Building Your School's Domain Authority and Trust Through Local Link Building
Online competition from other schools, job boards, pay-per-lead directory sites and more, are forcing educational institutions to take a look at how they can increase their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) through easy and effective ways. It’s no secret that being at the top of a Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is where you want your school to land. An October 2012 study by Compete.com looked at “tens of millions” of consumer-generated SERPs and found that 53% of all clicks go to the first listing on a search results page, dropping to 15% for the second listing, 6% for the third and 4% for the forth. So how can your school compete with a national job listing site or directory? One-way is to build your school’s website domain authority.
At APSCU 2012, we had the opportunity to speak with Jeff Marcus, founder of Ed-Impact Consulting. While Ed-Impact is a relatively new consulting operation, Jeff has been working in the field for 20 years. His focus at Ed-Impact is three-fold. The first is consulting with nursing students, or schools with nursing programs; 80 percent of students seek to be a nurse, only 20 percent can pass the test, maintains Jeff— so what happens to the rest? Ed-Impact helps guide these students at the admissions stage into programs in which they can be successful. Ed-Impact also provides admissions training and marketing analysis. We enjoyed learning more about Ed-Impact, and thank Jeff for stopping by to speak with us at APSCU!
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Trace Urdan with Wells Fargo Securities. As Trace sat down with us in Las Vegas, he discussed current events with us, including the government’s regulatory involvement in the sector, competition from the traditional sector in the marketplace, and of course, hopes for the future of the education sector. Trace also went into a little more detail about his personal opinions regarding laudable efforts to improve regulations, as well as the current economy and its impending implications. We had a great time chatting with Trace, and thank him for taking the time to speak with us at APSCU 2012.
Jami Morshed, , Three Rivers Systems
At APSCU 2012, we were excited to have the opportunity to speak with Jami Morshed, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing at Three Rivers Systems, touted as “The only truly disruptive academic ERP serving higher education.” And how exactly is Three Rivers Systems disruptive? According to Jami, by coming into an established market but offering innovative technology that can change the order of business, Three Rivers Systems is able to essentially do what Netflix did to Blockbuster. We asked Jami what it takes to adopt these systems for schools, the implementation process the process, and which establishments can benefit most from Three Rivers Systems services. As Jami says, institutions are often bogged down by tasks that don’t advance their original purpose—to educate the public—and Three Rivers Systems seeks to help institutions focus on that important goal. We enjoyed our chat with Jami, and appreciated him taking the time to chat with us. Bogged down with tasks other than their original purpose—to educate students.
Does he really need an introduction? What’s a visit to Vegas without the King himself—Elvis! Elvis stopped by at APSCU 2012 to say hello, and even serenade us! We thank Elvis for stepping in front of the camera with us-- Viva Las Vegas!
LeadiD had a unique vision to allow Lead Buyers (Schools, Agencies, and Aggregators) and Lead Sellers (Organic Lead Providers, Call Centers and Aggregators) to operate in a trusted environment. The LeadiD Platform has been developed in collaboration with lead providers and lead buyers to provide an independent neutral technology. LeadiD allows Lead Sellers to definitively prove that they are generating and selling authentic quality leads. LeadiD allows Lead Buyers to make the best decisions about the leads they buy based on the true history and origin of the lead. For an easy analogy, think of LeadiD as the issuing agency of an auto VIN number, a Universal LeadiD, combined with the definitive data of the CarFax Report, a LeadiD Audit. Founded in January 2011, LeadiD traces its roots to conceptual conversations as early as 2007, when industry insiders and influencers began discussing how to solve the last fundamental problem in lead generation.
Solving the Student Debt Problem
Two-thirds of all students now borrow and the average amount borrowed spiked 5 percent in the last year alone, to approximately $25,000, while one in 10 students borrow in excess of $40,000. Meanwhile, the national federal student loan cohort default rate rose for the fourth straight year and reached its highest mark since 1997. Default is just the tip of the iceberg...
We
continue to discover a whole host of opportunities related to "the
cloud". DuraSpace's DuraCloud service represents perhaps one of the most
valuable innovations I've heard to date--particularly if you are a college or
university and you are trying to protect the wealth of digital assets produced
by your institution. I spoke with Michele Kimpton, CEO of DuraSpace, about how
her organization is improving the preservation of digital assets and reducing
the cost at the same time.
Ryan Busch Interviews Kaplan, Inc. Chairman and CEO Andrew Rosen about his Book Change.edu
Andrew Rosen (Chairman and CEO of Kaplan, Inc.) spent some time with me discussing his new book Change.edu. Rosen's book is a terrific read, both filled with wonderful insights on the state of American higher education and presented with a sense of humor that compels the reader to keep turning the page. We talk about "Harvard Envy", the promise of community colleges, military students, his career in higher education, and a host of other important ideas.
Ryan Busch Interviews Nivine Megahed and Joselyn Zivin from National Louis University about Groupon for Enrollment
According to Nivine Megahed, National Louis University (NLU) has a history of innovation. Even so, in September NLU became the first university to use the social coupon service Groupon as an enrollment vehicle. Joselyn Zivin, NLU's VP of Marketing, joined Nivine and I to talk about this innovative idea--the timing for this interview couldn't be better as NLU's first class of 17 Groupon adopters ended on Monday 12/05/2011, five of whom are exploring regular admission to NLU.
Accreditation - In the Fight of its Life? Part 3
PART 3: Michael P. Lambert, Executive Director of the Distance Education and Training Council writes: "A number of groups have started to undertake the task of evaluating accreditation and developing various solutions to what they see as accreditation’s systemic shortcomings".
Recording Available of Today's Campus Live Web Event - The Real Impact of Program Integrity Regulations on Higher Education Marketing and Enrollment
Get your link to watch the recording of Today's Campus publisher and panel as they discuss exclusive, never before seen data!
Video Interview - Jen Howard, Director of Google Education
Who better to speak with than Google for information about how prospective students evaluate prospective colleges and universities on the web? After all, Google is at the top of the search engine world and as it turns out--Google has been paying attention to the "edusearchers" and their processes. Jen Howard, Education Industry director for Google, recently spent some time with Today's Campus and shared some of Google's insights in this process. Look for deeper insight from Jen in the November/December 2011 issue of Today's Campus Magazine.
Today's Campus Update
Features ... A rookie college ranking debuts. Will it challenge U.S. News? Must big fundraising efforts result in little payoff? Can college be more affordable? What's happened to online higher education? Also ... Most popular articles and interviews.
Today's Campus Update. July 2010
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