Standing out in search results is critical in graduate enrollment marketing, but keyword-stuffing your pages won’t cut it anymore.
You’ve got to have a more holistic approach to search engine optimization (SEO). Unfortunately, today’s SEO landscape can feel like a maze of constantly shifting strategies and acronyms rather than a blueprint for organic success.
Enter the alphabet soup of modern SEO: E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) and AI (Artificial Intelligence). Both SEO and E-E-A-T play a crucial role in determining how prospective students find and engage with your institution’s online presence. Understanding how to optimize for both can make all the difference in attracting the right students to your programs (and getting them to stick around!)
E-E-A-T: the foundation of SEO for graduate enrollment
Google’s E-E-A-T framework ranks content for reputability, particularly for content related to education, health, and finance — areas where trust and credibility are essential. For universities and graduate programs, strong E-E-A-T signals lead to higher rankings and greater visibility in search.
Google’s emphasis on the four pillars of E-E-A-T shows just how important it is to be creating content based on real-world experience, expertise, authority, and trust. Without strong E-E-A-T factors, your content may struggle to rank — even if it’s well-written and ultra-keyword-optimized.
What is E-E-A-T in SEO, and why does it matter?
While SEO strategies match your content to your audience’s specific queries, Google’s E-E-A-T framework goes deeper to assess content quality. Here’s a breakdown of each component of an E-E-A-T score and how it relates to graduate enrollment marketing:
- Experience: The most compelling content comes from the people who know it firsthand. Faculty, students, and alumni can give insider insights into the value of your graduate programs.
- Expertise: Your website and content should reflect deep (and accurate!) subject matter expertise. Showcasing faculty credentials, research, and institutional accomplishments reinforces your program’s credibility.
- Authoritativeness: Your program deserves to be seen as a leader. Strategic backlinks, media coverage, and credible references help build that authority.
- Trustworthiness: Prospective students need confidence in your program’s legitimacy. Upfront tuition details, transparent admissions processes, and secure websites (a URL that starts with HTTPS, not HTTP, for example) are essential for building trust.
How to optimize for it (i.e., your very own E-E-A-T checklist):
- Leverage faculty and alumni stories – A student reading your content wants to hear real perspectives from those who have been through the program. Create blog posts, videos, and testimonials featuring faculty expertise and alumni success stories.
- Showcase author credentials – Back up your content authors' credibility with credentials, degrees, and relevant experience. If you’re posting faculty insights, include links to their research, publications, or LinkedIn profiles.
- Build authoritative backlinks – Every time you link to another reputable site (and vice versa), your own ranking goes up. Encourage partnerships with industry publications, thought leaders, and professional organizations to earn credible backlinks to your content.
- Keep your content up to date – Refresh your content with regular updates to key program pages, blog posts, and admissions information to ensure accuracy and relevance.
- Encourage and manage reviews – Positive reviews on Google, LinkedIn, and third-party sites like GradReports or niche industry review platforms build up your school’s trust and credibility.
AI and SEO: the evolving landscape
You may have heard the news: AI is reshaping how search engines process and rank content. With Google’s AI-driven ranking algorithms and generative AI-powered search results, SEO for higher education is in a state of flux, and enrollment marketers must adapt to maintain visibility.
Artificial intelligence is transforming SEO in several ways:
- Google’s AI-driven ranking systems: You’ve probably seen an “AI Overview” appear on some of your Google searches. AI helps Google interpret user intent and prioritize content that aligns with search queries.
- AI-powered content tools: Tools like ChatGPT, Jasper, and Gemini can help draft content, summarize research, and personalize outreach.
- Predictive analytics: AI can analyze prospective student behavior and tailor messaging to match.
But while AI-generated content can enhance efficiency, it shouldn’t replace human voices and strong storytelling. At the end of the day, Google prioritizes original, high-quality content that reflects authentic experience — something AI alone can’t replicate.
5 ways to optimize for AI-driven search:
- Focus on natural language and conversational queries – AI favors content that aligns with how people naturally ask questions. Optimize for long-tail keywords and question-based search terms (e.g., "What are the best online MBA programs for working professionals?").
- Use structured data and schema markup – Enhance how search engines interpret your content by adding structured data on the back-end. This can help AI engines identify rich snippets, FAQs, and event listings in search results.
- Create AI-friendly, yet human-centered content – AI rewards high-quality, well-organized content. Break up text with headings, bullet points, and summaries, while still focusing on engaging, student-first storytelling.
- Optimize for AI-powered search features – Keep an eye on how Google’s AI overviews (such as SGE, or Search Generative Experience) impact rankings. Create content that directly answers the real questions potential students are asking to increase the likelihood of being featured.
- Use AI tools to enhance, not replace, content creation – AI-driven tools can help with keyword research, content suggestions, and automation, but human oversight is key. Double-check all AI-generated content to maintain authenticity, personalization, and accuracy (remember E-E-A-T?)
Bringing it all together: a balanced SEO strategy
As a graduate enrollment marketer, succeeding in today’s SEO environment means striking a delicate balance between the credibility-focused principles of E-E-A-T and evolving AI search recommendations. Creating high-quality, trustworthy content — and using AI to optimize it — keeps your programs visible to the right students.
Here are some tips to find the right balance between the shiny new object of AI and the tried and true impact of human-first content:
- Use AI as an assistant, not a replacement – AI can streamline content creation, but human expertise should guide the strategy.
- Prioritize authenticity – Showcase real voices (faculty, alumni, students) to reinforce credibility.
- Optimize for intent, not just keywords – AI-driven search is increasingly context-aware; focus on answering prospective students' real questions.
- Build authoritative content – Long-form guides, research-based blogs, and program-specific insights can boost your trust and visibility.
Want to improve your enrollment marketing strategy with E-E-A-T in mind? Watch our webinar to increase your program’s awareness using content and SEO. Or, let’s connect and explore how you can optimize your content for better visibility and engagement!