of more potential students.
Stay ahead of emerging trends
An effective SEO roadmap also accounts for emerging trends in the digital landscape, such as voice search, mobile-first indexing, and AI-generated results. These trends are crucial for reaching tech-savvy students who rely on the latest technology to find educational institutions. By adapting your SEO strategy to incorporate these changes, your university will stay competitive and relevant.
Improve your content strategy
An SEO roadmap offers actionable insights into what content updates your website needs and highlights new topics to address. It also identifies new types of content — such as videos, infographics, or interactive tools — that will help you engage your audience more effectively. This ensures your content marketing strategy aligns with both search engine algorithms and student interests, driving more organic traffic to your site.
Gain authority through link building
Building authority is key to ranking higher in search results, and an SEO roadmap helps identify valuable link-building opportunities. You’ll learn which websites your program should be featured on to gain credibility and boost your search rankings. Additionally, internal links can enhance the user experience and improve your site’s functionality, leading to better SEO performance.
Stay Ahead of the Latest SEO Trends With Search Influence
Uncover new opportunities to improve your educational website’s visibility and performance with an SEO roadmap tailored to your institution’s needs.
At Search Influence, we provide actionable recommendations that align with the latest SEO for higher education strategies, ensuring your institution remains competitive in search results.
Our team of SEO experts monitors evolving search engine trends and algorithm changes, so you feel confident that your strategy is up-to-date. With nearly two decades of experience, we understand the unique challenges faced by higher education institutions, and our SEO roadmap will help you capture the right search intent, increase rankings, and boost traffic.
Looking for even more higher ed marketing insights?
Don’t miss my presentations at the 2024 UPCEA MEMS conference in Philadelphia this December.
My session, “Visibility is Vital: Maximize Enrollment by Tracking Marketing Metrics,” presented alongside Bruce Etter of UPCEA, will give valuable insights into which marketing metrics matter the most and how to use those metrics to optimize campaigns, maximize budget allocation, and improve conversions.
I will also be presenting a 10-minute session “Practical Magic: How to Navigate 2025 SEO Trends” that will take a more in-depth look at all the higher education SEO trends covered in this blog.
Contact our team today to learn more about all our digital marketing services.
