UPCEA Guest Blog: Alison Zeringue on Using SEO + PPC in Higher Ed Marketing
July 10th, 2025 by
Table of Contents
- Reaching Students in a Fragmented Search Landscape
- Building an Integrated Strategy That Drives Results
- Take the Next Step: Build a Smarter Enrollment Funnel
Search Influence’s Director of Account Management, Alison Zeringue, is helping higher education marketers rethink their digital strategies in her latest UPCEA guest post: “Digital Marketing Strategy for Higher Education: Drive Enrollment With SEO and PPC.”
In the blog, Alison highlights why schools can no longer rely on SEO or paid ads alone.
Today’s student search behavior is fragmented across AI Overviews, social media platforms, and traditional search engines.
To compete, institutions must build integrated campaigns that engage prospective students, wherever discovery happens.
Reaching Students in a Fragmented Search Landscape
The modern student search journey is no longer linear. Students may watch a TikTok video, ask ChatGPT for degree comparisons, browse Google AI Overviews, or click a retargeted Instagram ad, all within the same day.
Without a unified digital strategy, schools risk losing visibility at critical touchpoints. Alison explains how aligning SEO and PPC helps institutions close those gaps.
SEO builds brand authority and improves organic visibility in both traditional search results and AI-generated summaries. Paid ads provide guaranteed placement in high-intent moments, supporting awareness, lead generation, and enrollment conversion.
When combined, these tactics ensure your institution shows up consistently, guiding prospective students through every stage of their decision-making process.
Building an Integrated Strategy That Drives Results
In her guest post, Alison offers actionable advice for bringing SEO and paid efforts into alignment. She covers how to:
- Structure SEO content for AI-driven search
- Build funnel-specific paid campaigns that match student intent
- Use cross-channel insights to refine targeting and messaging
As she emphasizes, schools that take a siloed approach will struggle to compete as AI-powered search and social search reshape how prospective students explore their options.
Build a Smarter Enrollment Funnel
If your team is ready to bring its marketing strategy in line with today’s search behavior, Alison’s blog is a valuable starting point.
To go deeper, download our white paper: 7 Strategies to Create a Successful Education Marketing Campaign. It expands on many of the same themes, offering a practical, student-centered framework to help you:
- Map the full enrollment funnel based on how students actually search
- Align website content, paid media, and email nurturing to engage prospects at each stage
- Build a cross-channel marketing strategy that drives more inquiries and conversions
The white paper is built for higher ed marketers looking to drive measurable enrollment outcomes, not just traffic. If you’re ready to rethink your strategy, this is the resource to guide your next steps.
Download the white paper to start building a stronger enrollment marketing foundation.
