If you are in charge or marketing and communications for a prestigious private school or college, do you worry about where the school appears in the search engines? Or do you feel that because of the history, reputation and tradition of the school that you needn’t worry about who shows up on the first page?

Students at a certain level know the most competitive schools and they have the top places they want to go, or their parents want them to go. But as the trend increases there will be more students at your school whose parents did not attend the school. So that loyalty is not always something that can be counted on today.

Consider the students that have no connection to the school, students who have narrowed down their choices and know what they want. How do you influence that choice from the outside or from the admissions office? How do you get on the list or stay on the list? Students and parents will compare schools online before they visit and they will “search” schools against each other.

The answer is to target your ideal student. Target them by terminology and stake a claim on their potential education. Make sure they can access all of the great programs and opportunities online and that this information is searchable. Be clear what your school represents and how it can serve the student. Make the adjustments necessary to appear when competitive students are searching for programs and specialties that the top schools are offering. If your school is not there will you drop off the list? Or will they find another school that is trying to reach them?

At Qscholar, we translate an understanding of a school’s mission and develop a clear path to their audience through search engines. The goal of our programs is to develop a consistent stream of qualified students and applicants for schools so that more of the right students find your school.