via Google AdWords
By: Jonathan Weindruch
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV
This is the 2nd article in a 4-part series on Internet marketing best practices for higher education institutions. In the 1st article we explored some key ingredients of a web site presence that engages prospective students. In this article we’ll consider how to make prospective students aware of your institution and web site thru Google search engine advertising.
You may be asking yourself if search results provided by Google are determined by which advertisers are willing to pay the most money. The answer is yes and no. Google has cleverly segregated its search results into 2 groups: 1) natural search results and 2) paid search results. Natural search results appear in the main/middle part of a Google search results web page. Paid search results appear as Sponsored Links at the top of the page and down the right column. (see image below)
This article will explore Google paid search advertising, also known as Google AdWords, as a marketing/advertising strategy for higher education institutions. Google AdWords (detailed info at https://adwords.google.com/select/Login and http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/) is an attractive advertising option because it allows you to promote your institution for relevant keywords and keyphrases. Although you can attempt to configure your web pages to naturally rank high for relevant keywords, there is no guarantee that you will rank high (appear on the 1st page of search results). On the other hand, advertising with Google AdWords does give you a guarantee that your listing will appear on the search results page as a Sponsored Link on either the top or down the right column of the search results page for your relevant keywords.
The Power of Search Marketing
Search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, are commonly used by prospective students to research and identify education options. Just observe the following statistics on the number of times these keywords below were used on Yahoo search in August 2006:
Number of Searches |
Search Terms |
741,789 |
online college |
320,342 |
college |
312,178 |
education online |
232,663 |
online university |
186,733 |
university |
121,545 |
college and university |
23,600 |
university of georgia |
14,866 |
university of colorado |
13,786 |
higher education |
9,826 |
online education degree |
Of course, not all of the searches above are done by prospective students. However, one can assume that a decent percentage of the searches are prospective students in the process of researching and evaluating higher education options. Google does not publish their search traffic data like Yahoo, but most search engine analysts agree that Google’s numbers would be even higher than Yahoo’s reported numbers for a given keyword.
What is a “Relevant Keyword”?
For the purposes of this article, we’ll define a relevant keyword as a keyword that may be used by prospective students when researching and evaluating their higher ed options. For each institution, the list of relevant keywords will be different. Let’s take the example of a Jesuit college in Denver, Colorado named Regis University. Here is an abbreviated list of keywords for Regis assuming they would want to attract more applications and students to their 4-year undergraduate program via Google search advertising.
1) Regis college |
6) Top liberal arts college |
2) Regis university |
7) Jesuit college |
3) Colleges in Colorado |
8) Jesuit university |
4) Colleges in Denver |
9) University of Denver |
5) Colleges and universities in Colorado |
10) University of Colorado |
A good list of relevant keywords for an institution should have at least 100 search terms. In our example, we have listed out only 10, but the terms above illustrate some of the different types of search terms that prospective students may use.
For keywords #1 and #2 above, we are targeting prospective students who already know that Regis University exists. The purpose of advertising on the keywords is to ensure prospective students find the web site. For keywords #3 - #5, we are targeting prospective students searching for a college in a relevant geographic location: Denver, Colorado, western U.S. These prospective students may or may not know that Regis exists. Similarly, the Jesuit keywords above are attempting to introduce Regis to prospective students who are looking for a Jesuit college. Our last group of keywords involves advertising on “competitor” or “peer” higher ed institutions. In this scenario we are attempting to get prospective students interested in another college or university to consider Regis.
As you can tell, the patience and ability to brainstorm keywords that prospective students may use when searching is key to generating a good list of relevant keywords. A great tool to aid your brainstorming process is the Overture Inventory Tool at http://inventory.overture.com. This free online tool will tell you how many people searched on a particular keyword on Yahoo in the previous month. Because Yahoo is also a popular search engine, it is a great barometer for measuring the popularity of a keyword on Google.
The Economics of Google AdWords
Assuming you have generated your list of keywords, now is the time to forecast your costs and web site traffic. The main thing to remember is that you only pay if a person clicks on your AdWords listing. In other words, if 100 people in a month search on “top colleges in western US” and 5 of these people see your AdWords search listing and click on it to visit your web site, then you only pay for each of the 5 clicks (people) that visited your web site. Because you are charged per click (visit to your web site), you need to establish an amount that you are willing to bid or pay per click. Generally speaking, the higher you are willing to pay per click, the higher up in the page your listing will appear. The cost to appear at the top will vary depending on the demand of the keyword (how many other advertisers are bidding on the same keyword). The table below illustrates how Google charges for this advertising.
Keyword |
# of Searches |
# of Clicks |
Bid per Click |
Total Cost |
Colleges in Colorado |
200 |
10 |
$1.00 |
$10.00 |
Universities in Colorado |
300 |
20 |
$0.50 |
$10.00 |
Jesuit college |
100 |
4 |
$0.25 |
$1.00 |
|
|
|
|
|
Totals |
600 |
34 |
|
$21.00 |
In this example above 600 people were shown the search listing ad and 34 people clicked on the ad resulting in a total advertising charge of $21.00.
Now that you see the cost model for this type of Internet advertising, you may be asking yourself how one would measure the success of this advertising. One of the great things about the web is that it is very conducive to tracking and measurement. In the next article we’ll discuss strategies and best practices for measuring your web site activity and advertising. For those that enjoy mathematics and are interested in using the web to attract more students to your institution, the next article is for you: Part 3 – Successful Online Marketing to Prospective Students: An Exercise in Mathematics.
Read Part I of this series...
Jonathan Weindruch is an independent consultant who has collaborated with Hezel Associates on several Internet marketing strategy projects. He has consulted with Diné College, Vanderbilt University, and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. Jonathan, a Fulbright scholarship winner, graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt with a major in economics and he also has an MBA from Vanderbilt with a concentration in general management. He is the owner of Websults, a web site strategy consulting firm.
For questions or comments please contact Jonathan Weindruch.