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Internet Marketing Tips for ESL Schools If you're not taking advantage of internet marketing, you have a lot to gain by learning how to increase your web presence to reach your target market. Scroll down to read internet marketing tips for ESL program administrators. Internet Marketing Tips for ESL School and Program Marketing Directors Web Directories Perhaps the most common internet marketing strategy is to list your school's ESL website and profile on one of the many free and paid listing directories on the web. These sites typically provide searchable, alphabetized listings of ESL programs and/or language schools by country and/or state (see below for list of popular sites). |
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Popular directory listings
on the web include some of the following sites: ♦ www.studyusa.com ♦ www.esldirectory.com ♦ www.esl.com (owned by same company above) ♦ www.esl-guide.com ♦ www.englishinusa.com ♦ www.globalstudy.com ♦ www.eslusa.org ♦ www.language-learning.net ♦ www.applyesl.com (allows online student applications) ♦ www.agentschat.com ♦ www.studyoverseas.com ♦ click here for more directories... ♦ www.usastudyguide.com (offers student recruiting services - see here) Before you spend your hard-earned tuition revenues on listing directories, you need to gauge the return on investment (ROI) a particular directory listing will give you. Here are 5 questions to consider: 1. Are your competitors profiled or listed? If not, you've either stumbled onto the next best thing...or not. Keep in mind, however, that new listing directories pop up occasionally, so don't avoid only because you're there first. 2. Does it provide you with monthly reports on your listing? For example, www.studyusa.com sends out monthly email reports showing the number of clickthroughs to your website and the number of email inquiries sent to your listed email. This marketing feedback allows you to determine how effectively your money is being spent. 3. Is it just a listing or can you create a profile? The best directories allow you to create a multi-lingual profile. profile of your school with pictures and direct email and website links. 4. What is the site's Alexa ranking? Alexa provides rankings of all of the websites on the internet. If the directory's alexa ranking is over 1.5 million, use the other questions listed here to determine using it. The site's alexa ranking is an indicator of how popular it is and how well the directory is actively marketing itself to your target population. To find the directory's ranking (and yours!), go to www.alexa.com and type in the directory's URL in the search box at the top of the screen (don't include http or www, just type in yoursite.edu). Alexa is also a great tool to track how you stack up against your competitors and yourself over a period of time. Just write down the rankings today and check them monthly to see whether they're moving higher (position 1 is the best) or lower. 5. What does your internal marketing feedback show about the effectiveness of a given directory as an effective recruiting tool for your school? Program applications and inquiry tracking should provide you with a strong picture of which directories are most effective at attracting students to your school - or you're just guessing. Other Common Strategies ♦ paid listings in online magazines (use 5 questions above to measure return on investment) ♦ listing on sites operated by partner agencies abroad (this can be very effective but you pay commission) ♦ listing on members-only sites such as AAIEP (American Association of Intensive English Programs) Less Common Yet Effective Strategies The following strategies, though ignored by most program administrators, can yield fantastic results when properly carried out. As in any decision-making process, doing your homework (i.e., reference checks) is a key part of the process. Another key part is to educate yourself on SEO (Search Engine Optimization). To master internet marketing marketing, you must become familiar with SEO. Educate yourself on the basics of SEO terminology and strategy by reading through sites such as www.seochat.com.
1.
Hire an SEO consultant.
A good consultant should to listen to your needs, provide a clear
proposal of
2.
Get listed in the
yahoo
business directory. It
has the number 1 Alexa ranking in the world. It costs just
4.
Get listed on www.dmoz.org.
Dmoz is the world's
largest human-edited directory, and it's a key
5. Start blogging.
Student and/or instructor blogs on your website promote a higher
level of engagement with
6. Start podcasting.
Create recorded or real-time downloads of your school's lessons for
free, pay per class, or
7. Join an online platform to meet new
agents.
These days, most agents have an
online presence, and |
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