UniSQ
UniSQ: Top of class performance for a 40 year old University
Background
The University of Southern Queensland is a prominent Australian institution known for its commitment to providing accessible education. With campuses in Toowoomba, Springfield, and Ipswich, USQ caters to a diverse student body both domestically and internationally. Established in 1967, the university has earned recognition for its emphasis on flexibility, offering a range of online and on-campus programs.
UniSQ joined forces with Clearwater Agency, seeking digital marketing services to enhance organic website traffic and boost university enrolments and inquiries.
This partnership embarked on a journey at a pivotal moment, marked by the conclusion of the COVID pandemic, resulting in a substantial surge in enrolments and inquiries.
The challenge was set high, as the campaign aimed to build upon the remarkable market impact experienced in the preceding 12 months.
Campaign summary
- SEO
- Content
- Web (Technical)
Increase Organic Traffic: The primary objective was to elevate organic traffic by 20% within a six-month period, compared to the previous period.
Top 5 Keyword Rankings: Achieve top 5 keyword rankings for over 50 selected university courses and degrees within the same six-month timeframe.
Front Page Keyword Rankings: Secure front-page keyword rankings for “core” and “generic” university-related key terms.
Website Content Optimization: Review and optimize website content and copy across degree and course-related URLs and pages.
Technical Cleanup: Conduct a technical review of the website to rectify SEO issues, technical errors, limitations, and challenges.
The objective of this campaign was clear & straight forward, a lead generation campaign to drive organic traffic for UniSQ.
The target audience was broken into 4 segments.
- Prospective university applicants looking for specific courses & degrees
- Prospective university applicants looking for “online universities”
- Prospective university applicants looking for “university pathways”
- Prospective university applicants looking for “university & tertiary preparation courses & programs”
This provided a very clear plan forward with keyword selection and URL targeting, with over 380 target keywords included within this campaign.
The initial challenge was understanding which course/degrees should be prioritised given the sheer volume of courses and incredibly competitive keywords.
The impact on UniSQ has been substantial, with a significant increase in inquiries, applications, and enrolments. The year 2023 has emerged as one of the best-performing years in UniSQ’s history, which spans over 40 years.
Increase in Organic Traffic: Clearwater achieved a remarkable 49.77% increase in organic traffic within the specified six-month period, soaring from 536K to 803K (period over period).
Top 5 Keyword Rankings: Clearwater secured staggering top 1-3 and top 5 results for highly competitive keywords across 50 selected university courses and degrees.
Front Page Keyword Rankings: Clearwater achieved top 5 results for core and generic university-related keywords, enhancing visibility.
Content Optimisation: Hundreds of pages were meticulously optimised across targeted pages, including courses, degrees, and supporting URLs, resulting in significant organic visibility.
Key results
INCREASE OF
53%
in organic traffic within 6 months
TOP 3 POSITIONS FOR
50+
courses in the Google search results
RECORD ONLINE APPLICATIONS
+200%
increase in enrolment applications
