Improving Search Engine Visibility Through Optimized Content

The Challenge 

The University of Central Oklahoma sought to increase search engine visibility for both its on-campus and online (“Connected Campus”) programs.

Beginning with a content assessment, we discovered online programs available through the University of Central Oklahoma’s Connected Campus contained duplicate or nearly duplicate content pulled from the on-campus program pages.

Concentrations for certain programs—the online MPA in Urban Management and the online MPA in Public and Nonprofit Management, for example—also contained nearly identical copies, as did two online MBA program pages. We also noticed that for tracked keyword phrases, Google chose to rank the on-campus program over the online program page.

Along with duplicate content, many program pages had short or thin content that relied on links to PDF documents or an interactive widget for additional information. A crawl of the site found that many of these pages were being flagged for low text-to-HTML ratios. To the search engines, pages containing 10% or less text appear less authoritative and are perceived as providing less substantial information to the user.

Our Approach

Online program pages perform best when they’re treated as distinct from their on-campus counterparts—built with unique copy, online-centric long-tail keywords, and an understanding of the working adults they’re designed to serve. UCO’s Connected Campus stood to benefit significantly from this approach, especially given the duplicate content and thin copy that had previously limited visibility and clarity for prospective online students.

To address this, Carnegie developed a focused content strategy centered on optimizing UCO’s online degree program pages. We researched and incorporated online-related long-tail phrases throughout metadata, header tags, and copy; fully utilized title tags and meta descriptions; and rewrote and expanded page content to differentiate the online programs while offering the depth and detail online students need. By lengthening the copy and moving key information out of PDFs and into the page itself, we strengthened authority, improved user experience, and gave search engines the signals necessary to better rank UCO’s online offerings.