SEO Research and Expert Opinion on the Online Education Industry
How do Market Leaders Gain Search Visibility?
To determine the general trends in the development of the different industries, the Serpstat team analyzed the e-learning market. In addition to SEO data analytics, we asked experts about points related to the peculiarities and difficulties of promoting such projects.
Experts' views: respondents
Andrii Byzov
Head of Marketing at AcademyOcean
Sergii Tereshchenko
Co-Founder at Sensorama
Jenny Waggenheim
Sr. Director of SEO, Traffic, Search & Engagement at TechTarget
Ramesh Singh, AGM Marketing and Head of SEO at Great Learning
Overview of the market
Industry growth will be driven by the increasing penetration of the internet around the globe. According to the International Telecommunication Union, it was nearly 4.9 billion internet users in 2021. Due to the rise in internet users, more people can pass courses and complete degrees on e-learning platforms.
Companies are developing custom solutions to meet the growing demand using LMS (Learning Management System) and LXP (Learning Experience Platform). This business line has applications in the vocational and K-12 spheres and the academic and corporate sectors.
Companies are developing custom solutions to meet the growing demand using LMS (Learning Management System) and LXP (Learning Experience Platform). This business line has applications in the vocational and K-12 spheres and the academic and corporate sectors.
Market trends and branches within E-learning
Despite not appearing to be a common internet of things application, educational platforms are on the list of such technology. The Internet of Things (IoT) connects devices other than computers and smartphones to the Internet, which is transforming many facets of our everyday lives.
This concept brings a radically different paradigm to the field of teaching. With the internet of things, institutions can create more personalized and dynamic ways for students to learn, such as through immersive online textbooks and game-based studying.
Teachers also use smart audio-visual equipment, digital video recorders for lecture capture, and online tests to deliver lessons and test achievement.
This concept brings a radically different paradigm to the field of teaching. With the internet of things, institutions can create more personalized and dynamic ways for students to learn, such as through immersive online textbooks and game-based studying.
Teachers also use smart audio-visual equipment, digital video recorders for lecture capture, and online tests to deliver lessons and test achievement.
The main IoT applications in the industry:
- Smart boards (Infographics, tutorial videos, and complex formulae, be it for any subject and especially mathematics, could be solved in shorter time frames).
- Attention to Attendance (IoT-based attendance system, calculating student attendance and generating regularity, punctuality, and personality reports becomes effortless).
- Significant safety.
- Adjusting Disability (IoT devices have taken the initiative to provide assistance to disabled children in a constructive way using a system of connected gloves and a tablet to generate verbal speech, translated from sign language).
- Mobile Applications and Tablets — IoT experts have wonderfully shifted this excess focus from gadgets for gaming and social networking to studying.
Businesses in current and new markets can gain a competitive advantage with IoT by creating new opportunities. There are many factors to consider not just what data you collect, but also when, where, and why you collect it. These devices will provide a rich stream of data that can be used by product and service owners to interact with consumers.
The number of devices that will be a part of IoT is expected to reach 75 billion by the year 2025, according to the Digital Learning Industry Report. Increased connectivity will boost interest in on-line courses, as these solutions allow students to access videos and tutorials in real-time, among other benefits.
As a result of Digital Transformation, the core business processes of a company are improved to meet customer expectations more effectively through the leveraging of data and technology.
The number of devices that will be a part of IoT is expected to reach 75 billion by the year 2025, according to the Digital Learning Industry Report. Increased connectivity will boost interest in on-line courses, as these solutions allow students to access videos and tutorials in real-time, among other benefits.
As a result of Digital Transformation, the core business processes of a company are improved to meet customer expectations more effectively through the leveraging of data and technology.
451 Research's model of digital transformation
While the growth of IoT applications has resulted in a rise in cyber-security threats, the proliferation of connected devices and sensors greatly increases the network attack surface. Over the coming years, data breaches and attacks may pose a significant threat to the industry's steady growth.
The potential impact on IT is causing a series of cyberattacks on systems. For instance, Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center has identified a new batch of malicious and disruptive cyberattacks against Ukraine's digital infrastructure.
A significant challenge of IoT is the unexplained flow of data, posing operational and management issues to network infrastructure, and increasing security risks at every endpoint. As a result, network administrators at educational institutions must adapt their traditional network design to provide new levels of network intelligence, automation, and security.
The potential impact on IT is causing a series of cyberattacks on systems. For instance, Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center has identified a new batch of malicious and disruptive cyberattacks against Ukraine's digital infrastructure.
A significant challenge of IoT is the unexplained flow of data, posing operational and management issues to network infrastructure, and increasing security risks at every endpoint. As a result, network administrators at educational institutions must adapt their traditional network design to provide new levels of network intelligence, automation, and security.
Mobile and tablet devices in the IoT in the market will exhibit a strong growth rate through 2027 due to the growing use of smartphones for online studying. The IoT market in North America is estimated to generate commendable revenues by 2027. Furthermore, the growth of remote studying and the exploration of advancing technologies by various universities and colleges in the US are expected to add to the demand for IoT in regional education.
AI in the online education market: dynamics and prospects
How does the Internet of Things affect education globally, and what prospects does it open up?
Our company specializes in developing training products for different fields of business: medical, manufacturing, energy, logistics, and so on. Virtual reality training products and simulators can increase employees' training efficiency, increase the level of safety at work, and improve business effectiveness.
How can this sector be developed, and what problems can block it?
I think that for the best user experience, companies need to use the hardware, software, and content of the best quality.
Our company specializes in developing training products for different fields of business: medical, manufacturing, energy, logistics, and so on. Virtual reality training products and simulators can increase employees' training efficiency, increase the level of safety at work, and improve business effectiveness.
How can this sector be developed, and what problems can block it?
I think that for the best user experience, companies need to use the hardware, software, and content of the best quality.
Key players operating in the global IoT market include Rapidsoft Technologies, IBM Corporation, Cisco Systems, and Hitachi Vantara. These companies implement various strategies such as cutting-edge solution launches and business expansions to boost their product portfolio and footprint across the global market.
Corporate solutions today are designed to provide intuitive learning experiences so that companies get the most out of professional training using IoT. While LMSs provide preliminary catalog management tools, experience platforms (LXP or LEP) are related to content libraries that can be customized for individual cases within corporate training.
Together, LXP and LMS are the most effective combination. With adaptive paths across their devices, your employees can fill skill gaps and improve knowledge in areas that need improvement. Here personalization reaches the highest level when a person receives a defined type of content (articles, guides, videos, podcasts, blogs, etc.) based on their personal career progressions and interests. The market offers apps such as 360learning and Axonify, which combine microlearning to make it easy to study on the go.
Together, LXP and LMS are the most effective combination. With adaptive paths across their devices, your employees can fill skill gaps and improve knowledge in areas that need improvement. Here personalization reaches the highest level when a person receives a defined type of content (articles, guides, videos, podcasts, blogs, etc.) based on their personal career progressions and interests. The market offers apps such as 360learning and Axonify, which combine microlearning to make it easy to study on the go.
AcademyOcean customers and companies from 25 countries immediately take advantage of the LMS platforms. The idea is simple but based on modern scientific research: not everyone learns the same way. Some people prefer to listen to audio lessons, while others prefer video or text. Some people are better at absorbing information from simple to complex, while others do the opposite. Someone is familiar with the topic, but it needs to be rephrased.
We have found a way to solve these problems. Dynamic content lets you personalize each user's experience to make learning effective, exciting, and engaging. Every student sees precisely the information that best helps them learn effectively, and they can see their growth and put new knowledge into practice.
We have found a way to solve these problems. Dynamic content lets you personalize each user's experience to make learning effective, exciting, and engaging. Every student sees precisely the information that best helps them learn effectively, and they can see their growth and put new knowledge into practice.
Ukrainian company Sensorama develops such integrated software and hardware for studying. The company's activities are aimed at improving the business efficiency of corporate clients through the integration of portable electronic devices, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), the Internet of Things (IoT), and other advanced technologies.
The company specializes in creating effective methods of implementing digital technologies for manufacturing enterprises: VR simulators for training personnel at Energoatom's thermal power plants and nuclear power plants; AR and IoT for managing company resources; VR's vehicle visualization system for postal services, etc.
The company specializes in creating effective methods of implementing digital technologies for manufacturing enterprises: VR simulators for training personnel at Energoatom's thermal power plants and nuclear power plants; AR and IoT for managing company resources; VR's vehicle visualization system for postal services, etc.
What is unique about doing business in this niche? Is it dominated by public or private companies? Which countries have made significant progress in this field?
Most of our clients are large industrial enterprises with 5000+ employees from the USA and EU.
What are the most promising forms of interaction between universities and IT companies?
Our company has experience in cooperation with technical universities. We've launched Sensorama Academy, where we educate students on how to create XR products in Unity and Unreal Engine (engines for creating games). It is project-based learning, after the theoretical part students choose which projects they want to deliver and work on them with the help of mentors from our team on the computers and different VR and AR equipment that we provide. After completion of the course, students know how to work in a professional pipeline, have a project in their portfolio, and can start their careers in the field of XR technologies.
Most of our clients are large industrial enterprises with 5000+ employees from the USA and EU.
What are the most promising forms of interaction between universities and IT companies?
Our company has experience in cooperation with technical universities. We've launched Sensorama Academy, where we educate students on how to create XR products in Unity and Unreal Engine (engines for creating games). It is project-based learning, after the theoretical part students choose which projects they want to deliver and work on them with the help of mentors from our team on the computers and different VR and AR equipment that we provide. After completion of the course, students know how to work in a professional pipeline, have a project in their portfolio, and can start their careers in the field of XR technologies.
Key SEO metrics for market leaders
After examining the IoT impact and a short review of this sector, let’s look at companies that offer the solutions.
To select a focus group of sites for research, we collected marker search queries and analyzed the SERPs for those keywords. We got the top 10 in Google US based on the search engine results analysis.
Our list of top companies includes:
To select a focus group of sites for research, we collected marker search queries and analyzed the SERPs for those keywords. We got the top 10 in Google US based on the search engine results analysis.
Our list of top companies includes:
- capterra.com
- stanford.edu
- udemy.com
- instructure.com
- coursera.org
- techtarget.com
- elearningindustry.com
- codecademy.com
- canvas.net
- skillshare.com
Traffic distribution by channels
Several companies that rank for keywords that describe this area are product companies that provide ready-made platforms. Many companies assist with employee training and have blogs about technologies and online studying in particular.
Next, we collected data on the key SEO metrics of these websites and started analysis:
Next, we collected data on the key SEO metrics of these websites and started analysis:
- Traffic distribution by channels: the most significant sources of traffic to the websites;
- Organic SEO traffic: metric, estimated using the keywords domains, ranking in the top 20 to show the possible quantity of visitors.
- Visibility: an indicator of a domain's visibility in the search engine.
Traffic distribution by SimilarWeb
Are you focusing more on search traffic channels, or are direct, social, or mail traffic also having a synergistic effect?
Search traffic is a significant focus for our business, but our traffic strategies and goals extend into social, direct, referral, and email as well, in order to provide our audience with the best information to help them make important purchasing decisions.
Based on your experience, what types of content and pages drive the most traffic?
Our success related to IoT topics, in particular, is due to our strategies focused on researching the types of information users are searching for and then creating in-depth, highly authoritative, and trustworthy content in a variety of mediums that is crafted by industry experts and takes users through the entire buying cycle – from learning what the technology is to why businesses need it and the best solutions to help meet their organization’s needs.
Search traffic is a significant focus for our business, but our traffic strategies and goals extend into social, direct, referral, and email as well, in order to provide our audience with the best information to help them make important purchasing decisions.
Based on your experience, what types of content and pages drive the most traffic?
Our success related to IoT topics, in particular, is due to our strategies focused on researching the types of information users are searching for and then creating in-depth, highly authoritative, and trustworthy content in a variety of mediums that is crafted by industry experts and takes users through the entire buying cycle – from learning what the technology is to why businesses need it and the best solutions to help meet their organization’s needs.
Key takeaways:
1
Most of the traffic comes from the direct visits (avg. 54 %) — this traffic that the website receives using keywords to find a relevant service. When the user bypasses the search to get the website, it drives the exact address of the site into the search bar, uses bookmarks, and addresses that users remember by heart. A lot of websites from our rating have high recognition. The highest traffic has instructure.com, which got mostly direct traffic (62%) and only 11 % from organic search. Note, that sometimes the direct channel gets traffic sources unrelated to it: the referrer wasn't passed, the session broke, etc. These factors distort data on such traffic.
2
Social traffic was in third place with an average of 15%. You can get traffic from social networks and social media platforms through mobile apps and sites. People who click on a tweet or Facebook post and then land on a brand's website will be counted as social traffic in digital analytics reports.
3
Search traffic source is still quite important. Visitors to a site are coming from a search engine, such as Google or Bing, based on keywords the site ranks for. We also checked the average search volume for related keywords. It was partly high-volume requests. Inbound marketing strives to increase organic traffic as its primary channel for not-as-well-known platforms. Display traffic is the traffic your website receives as a result of showing ads.
4
Other traffic sources (Referrals, Mail, Display) account for less than 15% of the total traffic. Instructure got 19% of referral traffic, according to SimilarWeb data.
Are you focusing more on search traffic channels, or are direct, social, or mail traffic also having a synergistic effect?
We at Great Learning focus on all marketing channels, especially the strong side of paid search and organic traffic. Search ads help us to experiment with different keyword variations, test the conversions from different campaigns, and use the top-performing keywords for SEO to improve conversions that match the user intent. In addition, we concentrate on educating and resolving people's problems by writing technical articles, how-to guides, tutorials, and interview questions that will assist people in upskilling themselves in order to find employment or learn new skills.
Through social media, we provide value addition by contributing to interactive conversations with the community who are interested in learning about Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud, Cybersecurity, and other tech domains. We, from time to time, host webinars with industry experts and universities to provide the latest updates. This also helps individuals develop throughout their professional careers.
Additionally, brand campaigns with influencers or through digital PR help us bring direct traffic. Influencers and digital PR also help people remember our brand, which leads to direct visits to our website to learn more about us and our courses. This enhances our referral traffic as well.
We primarily use our email campaigns to send a weekly newsletter to our existing subscribers and students, updating them on the latest industry news and how they can stay relevant by upskilling and learning new skills for free with our Great Learning Academy. In addition to promoting new courses, partnerships, expert opinion pieces, and webinars by industry experts, our various email campaigns also include nurturing the user base we already have. Overall, all the traffic channels are important and give us relevant and valuable traffic that turns into leads for us.
We at Great Learning focus on all marketing channels, especially the strong side of paid search and organic traffic. Search ads help us to experiment with different keyword variations, test the conversions from different campaigns, and use the top-performing keywords for SEO to improve conversions that match the user intent. In addition, we concentrate on educating and resolving people's problems by writing technical articles, how-to guides, tutorials, and interview questions that will assist people in upskilling themselves in order to find employment or learn new skills.
Through social media, we provide value addition by contributing to interactive conversations with the community who are interested in learning about Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud, Cybersecurity, and other tech domains. We, from time to time, host webinars with industry experts and universities to provide the latest updates. This also helps individuals develop throughout their professional careers.
Additionally, brand campaigns with influencers or through digital PR help us bring direct traffic. Influencers and digital PR also help people remember our brand, which leads to direct visits to our website to learn more about us and our courses. This enhances our referral traffic as well.
We primarily use our email campaigns to send a weekly newsletter to our existing subscribers and students, updating them on the latest industry news and how they can stay relevant by upskilling and learning new skills for free with our Great Learning Academy. In addition to promoting new courses, partnerships, expert opinion pieces, and webinars by industry experts, our various email campaigns also include nurturing the user base we already have. Overall, all the traffic channels are important and give us relevant and valuable traffic that turns into leads for us.
Organic SEO traffic and visibility
Next, we analyzed the potential SEO traffic and visibility of market niche leaders. It will be possible to assess the level of competition in a sphere as well as its prospects by using these indicators.
Estimated search traffic is the approximate amount of organic traffic a website receives monthly from search engines. Calculated based on click-through rate (CTR) and keyword position, and correlates with actual traffic to the domain.
Estimated search traffic is the approximate amount of organic traffic a website receives monthly from search engines. Calculated based on click-through rate (CTR) and keyword position, and correlates with actual traffic to the domain.
SEO Traffic — Serpstat
Based on the graph, the sites differ significantly in estimated SEO traffic. Accordingly, the top of the SERP is not dominated by giant companies who have ranked in the top for years but by a range of small and large sites.
Depending on how the site ranks in search results, "site visibility" indicates the number of impressions it receives by keywords. There is no universally appropriate visibility indicator. As a result, you can evaluate your website or market niche by looking at the site's performance specific to one topic.
Depending on how the site ranks in search results, "site visibility" indicates the number of impressions it receives by keywords. There is no universally appropriate visibility indicator. As a result, you can evaluate your website or market niche by looking at the site's performance specific to one topic.
Visibility — Serpstat
Visibility is as varied as SEO traffic, with a few pronounced leaders. It suggests that upcoming players will be able to compete with leading websites since the top is not clogged with large authoritative sites.
The data was collected in the following way:
- Serpstat "Keyword Research" tool gathered all the word forms and similar search terms related to the main topic. We got the following keywords:
- application of iot in education
- lms
- iot in education sector
- online education
- Extreme Learning Process
- online courses
- learn online
- new technologies in education
- smart board
- virtual classroom
- rapid learning
- mobile e-learning
2. With the Serpstat Batch Analysis for Google Spreadsheet add-on, we collected the tops from SERP for Google US for these keywords.
3. We identified the top 10 sites based on the collected data and analyzed traffic sources on websites using SimilarWeb.
4. Using the Domain Batch Analysis tool, we gathered data on these sites' key SEO metrics: traffic and visibility.
Using this algorithm, you can assess any market when developing a project.
3. We identified the top 10 sites based on the collected data and analyzed traffic sources on websites using SimilarWeb.
4. Using the Domain Batch Analysis tool, we gathered data on these sites' key SEO metrics: traffic and visibility.
Using this algorithm, you can assess any market when developing a project.
Why do the primary ten sites have such a big difference in performance?
By collecting data through Serpstat, we analyze the SERP for a specific set of keywords corresponding to the declared sector. The SERP is diverse and includes small sites with narrow semantics and services and large sites with broad semantics and scope.
Comparison of the semantics of websites from the rating
Nevertheless, visibility and SEO traffic are calculated based on all the site's keywords, positions, and CTR. Accordingly, extensive resources have the most considerable number. But at the same time, tiny sites have high-volume keywords, which occupy high positions. The keyword research of these websites shows marker queries ranking at the top of SERP.
For example, the illustration shows how the semantics of Coursera, Skillshare, and Udemy correlate: the volume of semantics differs significantly. However, we see common keywords for the three domains.
For example, the illustration shows how the semantics of Coursera, Skillshare, and Udemy correlate: the volume of semantics differs significantly. However, we see common keywords for the three domains.
What does this mean for market representatives?
The study showed that in the e-learning industry, the top results are diverse. It is not crammed with giant sites that are difficult to compete with, such as, for example, in the real estate or e-commerce sector. Therefore, small web resources can compete with large authoritative domains with regular competition analysis, selecting high-quality semantics, building a backlink profile, fixing technical errors, and tracking website rank.
How can Serpstat help you improve your SEO performance?
No matter which sector you are aimed at inside the online industry, you will get a scope of tools to use in each step of your SEO promotion.
Find site competitors and find out their strengths and weaknesses
With the help of Serpstat Competitor Analysis, you will quickly find your rivals in the search results. Explore competitors in search, find high-quality semantics of your opponents, and use it for your growth.
Extend semantics and optimize content
Pick the right keywords for your audience. Serpstat Keyword Research reports helping you collect the most relevant queries and search suggestions for all pages of your site.
Divide the collected semantics into groups for individual site pages
Clustering from Serpstat groups up to 50,000 keywords for better ranking and search engine optimization.
Backlinks research
Work with backlinks volume and use competitors' experience to find valuable link sources for your site.
Find and fix errors on the site that interfere with ranking
Conduct a technical SEO audit of your site, and get tips on resolving issues. Evaluate the results of the work carried out to optimize the site.
Track your site ranking in SERPs for important keywords
Track your site ranking in SERPs for important keywords. Check your site's local and global rankings daily on desktop and mobile to increase visibility and traffic to your landing pages.
Not sure how to use all Serpstat functionality?
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Keywords in organic search
A keyword analysis is next, which determines what queries describe the site's content and how it is promoted in search engine results. Promotion effectiveness is determined by the quality and volume of the semantics.
To move along with the leading websites, one must determine how numerous semantics they possess, what queries they rank for, and how difficult it is to move along with them.
To move along with the leading websites, one must determine how numerous semantics they possess, what queries they rank for, and how difficult it is to move along with them.
Source — Serpstat
Websites ranking in the highest positions in search results have a sizable semantics volume, confirming the importance of developing the semantics for market representatives.
Top 10 and out-of-top 10 websites' semantic volume
As a next step, we analyzed the keywords and calculated the KD (Keyword Difficulty) based on the competition for organic search. KD estimates competition for keywords to advance in organic search based on the top 10.
This metric measures the level of competition for a term, which helps determine whether it is advisable to progress through it. The formula is a combination of three indicators:
This metric measures the level of competition for a term, which helps determine whether it is advisable to progress through it. The formula is a combination of three indicators:
- The number of backlinks from sites that are in the top 10;
- URL complexity, which is ranked by the estimated query (how many terms are associated with the page in the top 10, if the top contains narrow semantics, then this term is not competitive);
- A commercial query is calculated based on internal Serpstat algorithms according to the type of request.
- 0-20 — easy;
- 21-40 — medium;
- 41-60 — difficult;
- 61-100 —very difficult.
As you can see on the graph, most of the phrases — 35% and 36%, are characterized by low and medium KD. Although the sphere has developed rapidly, the organic promotion has relatively sluggish competition despite its rapid expansion.
What does this mean for market representatives?
Semantics are crucial no matter what market you are in. The keywords for which leaders rank in the top 10, however, have a low keyword difficulty score. In sectors with higher competition, it is much more difficult for novices or sites outside the top to achieve higher positions with high-quality SEO optimization.
By tracking this metric, you will stop wasting time tracking highly competitive keywords that are difficult to rank. You will instead focus on phrases that will increase your Google search ranking.
Nevertheless, one important point must be considered — that high-volume commercial SERPs will be filled with giants that are difficult to bypass. Therefore, newcomers need to take into account other factors, such as:
- Consider the volume of keywords and choose medium and low-volume queries.
- A paid promotion will have much more competition for these keywords.
- It's also important to remember that if you want to rank for a particular search query, your URL must have high textual relevance and be better than competitors' URLs.
How will Serpstat help with keyword research?
Take a look at high-volume queries in your and the semantics of your competitors. Explore your business with the Keyword and Domain analysis reports:
- Explore competitors in any topic in paid and organic search.
- Find semantically related keywords.
- Check which search terms are being used with keywords.
- Assess the level of competition for the main keywords.
Explore the needs of your audience and create engaging content.
Rather than guessing, analyze. Determine the most profitable keywords for SEO and advertising.
- Recognize the seasonality and trendiness of your request.
- Check the complexity of your keywords and find ways to rank effectively.
- Identify the most relevant keywords and content examples for your topic. Using the complete Serpstat databases, you won't miss anything.
- Recognize the seasonality and trendiness of your request.
- Check the complexity of your keywords and find ways to rank effectively.
- Identify the most relevant keywords and content examples for your topic. Using the complete Serpstat databases, you won't miss anything.
Create the semantic structure of the site.
Serpstat's clustering tool helps you group large keyword pools in a meaningful way, using machine learning algorithms. You can easily:
- Create the semantic structure.
- Generate entire groups of relevant keywords for any landing page on your site.
- Create clusters based on the similarity of the SERP (i.e., take into account semantics and intent).
- Set up the logical structure of the site and the most effective advertising campaigns based on the semantic hierarchy.
- Distribute semantics across pages to avoid cannibalization (no extra pages will be created that rank for the exact keywords).
- Automatically group semantics even for massive projects with up to 50,000 keywords.
Group terms into clusters, determine the volume of each of them, and start working on the most promising sets.
- Create the semantic structure.
- Generate entire groups of relevant keywords for any landing page on your site.
- Create clusters based on the similarity of the SERP (i.e., take into account semantics and intent).
- Set up the logical structure of the site and the most effective advertising campaigns based on the semantic hierarchy.
- Distribute semantics across pages to avoid cannibalization (no extra pages will be created that rank for the exact keywords).
- Automatically group semantics even for massive projects with up to 50,000 keywords.
Group terms into clusters, determine the volume of each of them, and start working on the most promising sets.
Based on your experience, what types of content and pages drive the most traffic?
We receive the most traffic from technical articles like how-tos, code snippets, tutorials with career advice, and interview questions, which helps us to fill the top of the funnel. While hub and cluster pages related to tech domains like Data Science, AI & Machine Learning, etc. drive traffic that is more likely to convert well due to the buying intent.
We receive the most traffic from technical articles like how-tos, code snippets, tutorials with career advice, and interview questions, which helps us to fill the top of the funnel. While hub and cluster pages related to tech domains like Data Science, AI & Machine Learning, etc. drive traffic that is more likely to convert well due to the buying intent.
SERP features in the search result
Now let's talk about Google SERP features — special blocks and different elements in Google search results. Unique components help to make the website more visible in the search results and increase the CTR of snippets. Nothing matters if your competitors outperform you at the stage of user interaction on the SERP. Consequently, optimizing for this aspect is crucial.
We analyzed the SERP by focus keywords and identified unique elements that appear most often. Along with the SERP features, we checked the presence of advertising in the search results. It is worth noting immediately that, at present, of many types of Google SERP features, there are 28 in the analyzed domains that are related to the online education sphere:
We analyzed the SERP by focus keywords and identified unique elements that appear most often. Along with the SERP features, we checked the presence of advertising in the search results. It is worth noting immediately that, at present, of many types of Google SERP features, there are 28 in the analyzed domains that are related to the online education sphere:
- related_search — Related search queries, tips
- also_asks — List of questions related to the request
- ads_top — PPC unit on the top of search results
- video — Icon for video inside the snippet
- pic — Examples of pictures for request
- snip_breadcrumbs — Breadcrumbs instead of URL
- a_box_fsnippet — Information snippet in large format
- local_pack — Block with a card local SEO 3-pack
- kn_graph_card — Relevant, context-specific information on a card
- map — The unit is accompanied by a map
- kn_graph_carousel_list —one row of dice, each transitioning to a different page of search
- kn_graph_local — Knowledge graph with a map
- ads_bot — Contextual advertising block at the bottom
- refine_by_brand — List of products by the brand to request
- kn_graph_brand— information about the target organization
- a_box_card — Card with information about tournaments
- snip_reviews_stars — Article rating with stars
- shopping_top — Shopping block on top of SERP
- snip_image_thumbnail — Image in the snippet
- podcasts — Podcast unit
- snip_sitelinks — Additional links inside the snippet to other sections of the website
- a_box_some — Dates, addresses, etc
Since several special elements can be displayed for one keyword at once, the sum of the shares of special elements does not equal 100%. An example would be breadcrumbs and a star rating.
As a result of the study, we found that “Breadcrumbs” is the most common SERP element — it occurs in more than 23 % of cases.
Also appear quite often: the People Also Ask (19%), Related Search (18%), and video (12%).
Read our research on Google special elements to learn more about these SERP features.
Also appear quite often: the People Also Ask (19%), Related Search (18%), and video (12%).
Read our research on Google special elements to learn more about these SERP features.
What does this mean for market representatives?
Optimizing for featured snippets can potentially help you outperform strong competitors in SERPs. Such features can increase the website's appeal and visibility in SERP, as well as positively affect the CTR and traffic. In other words, it is important to improve your website from the inside out as well as on the SERP page.
It is sufficient to structure the content so that some units will appear in the search engine. But there are still more complicated blocks that require separate creation. However, we have some good news — Google has clearly explained all these methods in its documentation for webmasters.
It is sufficient to structure the content so that some units will appear in the search engine. But there are still more complicated blocks that require separate creation. However, we have some good news — Google has clearly explained all these methods in its documentation for webmasters.
How can Serpstat help improve the special elements?
Improve the special elements appearing in search results for the targeted keywords.
Rank Tracker also provides information on what special elements appear in search results for targeted keywords by tracking the site positions for those keywords. For a given keyword and for the desired date, you will find the SERP features of the analyzed domain or your competitor in the Project overview.
Discover which special elements are displayed in SERPs for searched terms in the Keyword selection report by analyzing search results.
Get more organic users by using structured data markup for featured snippets.
Backlink profile of market leaders
In SEO, links are one of the most important factors. Along with content, they are considered ranking factors by Google. A high-quality backlink profile is therefore required to reach the top of the search results.
Link-building strategies should be formed by studying what market leaders are doing in this direction: how many links they have, what authority they have, where their links come from, whether they use dropped domains, etc.
We collected data on SDR, the number of referring domains, and the number of backlinks from the top 10 sites through Domain batch analysis. Now let's have a look at the metrics.
Domain authority is measured by the SDR (Serpstat Domain Rank), which ranges from 0 to 100. In addition to the number of referring sites to the analyzed domain, the number of referring sites to these referring sites is also taken into account. Thus, all sites in the index associated with the analyzed domain are considered.
Referring domains — the number of unique domains pointing to it.
Backlinks are the unique links that you can find leading to the website under analysis.
Link-building strategies should be formed by studying what market leaders are doing in this direction: how many links they have, what authority they have, where their links come from, whether they use dropped domains, etc.
We collected data on SDR, the number of referring domains, and the number of backlinks from the top 10 sites through Domain batch analysis. Now let's have a look at the metrics.
Domain authority is measured by the SDR (Serpstat Domain Rank), which ranges from 0 to 100. In addition to the number of referring sites to the analyzed domain, the number of referring sites to these referring sites is also taken into account. Thus, all sites in the index associated with the analyzed domain are considered.
Referring domains — the number of unique domains pointing to it.
Backlinks are the unique links that you can find leading to the website under analysis.
The graph confirms the initial conclusion — the top is diverse within the market niche. The list includes both authoritative websites with a lot of links, as well as smaller sites with much fewer links.
To determine whether leaders use drop domains, we took the top 100 results for each of the targeted keywords, left unique domains, and found information about redirecting domains. Now, what can we conclude from this?
A redirecting domain is a domain that completely redirects to the analyzed domain, allowing the link juice to flow to that domain. Such links indicate that the website purchases drop domains and bring them to life or uses some related domains, which are then attached to the main domain to gain their backlinks, history, and traffic.
To determine whether leaders use drop domains, we took the top 100 results for each of the targeted keywords, left unique domains, and found information about redirecting domains. Now, what can we conclude from this?
A redirecting domain is a domain that completely redirects to the analyzed domain, allowing the link juice to flow to that domain. Such links indicate that the website purchases drop domains and bring them to life or uses some related domains, which are then attached to the main domain to gain their backlinks, history, and traffic.
Source— Serpstat
The analysis of websites revealed that 90% of the websites in our research used the method mentioned above for website promotion.
Expired domains: for what purpose do they serve?
- Such domains attract their audience.
- You can achieve the desired results very quickly.
- Domains that have been dropped have their authority, reputation, and backlink profile.
- If your domain matches your purpose and product, you will be promoted faster;
- This will result in an influx of visitors who are clearly interested in your offers;
- Visitors will be redirected to your main website, which brings more traffic.
Advantages of this approach:
- Since the drops have already been indexed and have passed Google's sandbox, there is no need to promote them.
- Their reputation is excellent (if you pick the right ones). Regardless of their initial reputation, purchased domains are often indexed quickly.
- As a result, you will attract a relevant target market to your website: one already interested in your product or service.
- A developed backlink profile will save money on creating your own.
- Penalties for search engines. You will only aggravate your situation and decrease your ranking if the site has already been banned.
- Negative reputation. When choosing a dropped domain, you should pay attention to a domain's reputation. Otherwise, such a "helper" can drag your business to the bottom of search engine results.
- Search engines can cancel the purchased dropped domain's entire history after registration with the new owner.
What does this mean for market representatives?
There is no particular number of backlinks or referring domains that will surely bring the website to the top. Therefore, it is better for participants to focus on the quality of backlinks and not on their quantity.
Moreover, many sites from the top are using the strategy of sticking the dropped domains to their web resource, which indicates the effectiveness of this method of building up a backlink profile in the analyzed sector.
Moreover, many sites from the top are using the strategy of sticking the dropped domains to their web resource, which indicates the effectiveness of this method of building up a backlink profile in the analyzed sector.
How does Serpstat help to improve the link-building strategies and backlink analysis?
Backlink analytics from Serpstat will allow you to carry out complex work with a backlink profile:
- Check and get relevant backlinks from trustful websites;
- Identify low-quality backlinks that can lead to search engine penalties;
- Check the websites linked to your competitors' websites and assess the quality of their backlink profiles;
- Learn and track where your backlinks are coming from;
- Find your competitors' most valuable backlinks and study their backlink profiles to identify patterns and link-building opportunities.
Perform the analysis of any site’s backlink profile and build your backlink promotion strategy using:
- Analysis of the anchors used in competitors' backlinks;
- Analysis of the Top pages of competitors;
- Cross analysis of a few websites to compare their backlink profiles or common backlink donors for your domain and opponents' sites.
Get all the needed metrics for the list of domains in one report:
- Analyze competitors by any 5 out of our 230 Google databases and 18 metrics simultaneously. You can include visibility, traffic, keywords in SEO/PPC, inbound and outbound links and referring domains, site authority (SDR), etc.;
- Check the types of backlinks as your competitive benchmarking;
- Select trustworthy websites as backlinks sources;
- Analyze the SEO metrics of the competitive domains.
Do you consider high-quality and reliable donors crucial in the realm of IT science when it comes to link-building?
Because we focus heavily on creating high-quality content, links from other trustworthy and authoritative sites come naturally.
Because we focus heavily on creating high-quality content, links from other trustworthy and authoritative sites come naturally.
Do you consider high-quality and reliable donors crucial in the realm of IT science when it comes to link-building?
Yes, we do rely on doing relevant content and digital PR campaigns to get backlinks. We also outreach to relevant websites that are related to our core business and see if we can collaborate with them by sharing our experience with their audience. Apart from this, we do participate in HARO, doing original research and reports and pitching them to different publishers if they are interested in covering the story.
Yes, we do rely on doing relevant content and digital PR campaigns to get backlinks. We also outreach to relevant websites that are related to our core business and see if we can collaborate with them by sharing our experience with their audience. Apart from this, we do participate in HARO, doing original research and reports and pitching them to different publishers if they are interested in covering the story.
Personal Demonstration
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Our specialists will contact you to guide. This on-boarding may include a personal demonstration, a trial period, comprehensive training articles, webinar recordings, and custom advice from a Serpstat specialist.
Personal demonstration
Leave a request, and we will conduct a personal demonstration of the service for you, provide you with a trial period, and offer comfortable conditions for starting exploring the tool
Paid promotion
Finally, let's talk about promotion in a sector using paid search.
Contextual advertising, or PPC, is a way to quickly attract the targeted audience to the site. Unlike search engine optimization, PPC has an immediate but short-term effect and requires payment for each visit to the website.
Promoting without advertising in a rapidly developing market with high competition becomes challenging. Therefore, many market players are willing to pay for clicks that bring clients to the site.
We analyzed the top 100 search results for a dozen of keywords and concluded that representatives of the education industry are not so actively using PPC:
Contextual advertising, or PPC, is a way to quickly attract the targeted audience to the site. Unlike search engine optimization, PPC has an immediate but short-term effect and requires payment for each visit to the website.
Promoting without advertising in a rapidly developing market with high competition becomes challenging. Therefore, many market players are willing to pay for clicks that bring clients to the site.
We analyzed the top 100 search results for a dozen of keywords and concluded that representatives of the education industry are not so actively using PPC:
Source — Serpstat
As you can see on the graph, 30 % of the top companies use contextual advertising to promote their business. It may indicate a new direction, which can easily be used to get traffic through PPC, which is why some players are running ads.
Using paid search results, we checked the level of competition for keywords that representatives use.
Competition shows how difficult it would be to rank well for this keyword. In general, the more domains using this keyword in their ad campaigns, the higher the level of competition is.
Using paid search results, we checked the level of competition for keywords that representatives use.
Competition shows how difficult it would be to rank well for this keyword. In general, the more domains using this keyword in their ad campaigns, the higher the level of competition is.
Source — Serpstat, Serpstat Batch Analysis add-on, Domain reports — Advertising report
The graph shows that the majority of the targeted keywords — 51 % — fall into the category of the low and medium competition. Meanwhile, only 49 percent of keywords from ad campaigns have difficult and very difficult competition levels.
What does this mean for market representatives?
As a way to bypass the leaders in organic search, it is always worthwhile to pay attention to this method of promotion. Even so, it is critical to keep in mind that inefficient advertising settings can lead to a big waste of budget on Google Ads campaigns. This can result in no meaningful results. Therefore, it is imperative to analyze the advertising strategies of competitors and select high-quality semantics for your advertising programs.
What can Serpstat do to improve Google Ads campaigns?
Serpstat has the largest regional databases of keywords and search suggestions in Google
That's 7+ billion keywords your audience is looking for in search engines. With Keyword research, you will collect the highest quality semantics for your advertising campaigns.
You can find out which websites are actually your competitors in paid search results by using the competitor's analysis in PPC.
Knowing your competitors will help you find their strengths and weaknesses and make your advertising campaigns more attractive to potential customers.
The Ads Examples report makes it easy to find and examine paid results
Check such examples by competing websites or by keyword and take advantage of the creative ideas.
Special conditions apply to educational centers — Serpstat affiliate program.
Our educational partners receive free access to Serpstat data and more than 30 tools for teachers and students. You will work with a manager to prepare the course and receive materials including essential blog articles, Serpstat Academy, Knowledge Base issues for your tasks, and a video library.
Our educational partners receive free access to Serpstat data and more than 30 tools for teachers and students. You will work with a manager to prepare the course and receive materials including essential blog articles, Serpstat Academy, Knowledge Base issues for your tasks, and a video library.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, online studying will continue to grow, possibly at a very rapid pace. According to our research, many web resources improve teaching and learning. As digital education develops, more and more companies may eventually provide online platforms to a larger number of learners. Further trends should explore ways to use technology and software to engage students in multiple ongoing dialogues in various formats to encourage intellectual rigor and individual perspectives.
As technology advances, large businesses must study various technological tools' roles in promoting more effective social interaction and the growth of an interested community: social networks and virtual reality environments.
Here's a quick checklist to summarize:
As technology advances, large businesses must study various technological tools' roles in promoting more effective social interaction and the growth of an interested community: social networks and virtual reality environments.
Here's a quick checklist to summarize:
1
According to experts who promote projects and trends in search queries, there has been an increase in interest in digital learning in recent years.
2
A growing amount of competition is present in this sector. Market players are entering the sector, offering their products and services.
3
There is a wide variety of websites in the top 10 by marker and trendy search terms. As a result, newcomers and sites outside the top have a high chance of reaching the first positions if they optimize appropriately.
4
Semantics and qualitative keyword analysis are imperative for advancement to the top of the Google SERP.
5
Keywords for organic search promotion are not highly competitive. It is good news for those who aim to promote their sites to the top. To optimize pages to receive targeted traffic, it is beneficial to focus on this indicator and the popularity of the search terms.
6
CTR of the site can be increased by optimizing the site for the SERP features.
7
As top-ranking sites have varying backlink profiles, the site should focus on quality instead of quantity.
8
According to the data set, most websites use drop domains to create links. Possibly, other methods to build backlinks in the branch are complicated.
9
A third of market representatives use paid promotion. This fact suggests that sites use such a method of advertising to bypass competitors in organic search.
10
The competition for keywords in PPC is much higher than in organic search.
Search engine optimization research in this line of business showed all the tools you can use to develop an innovative learning platform. And using expert tips, you will have more ideas according to the strategies you choose.
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