Many OPMs invest heavily in digital marketing, including paid advertising, social media campaigns, and other lead-generation tactics. With competition rising and PPC costs going up, relying only on paid ads just isn’t sustainable.
Yet, unfortunately, long-term strategies that bring in credibility and boost organic visibility, such as SEO, often take a backseat, or worse, are approached the wrong way. Such costly mistakes in search strategy mean missed opportunities, higher student acquisition costs, and fewer enrollment opportunities.
Here are the six biggest SEO mistakes we see OPMs making—and how to fix them.
Mistake #1: The Paid Media Addiction
Most OPMs have built their business models around paid advertising. It’s predictable, scalable, and delivers immediate results. But this approach comes with serious downsides:
- PPC costs in higher education have jumped dramatically (some keywords now cost $100+ per click)
- Paid campaigns stop delivering the moment you stop spending
- Return on ad spend is declining across digital channels
- Competition for student attention is at an all-time high
The solution:
Build a balanced acquisition strategy that includes organic search:
- Allocate 25-30% of your marketing resources to SEO initiatives
- Create a 12-month SEO roadmap alongside your paid media plan
- Target high-intent keywords that match student search behavior
- Track cost-per-enrollment differences between paid and organic channel
Mistake #2: The Microsite Trap
Creating standalone program microsites might seem like a smart way to control the marketing narrative, but it creates serious SEO challenges:
- New domains lack the authority needed to compete in search results
- You’re starting from scratch instead of leveraging the university’s existing domain strength
- Microsites create potential duplicate content issues
- Students often trust .edu domains more than marketing microsites
The solution:
- Whenever possible, build program pages on the university’s main domain
- If microsites are necessary, implement proper canonical tags and link structures
- Develop unique content marketing strategies for microsites to avoid duplication
- Create clear navigation paths between microsites and the main university websites
- Build backlink strategies specifically for microsite domains
Mistake #3: Misaligned Keyword Strategy
Many OPM-managed program pages target keywords that don’t match actual student search behavior:
- Programs optimize for institution-centric terms (e.g., “Master of Business Administration”) instead of student-centered searches (e.g., “online MBA no GMAT”)
- Content lacks specificity for program features that students actually search for
- Location-based search opportunities are often missed
- Pages ignore long-tail keywords with high conversion potential
The solution:
- Conduct comprehensive keyword research using tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or KeywordTool.io
- Organize keywords by search intent (research, comparison, application)
- Optimize program pages for specific, high-intent phrases:
- “affordable online psychology degree”
- “best data science master’s for working professionals”
- “accelerated nursing program in [location]”
- Create supporting content for different stages of the student journey
Mistake #4: Content That Doesn’t Convert
Many OPM program pages suffer from thin, generic content that fails to answer student questions or drive conversions:
- Program descriptions that read like catalog copy
- Lack of specific information about outcomes, faculty, or student experiences
- Missing answers to commonly asked questions
- No strategic content targeting different stages of the student journey
The solution:
- Develop robust program pages (1,000+ words) that thoroughly address student needs
- Create supporting content clusters around each program:
- Career outcome guides specific to each degree
- Student success stories and testimonials
- Faculty spotlights and expertise highlights
- Program comparison pages
- Detailed admission requirement breakdowns
- Add FAQ sections based on actual student questions
- Include clear calls-to-action throughout the content
Mistake #5: Technical SEO Problems
Technical SEO issues plague many OPM-managed program pages:
- Slow page loading speeds (especially on mobile devices)
- Poor mobile responsiveness
- Missing schema markup for education programs
- Unclear site architecture and navigation
- Unfriendly URLs and broken internal links
The solution:
- Run regular technical SEO audits using tools like Screaming Frog
- Improve page speed by optimizing images, leveraging browser caching, and reducing script loads
- Implement schema.org markup for educational programs
- Create logical site architecture with clear program categorization
- Ensure all pages are fully responsive for mobile users
- Use descriptive, keyword-rich URLs for all program pages
Mistake #6: Weak Backlink Profiles
Many program pages struggle to rank because they lack quality backlinks:
- Few or no links from relevant education sites
- Missing internal links from high-authority university pages
- No strategic link building plan
- Over-reliance on social media links (which provide limited SEO value)
The solution:
- Develop program-specific link building strategies
- Create linkable assets like research reports, industry surveys, and educational resources
- Build relationships with higher education publications for guest posting opportunities
- Leverage faculty expertise for thought leadership content that attracts links
- Ensure strong internal linking between related programs and resources
- Partner with industry associations relevant to specific degree programs
The SEO Opportunity for OPMs in 2025
Seeing a steady stream of students discover the right program at the right time, not because they were bombarded with ads, but because they were actively searching for it and found exactly what they needed, is the main goal.
For OPMs, the challenge has always been figuring out how to bring in those students efficiently without relying too heavily on expensive paid marketing campaigns that can disappear the moment budgets are cut. The real solution to this problem and long-term success lies in striking the right balance between paid acquisition and organic search, a balance that not only reduces costs but also creates a more sustainable and reliable flow of prospective students over time.
While paid advertising can certainly drive immediate results, those results are fleeting, entirely dependent on continued investment, and often subject to rising costs and diminishing returns. Organic traffic, on the other hand, doesn’t just vanish when spending slows down. It compounds over time, creating a self-sustaining pipeline of high-intent prospects, students who are actively looking for the right program rather than passively absorbing whatever happens to land in front of them. These are the students who are more likely to engage deeply, apply, and ultimately enroll, making SEO an effective investment for the overall program growth and stability.
University partners want to see results that go beyond quick wins, and an OPM that can generate consistent, cost-effective traffic will always have an advantage. More than that, being able to show a strong, well-optimized organic presence can make all the difference when competing for new partnerships, proving not just marketing expertise but an ability to drive long-term enrollment growth.
SEO may not be the fastest route to immediate results, but for those who commit to it, the long-term benefits far outweigh the short-term effort.
Take the Next Step
At Manaferra, we specialize in helping OPMs develop effective SEO strategies that drive enrollment growth. Our team understands the unique challenges of marketing online programs and how to overcome them.
- Schedule a 30-minute strategy call to discuss your specific OPM challenges
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