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So, you’ve invested some money into a dynamic website for your higher education institution. Unfortunately, this isn’t enough to achieve growth for your school. In fact, the website itself is really just a shell or vehicle. What drives engagement and therefore improves your school’s bottom line is the content contained within that shell or vehicle. Of course, knowing this and putting it into action are two entirely different things. That said, let’s take a look at some ideas for coming up with great content for your college or university’s website.

Showcase Your Differentiators – What is it about your school that makes it better than any other? Perhaps you offer a streamlined application process. Or, maybe you provide some really cool perks that your current students love. Think about what makes your institution different and better, and then turn that into content.

Answer FAQs – What questions come up most frequently from existing or prospective students? Ask around to get different perspectives from various staff members in differing roles. These questions (and their answers) can provide a wealth of relevant topics for future content. Simply go through the list of questions and answer each one in the form of an article or blog post.

Conduct Interviews – Check in with staff members, alumni, current students or other interesting individuals that have something to say that might be of value to your audience. Then, share the info you uncovered on your website, either in video form or written as an article.

Pay Attention to the News – What’s happening in the world that might be of interest or value to your various audiences (prospects, new or current students, alumni, etc.)? Understand who you’re trying to reach and what matters most to them, and then curate content that caters to those needs, wants and interests.

Share Tips and Tricks – To keep current students engaged, come up with some tips and tricks that may serve them either in the current situation or in the near future. For example, offer study tricks or tips for crafting the perfect resume to land that first real job.

Invite Guest Posts – Share content from other resources, such as current students, alumni, faculty, career professionals, or anyone else that has something useful to share and wouldn’t mind penning a guest post for your university’s blog.

Be a Connection to the Community – Your students, your alumni and even your staff may benefit from knowing what’s happening in and around your community. Share information on upcoming events, such as job fairs and meet-ups. You can even offer lifestyle pieces on local history, good places to catch a bite to eat and anything else that’s current and relevant to your audience.

Of course, these are just a few of the countless ideas for developing quality content for your higher education institution’s web presence. Once you’ve got a list of ideas, start an editorial calendar and begin planning out your publish dates. Leverage the tools available to you in your content management system to keep track of and optimize your content. Before you know it, your school’s site will be running like a well-oiled machine, attracting and engaging the right people to propel ongoing growth for many years to come.

TAGGED: Tags: blog, content marketing, engagement