Many SEO campaigns rely heavily on backlinks to build authority.
This one did not.
A small university approached us because they needed more exposure for their nursing program. Their goal was to attract more prospective students through organic search. At the time, their website was not showing up for many of the questions students were asking online and they were missing key program pages to help lead students to enrollment.
After doing an in-depth site content audit, we created an SEO content strategy for them that was custom to their unique situation. Instead of focusing on link building or complicated technical changes, we built a strategy around SEO content creation.
Within a year, that SEO strategy generated more than 15,000 keyword rankings on Google.
Below is a closer look at what happened and why the results were so strong.
Watch the Full Breakdown of This SEO Content Strategy
The Starting Problem: No Strategic Site Content
The university’s goal was straightforward. They wanted to increase visibility for their nursing program and other degree pathways in organic rankings.
Most prospective students do not begin their online search by typing the name of a specific school. Instead, they search for questions about careers and education options. These Google searches often include questions about nursing degrees, healthcare careers, teaching programs, or the types of degrees required for certain professions.
At the time, the university was not appearing for many of these searches. That meant potential students were discovering other schools first.
The SEO opportunity was clear. If the site could show up organically for those early research questions, it could reach students much earlier in their decision process.
The Strategy: Content-Focused SEO
Rather than trying to rank a small number of program pages, we built a Higher Education SEO content strategy centered around search intent.
The SEO plan focused on creating top-of-funnel pages that answered the questions prospective students were already searching for. Topics included healthcare careers, nursing education, teaching pathways, and online degree options.
Each article addressed a specific topic and linked naturally to relevant program pages on the university’s website. For any program pages that were missing, we filled in those SEO content gaps (and also identified other NEW funnels to create).
This allowed students in their online searching to move from researching a topic to exploring a program that matched their interests.
One important detail about this SEO content campaign is that we did not run any link-building campaigns. The site keyword and traffic results came entirely from strategic content creation and SEO optimization.
The Plan: SEO Content Production & Deliverables
Over the course of the 12-month campaign we published:
- 105 SEO focused pages.
- 17 were Main website pages
- 88 were high-quality, optimized blog posts
- We reoptimized over 35 pages of existing content as well.
The goal was not just to rank every single page for a single keyword (although we ended up doing that and WAY more, too). Instead, the strategy focused on building a network of content that could strengthen the site’s overall search presence.
When multiple pages support related topics, search visibility often begins to compound.
The SEO Content Strategy Results
Once the content was published and indexed, the growth started building quickly.
- 100% of the pages we created receive monthly traffic from non-paid sources (105 pages)
- 98% of all pages rank for at least 1 keyword (103 pages)
- These pages each rank for 152 keywords PER page on average.
- These new pages account for 15,000 of the site's 27,000 ranking keywords (60% of ALL keywords ranking on the site)
- Of the 15,000 new keywords we ranked for them, 10,000 rank in the TOP 10 positions on Google! (66% of all new keywords ranking)
- New pages bring in over 7k organic traffic monthly (from non-paid sources), good for 20% of all non-paid website monthly traffic.
All 105 pages now receive organic traffic from search. Nearly EVERY page ranks for keywords on Google.
On average, each page ranks for more than 150 keywords. Instead of producing one ranking per article, many of these pages rank for dozens or even hundreds of searches.
Keyword Growth From Strategic Content
The SEO content created during this campaign now ranks for 15,627 keywords on Google.
Those rankings represent nearly 60 percent of all keywords ranking on the entire website.
The quality of the rankings is just as important as the volume. Out of the more than 15,000 keywords generated from the new content, more than 10,000 rank in the top 10 results on Google.
This means two out of every three keywords appear on the first page of search results.
When we looked specifically at the highest ranking positions, the impact was even clearer. Ninety three percent of the keywords ranking in the top three positions came from the content created during this campaign.
Organic Traffic Impact
Because so many keywords landed on the first page of Google, traffic followed.
The new pages now bring in roughly 7,000 organic visitors each month. That traffic represents about 20 percent of the site’s total organic traffic.
Again, this growth came from content alone without relying on link building campaigns.
How the Content Supported Program Pages
Traffic alone is not the goal of SEO. The real value comes from helping visitors discover relevant programs and opportunities and giving them a reason to fill out a contact form.
When we reviewed user behavior data, we saw that many visitors who landed on these articles moved on to pages related to nursing programs, teaching programs, online degrees, and enrollment pathways.
The site content served as an entry point that helped prospective students discover programs they were already researching.
Why This SEO Content Strategy Worked
Three factors played a major role in the success of this SEO content campaign.
- The first factor was search intent. Each article answered a question that students were actively searching for.
- The second factor was clear program connections. Every piece of content linked naturally to relevant degree pages so readers could continue exploring. These top-of-funnel terms were directly linked to the pillar keywords relevant to the programs, building a nice internal link structure of hierarchy.
- The third factor was consistency. Publishing content regularly allowed the site’s authority to grow quickly across related topics.
As that authority increased, rankings expanded across a much wider range of keywords - and new SEO opportunities were born.
SEO Growth Often Compounds
SEO results rarely come from a single page ranking for a single keyword.
Growth typically happens when multiple pieces of content support each other and strengthen the overall site.
Each new page becomes another entry point from search. Over time those entry points reinforce one another. This leads to broader keyword coverage and stronger visibility.
That compounding effect is what allowed this campaign to reach more than 15,000 rankings within a year.
Curious What Opportunities Exist for Your Website?
At BKA Content, we specialize in SEO strategy, content creation, and implementation.
If you work for a university and need help to get amazing SEO results like we've gotten here, check out our university SEO services.
Also, if you want to find out how to get better SEO results for your business, contact us.
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