Giving Context to Google Search – The importance of schema markup to boost your SEO

It’s something virtually every organization out there with any kind of web presence finds itself struggling with constantly—how can we improve our Google search ranking?

We all know this is one of the great mysteries of the universe. For years different strategies have emerged, disappeared, and emerged again. It seems like every month there’s a new tactic or algorithm that’s the next surefire way to conquer Google and break from the blur when it comes to search.

And of course, it never really does. Or does it?

The simple truth is that there is no magic bullet when it comes to improving your search ranking. But one sure thing you can do is stay up-to-date and make sure your content is optimized to the best of its abilities, based on what we do know those characters out in Menlo Park are up to.

One of the ways to do this is to use schema markup in the metadata used to boost your site’s search engine optimization. So here is some handy information that will outline what exactly schema markup is, how it can help, what it’s used for, why it’s so special, and more.

Let us help you get the results you are looking for.

Results that inform. Results that inspire. Results that impact your bottom line. Get in touch.

 

What is Schema Markup?

Schema markup is a form of microdata that gives context to metadata that previously wasn’t there. For each page of your website, there should be metadata code entered, which usually includes a meta title and meta description, that is used to connect that web page to searches being conducted on search engines like Google and Bing.

With schema markup added, it gives context to search engines and allows them to interpret how closely related your page is to a search that’s being conducted—effectively improving the quality of those search results.

Will Schema Markup Be Helpful in Improving Your Ranking?

As per usual, answering this one can be very tricky. What we do know is that using schema markup doesn’t hurt your ranking, and it isn’t a terribly complex process to get involved with.

Also, the rich snippets that result from using schema markup is something that can and has had a direct positive result on click-through rates. And according to Moz.com, which conducted some internal research of its own on the issue, schema can contribute to your site’s rankings.

What is Schema Markup Used For?

Simply put, schema markup helps search engines understand and have a clearer picture of what information exists on any given website or web page during a search. This, in turn, can improve the quality of the results a search engine delivers to someone using it to conduct a search.

It can be really easy to drown yourself in all of the tech-speak involved with understanding schema markup and the purpose it serves, but in the end it’s all about giving web users higher-quality search results to their queries.

How Do Search Engines Look at Schema?

Using schema markup makes it possible for search engines to classify the most important parts of your content. Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo actually all came together and created a standard microdata library that is used to recognize and interpret various parts of the content on your pages. That’s what schema is.

So essentially, schema tells search engines not just what your content says, but also what it means. As a result, the rich snippets that are created by having schema markup on your pages produce a much more valuable search result for web users.

What Makes Schema Markup So Special?

Anything you can do to put more eyes on your website or particular web pages on your site is a good thing. And enhancing web users’ ability to find information that is more closely linked to the exact search their conducting is also a good thing.

Whether it’s finding videos, events, old acquaintances, a specific business or company, or things like specialized services and/or products, schema markup can have a positive impact.

What’s the Difference Between Normal HTML and Schema Markup?

Schema markup represents an addition to your existing HTML data. With this addition, search engines return more relevant results, and since users gain a clearer picture of what content they’ll find on your site, it also means that you can benefit from increased click-throughs.

What Types of Schema Markup Are There?

The big search engines recognize three types of schema markup formats:

• JSON-LD
• Microdata
• RDFa

To date, JSON-LD is the most widely used. But the others do have advantages as well. Microdata can be found on such sites as eBay. And RDFa is an extension to HTML5 used to markup metadata within web pages.

How Do You Implement Schema Markup?

There are a few different methods to use when implementing schema markup. The simplest, especially if your site is built on WordPress, is using a plugin. You can download a plugin, for instance, the Schema Creator plugin from Raven, or use the “add plugin” function on your WordPress dashboard.

Other ways to implement are using Google schema generator, or you can skip using the tool altogether and edit manually and validate using Google schema validator.

So there’s a quick overview.

The best first step if you’re considering schema markup is to find a proven expert in the field and get a consultation. There’s a lot to consider, and it’s always best to make the most informed decision possible.

That’s where we come in. At Norton Norris, our SEO experts help institutions find effective ways to utilize the tools for improving their search results, including schema markup. Contact us today so we can get moving on putting together your strategy for success.

The post Giving Context to Google Search – The importance of schema markup to boost your SEO appeared first on Norton Norris.

source https://nortonnorris.com/giving-context-to-google-search-importance-of-schema-to-boost-seo/

April Tales from the Trail: Students Love Paper Materials – Even in the Digital Era

There’s nothing easier for a college admissions representative than grabbing a USB memory stick, handing it to a prospective student, and sending them home with all of the information they could possibly need…

But are students leaving with digital materials that they can’t even use?

In our travels, we’ve been noticing that quite a few schools have jumped at the chance to modernize their materials and have started to hand out digital catalogs, either on CDs/DVDs or USB memory sticks. As part of a collection of materials, our field agents have liked the memory sticks as a backup for the information if they lost the information sheets they received. However, most of the evaluators reported that CDs and DVDs were essentially unusable to them – most laptops no longer have disc drives, so they’re little more than shiny donut-shaped coasters.

Recently, two evaluators reported that when they asked representatives about key topics, they were directed to the school catalog. They were discouraged when they found out that they couldn’t access the information that they needed, mirroring many students who may not have the resources they would need to be able to access digital files:

Brian told me that I would not have to worry about their accreditation status and that I could read all about it in the school catalog. He did not show me the catalog during his presentation, but he assured me that it was already packed in my materials folder. I also asked about tuition and he just smiled and pointed to the folder and stated, “It’s all in here.” When I opened the folder after the interview, I saw only one program course list and a CD that was labeled “Catalog” with a Sharpie. I tried to access the info, but I didn’t have a CD drive.

—

Jim gave me a USB memory stick to take home with me. He said it would have the information I asked him for regarding jobs. However, I couldn’t access the information since I only have a tablet. I had to find a library that would let me use their computer and that allowed USB sticks to be used on their computers.

Our evaluators develop a keen eye for collateral, which includes how representatives use the materials to provide info, answer questions, and showcase the school. It also includes looking at the resources they send home with prospective students.

Using a presentation or website to present info is a fantastic idea, but if the student can’t find it on a website later or doesn’t have a handout, even the fondest of interview memories can only last so long.

Kelly navigated to a page title ‘Consumer Disclosures’ on the school website by clicking on various links. She did not explain how to navigate to this page. She pointed out the total tuition cost, the retention and job placement rate, and a link to BLS on the disclosures. However, she did not provide any printed information, nor did she write down the link to this page. I was unable to find this page on my own.

Certain sets of materials can be especially beneficial. Like receiving printed documents to look over later with family/friends as they consider school options, and digital resources to use/send as well. For example, on one of our recent visits we left with one set of documents that included printed tuition information and financial aid estimates, with a sheet outlining all of the other pertinent data. This sheet not only outlined current information, it also provided permanent links to the information on the school website, where we could seek out updated information about the program if we decided to enroll in a future term. The representative also emailed a PDF of the sheet.

David told me that the sheet contained all of the links that I would need to learn everything about the school. He said that my questions were excellent, and I would not need to worry about remembering any of the information he had given me, since I could access all of it online. He said that he would email me a copy, just in case it ended up getting lost in my car. I was able to access all of the information later by using the email that he sent.

Another set of materials with which our evaluators were impressed was a single program information sheet, a financial aid guide customized to the school, and a catalog. No digital materials were provided, but students reported that all of the summarized information about the school and program on the information sheet was enough to make an enrollment decision.

I was able to relax during my interview, since Toby had a program information sheet that he used to present all of the information about the program and school that I needed. I did not have to ask him any questions because he then used a catalog to show me more detailed information, including a tuition breakdown. When I met with Financial Aid, they provided an estimate sheet for me to take home that outlined what I would have to pay, assuming that I reported my information correctly to them. The materials were more than enough to make a decision about enrolling since any questions I had could be answered by using the catalog (or the various website links printed in it).

Although it may seem like progress to stop providing printed documents to potential students, many students who are attracted to career training schools may not have the resources required to access key information.

Based on our evaluators’ experiences, we have seen that digital resources tend to be a backup means of looking up information about the school, and many of the digital materials provided can be useless unless they have the right tools to open the files. Most students rely heavily on phones or tablets to do things. With this in mind, maybe it’s too early completely write off printed materials…or at least too early to offer zero printed takeaway information.

Are you hoping to transition to 100% digital for your Admissions team? Do you think printed materials are still worth their weight in…paper? Share your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page!

If you’d like to see what our incredible covert assessment evaluator team will learn at your school, Vince at Vince@nortonnorris.com is ready to put together a customized program!

The post April Tales from the Trail: Students Love Paper Materials – Even in the Digital Era appeared first on Norton Norris.

source https://nortonnorris.com/april-tales-from-the-trail-students-love-paper-materials-in-digital-era/

January Tales from the Trail: Defrosting Icy Admissions Interviews

As we’ve watched the temperatures here in our beloved Chicago go from ridiculously frigid to reasonably frozen, we’ve seen plenty of representatives with demeanors just as chilly as our trademark wind! From snarky compliance answers to refusing to provide ANY information during phone interviews, we’ve seen a flurry of bad-mannered behavior.

We totally get it here at Norton Norris – when you’ve read through thousands of college evaluator reports, all of the interviews start to blend together! We can’t imagine what college reps go through when they meet with hundreds of potential students each month. All of the students’ questions must start to sound the same, to the point where you feel you can end their sentences before they’ve really asked anything.  But interrupting can break the conversation flow and cut off interesting student questions… and sometimes, the student just might be our evaluator!

I felt a bit rushed during our conversation, as Miranda did not wait for me to finish my thoughts and sentences before starting to answer them. She interrupted me several times.

George tried to pressure me to enroll for 13 minutes. He kept interrupting and explaining that I was starting the process so I could meet with Financial Aid to see if I was eligible for grants and loans. I told him I wanted to speak with my uncle first and he said my reasons didn’t make sense. He abruptly ended the conversation and hung up.

Another thing we can understand: when you have a lot going on at work, it can be so tempting to say, “That’s not my job!” We encourage representatives to keep in mind how prospective students may be weathering their college search, which can be tough when you’re trying to balance other responsibilities. Will students come back to a school with representatives who don’t want to do their jobs by introducing students to the departments with the answers they’re seeking?

I asked about the placement rate and whether students were usually hired after their externships. Courtney replied that it depended on student performance and openings. She informed me that keeping track of students getting hired wasn’t her department.

We’re not saying every student should be treated like the rays of sunshine that Chicago could use right now, but they should definitely take precedence over braiding hair or discussing the faculty pizza party that’s happening in 20 minutes!

When I completed the student information form and tried to return it to the receptionist, I stood at the counter as she was far across the area behind the desk, braiding the medical assistant instructor’s hair. She asked me if I was finished and said she would let my rep know. She did not return to the desk so I put the clipboard on the counter and went back to my seat. It took her another five minutes to get up and call anyone.

The receptionist took a personal call and discussed rental car arrangements for ten minutes. Instead of calling a rep to let them know I was waiting, she called a nearby pizza place and let the person on the line know that they were having a pizza party soon. She proceeded to order the different pizzas in front of me. I waited 35 minutes in total before she looked up and said, “Oh gosh, I forgot about you,” and called a representative to the lobby. She did not apologize and rolled her eyes as she spoke to the rep on the phone about me.

We are hoping that with incremental weather, representatives will go to work with sunnier dispositions!  Our evaluators are looking forward to their visits – will they be able to report sunshine and rainbows at all of the campuses they visit in February? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook how you plan to trickle good customer service and compliance on students this month! Please do not hesitate to reach out to our Assessment team for help from our covert operatives who can let you know how you can make sure to turn gloomy students into luminous enrollments today!

source https://nortonnorris.com/january-tales-from-the-trail-defrosting-icy-admissions-interviews/

Why SEO Needs to be Part of the Digital Marketing Mix

Search engine optimization. SEO. It’s important because it helps you make the most of your web presence by drawing more traffic to your website. SEO is paramount to the success of your digital marketing. You want your business to be one of the top search results when internet users enlist the help of search engines to find what they’re looking for and perhaps things they didn’t even know they needed.

Your business may already have a website and a certain degree of social media presence. But how do you know if it’s working the best it can? With Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), of course. But which one? Therein lies the problem. There are a great many, perhaps too many, metrics you can use to track the progress of your SEO efforts. So which way is the best way?

To figure that out the most effective way to monitor your SEO’s performance, you first need to take a few different questions into account:

• Do you value SEO based on the keyword (KW) positions?
  • How do you determine the value of those KWs?
  • Is it based on what you would pay for it to be a PPC ad?
  • Would you even necessarily be paying that much for the PPC ad? Do PPC Ads necessarily even bring in the same audience as organic?
• Do you value it based on how much organic traffic is coming to the website in total?
  • How do you determine if that organic traffic is relevant traffic?
  • What good is a million website views if you end up with the same amount of conversions as 1,000 targeted views?
• Do you value it based on the number of conversions you see coming in as organic traffic?
  • Can you be certain that conversion came from your SEO efforts or did they stem from other marketing efforts?

 

To help answer some of these questions, we’ll provide some insight on SEO that might help you view your website and the value of SEO.

When you first launch your website it’s often like starting a business out in the middle of nowhere. The only people visiting your business are the people who are going out of their way to find it, either by typing your website URL in a browser or searching for the exact name of your business in hopes of finding it.

SEO is building paths and roads for people to easily pass by your business.

You begin to increase your search engine visibility by ranking for different keywords. As you build these keywords, you’re adding paths for people to start seeing your business. The more keywords you rank for, the more paths and roads there will be for people to take to find your business.

It is important to keep in mind that not all keywords are equal; some paths will be frequently traveled, while others will bring in only a few a visitors each month.

The other thing to keep in mind is that not all visitors are equal. Some have no interest in buying what you’re selling. Some are lost – not quite sure what they’re exactly searching for. Some visitors, however, know exactly what they’re looking for and they fully intend to spend money on your product or service.

Sometimes web surfers come across your website even if they were searching for something not quite related to your business. The lesser-used paths (the ones that bring in a few visitors to your site every month) result in unexpected visitors. This is precisely why you want to avoid writing off less popular keywords. They are what brought the added traffic to your site, which can lead to higher sales.

Implementing the right SEO efforts may result in thousands of paths leading to or near your business. With the right tactics you’ll not only have these paths in place but the right types of travelers: travelers who are interested in what you’re selling.

How do you determine those leads are coming in strictly through SEO efforts and not other forms of advertising? People could be searching for your site after hearing about it through referrals, TV ads, radio, or even a billboard. Obviously, SEO isn’t your only medium of advertising. Those other forms of advertising are also effective. If they weren’t, you wouldn’t be shelling out the money for them.

But how exactly do you calculate the value of SEO? As a marketing agency, determining the value of SEO is a conversation we have frequently.

There are far too many constantly changing variables to determine an exact dollar amount. Google, for example, utilizes more than 200 different ranking factors in their search engine algorithms. Instead, think of your website as a brick-and-mortar store, with SEO buildings roads for travelers to discover your business on the web.

While you’re building your roads, it’s still important to monitor your KW Positions and overall organic traffic as indicators of your SEO success.

It’s also worth noting that SEO applies not only to web searches using engines like Google but to social media and online stores as well. Users on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can search for content using keywords, hashtags (which also contain keywords) and specific names of businesses.

The number of social media users, both personal and business accounts, will only continue to increase, making social media platforms worth your time as far as SEO is concerned. Social media may not yield the number of conversions as your blog or website, but it does help generate sales. All sales are good sales, especially when most social media platforms are free to use.

Online shopping is more popular than ever, as people are more likely to make purchases through online businesses than to go to a physical store. With this fact in mind, it’s important for you to value your website as much as, if not more than, your physical location.

In both of these situations, it’s important to hone in on keywords to help potential customers find you. What’s one way for you to create the optimal online search presence for your business? If you don’t know much about the intricacies of SEO, there are plenty of skilled professionals who do. These knowledgeable individuals are SEO specialists.   

Having a good SEO specialist on your team can shape the world for your business. They will help place you as the first stop any relevant visitor will see. They’ll do this by compiling a list of keywords that will be put to use on your web pages, optimize them to most relevant pages and link support to ensure your website rises to the top of the SERP list. An expert SEO specialist can prove to be invaluable to the success of your business.

As businesses become increasingly digitized, SEO will continue to be one of the biggest factors in the success of your company’s digital marketing mix. No matter how you decide to use SEO to enhance your business’s digital marketing, it will undoubtedly improve your web traffic if implemented and measured in ways that are best for your business. Increased traffic can easily translate into higher conversion rates and ultimately a stronger bottom line for your business.

The post Why SEO Needs to be Part of the Digital Marketing Mix appeared first on Norton Norris.

source https://nortonnorris.com/importance-of-seo/

Digital Marketing Trends to Shake up 2018

A look at the digital marketing trends poised to shake things up in 2018

The one constant in life is change. It may be an old and somewhat overused cliché, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

And in a world where marketing and marketing-related initiatives are being shaped by digital technology at a pace that couldn’t have been imagined even a decade ago, it’s more important than ever to understand what’s on that digital marketing horizon.

It’s no surprise that for institutions of higher education, marketing budgets remain tight. At the same time, it’s crucial to milk as many inquiries, applications, acceptances, deposits, and enrollments as possible out of every marketing dollar spent.

So as the end of 2017 nears and budget planning for 2018 moves ahead, here are some things to think about in terms of digital marketing trends and tactics that could impact your bottom line.

Talk to Us

We’ve all seen them. The quizzes, polls, and puzzles on Facebook and other social media platforms that will tell you which celebrity you were in a former life, or what European city is the best fit for you, or whether you’re in the top 1 percent of all humans who are able to see a particular shape in a picture first. It’s called interactive content, and it’s a great way of actively engaging readers or visitors to your website. Think about ways to incorporate interactive content into your digital marketing efforts, such as a personality quiz to determine the best healthcare career for you, or a survey about campus technology.

Mobile, Mobile, Mobile

There’s no denying it—the use of mobile technology continues to rise and it’s not going to change anytime soon. Couple that with the fact that everything is trending toward video, and it becomes clear that mobile video will continue to rise in popularity. In fact, many reports indicate that while video consumption on computers and laptops has started to decline, video views on phones and tablets will rise by 25 percent. So whether it’s a video about a particular academic program, learning facilities, student outcomes, or whatever, make sure it’s properly rendering on mobile devices. And if you’re not taking a “mobile first” approach to your digital content strategy, it’s time to start.

Stream It

As video continues its powerful presence across most social media platforms, expect more and more users to want, and in fact expect, live video content. Not only did video streaming constitute a solid majority of all internet traffic in 2017, studies show that viewers will watch live streams three times longer than pre-recorded video content. Look for events and activities around campus that would make for good live streams, like athletic events, social gatherings, extracurricular activities, visiting speakers, etc.

How Can We Help You?

Forging an immediate, personal connection with viewers and visitors to your website and social media channels should be a high priority in anyone’s strategic marketing plan. One way of doing just that is through artificial intelligence (AI) tools and chatbots. And all indications point to the use of this type of technology gaining steam. Chatbots are ways for a school or business to interact with visitors in real time, helping to personalize the experience of its interface, and direct them to information that’s most relevant to their needs right then and there. This technology is being used by schools currently; look for it to become even more present and to offer expanded capabilities.

If You Hack It, They Will Come

There’s a good chance your institution has already engaged in growth hacking, a digital marketing tactic that will continue to help organizations shape their online presence. One of the more common forms of growth hacking is search engine optimization (SEO), which is all about increasing the odds that someone who’s already expressed interest in your offerings will find his or her way to your digital interface. Other examples of growth hacking include offering incentives for someone to spread the word on your organization. Creativity is the name of the game in growth hacking, and that game is about increasing your brand awareness across a broader audience.

Get to the Point

This one isn’t necessarily limited to digital marketing, but it’s too important to ignore. There’s power in brevity, especially when it comes to your audiences and the amount of time they’re willing to devote to your messaging. When it comes to your mobile content—whether that’s website copy, photo captions, or videos—it’s crucial to keep it short.

The post Digital Marketing Trends to Shake up 2018 appeared first on Norton Norris.

source https://nortonnorris.com/digital-marketing-trends-poised-shake-up-2018/

October Tales from the Trail: Eclipsing Noncompliance

Did you know that compliance best practices drop by 35% during a solar eclipse based on our studies?

Well, not really! But we sent out a staggering amount of exception reports this quarter, all of which just happened to align with the eclipse. From grumpy FA reps to overly aggressive admissions reps, everything was just a little bit crazier this quarter!

We all have our “off” days at work, no doubt — however, professionalism should still be key when dealing with potential students! We ran into this Grumpy FA Grinch who couldn’t sit still long enough to provide the most basic financial aid information, and an Admissions rep who made the situation worse by confronting the Grinch in front of the student.

Jack was slouched back in his seat and repeatedly readjusted himself, and his facial expressions made it seem like I was wasting his time before he rushed me out. When I returned to Mary, I told her that he wasn’t very helpful as he gave only short answers and provided no actual explanation of the financial aid process, so she left me in the hallway while she spoke with Jack, telling him that I felt uncomfortable with him, which made me even more uncomfortable. We both sat down with Jack again, and he confirmed that my financial aid would pay my tuition in full, although he had an aggravated look on his face.

How do your reps address uncomfortable moments that come up during a tour of the school? Like the Admissions rep above, do they just make the situation worse by engaging too aggressively with the source of the conflict? The rep below not only made our evaluator uncomfortable, but he also directly told a current student that he smelled! Did the eclipse make everyone lose all inhibitions?!

Michael gave me a quick tour of the school, which did not last long since it was late and the school was virtually empty. He took me into the nursing classroom and emphasized they use the latest technology. At one point on the tour, I noticed the smell of marijuana. Michael saw me sniff the air, and he laughed and said, “Yeah, that is really strong.” We entered a computer lab, where a student was working and the smell was quite strong. Michael looked at the student and said that he needed “to do a better job of covering that up, like buy some air freshener or Febreze.”

Our last nugget is almost unbelievable! Rather than engaging in a quick 15-minute phone interview with our evaluator, he spent almost half an hour arguing with the evaluator about why he couldn’t provide information over the phone. We can only hope that mystical forces of the sun were affecting this rep, and he usually provided stellar customer service to students who called in hopes of learning more about the school!

Alfredo said that I had to come in, even when I explained that my baby was misbehaving. He said, “I already made it clear to you that you don’t have to worry about your child. You gotta understand if that’s going to be a huge concern, how are you going to attend school?” He later said, “All you’re coming for is information. If it’s going to be that hard for you, I don’t know. I’m not trying to sell you a car. I’m not a commissioned worker.” As I kept trying to ask questions, his tone grew increasingly annoyed. He said, “I’m trying to explain to you, this is all part of the tour.” After I asked about transferring credits, he said, “I can’t speak for other states, I don’t know. Everything you keep asking me, like I said before, we’ll talk in person. I’m not trying to trick you or nothing. If you’re interested, I’ll help you, but I’m not going to tell you a bunch of stuff over the phone because that’s not how I do business. If we talk about this stuff on the phone, there’s no point to taking a tour.”

As we move into the fall season, we hope that we see that these grim attitudes are shed and we can begin anew this quarter. We love reporting good news to our clients, so we celebrate any time we see superb school representatives bewitching our evaluators! Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook how you plan on changing your approach to admissions in this new quarter! Please do not hesitate to reach out to our Assessment team for help from our covert operatives who can let you know how you can start enchanting students into enrollments today!

The post October Tales from the Trail: Eclipsing Noncompliance appeared first on Norton Norris.

source https://nortonnorris.com/october-tales-trail-eclipsing-noncompliance/

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