Boosting a University's Organic Reach for Prospective Students

A public polytechnic university in Cheney, Washington, had strong academics, affordable tuition, and a diverse student body — but prospective students searching online couldn't find it. Competing against well-funded regional universities and increasingly popular online programs, the university's digital presence wasn't doing justice to what it had to offer. Organic search wasn't converting curiosity into applications, and that needed to change.

Nationally recognised institutions and local competitors were dominating the keywords prospective students were actually using. Internally, decentralised content across departments meant fragmented SEO signals and generic meta content that did little to drive clicks. Strong programs weren't enough — the digital infrastructure simply wasn't supporting them.