Getting your content found online is more important than ever. Whether you are promoting and publicising cutting-edge research work, creating brand-new content for prospective students, or anything in-between; you can make a big difference to your website traffic without completely overhauling your webpages. We’ve pulled together five quick wins in SEO for universities that you can implement right away to help students, colleagues, and the wider web find your content faster.
1. Power up your page titles
Your page title is the first thing a user sees in search results; a clear page title helps search engines show your content to the right users and reassures users that your page contains the information they are looking for. Page titles should be short and direct; containing the keyword(s) that users will search for to find your content.
How can we help to power up your page titles?
- Find out how to set your page title in T4 by visiting our T4 training webpages.
- Reach out at digitalteam@exeter.ac.uk for keyword research support.
2. Keep your content fresh
Search engines and users have one thing in common; they love accurate and up-to-date content. Regularly monitoring and updating your content with new and revised information will keep web traffic flowing. This doesn’t need to be arduous; a brisk review once every couple of months for broken links and outdated information will do a world of good.
How can we help you stay on top of your content?
- We do some of the heavy lifting for you – we’ve fixed over 1,000 broken links already in 2025 alone!
- Reach out at digitalteam@exeter.ac.uk for support in setting up a site governance plan.
3. Speed up your site with image optimisation
It’s not just about the content itself; a slow web page can have a detrimental impact on user experience and search rankings. Image compression, when done well, can supercharge your page load speed without sacrificing quality. Not only that, but smaller file sizes also lower our carbon footprint, contributing to our sustainability goals.
How can you optimise your images for the web?
- Read our step-by-step guidance for compressing images for the web (coming soon!).
4. Structure your content with header tags
Header tags (such as H1, H2, H3) are more than just a way to organise your webpage – they’re essential for helping search engines and users to understand the content, as well as being a vital tool for assisting accessibility tools such as screen readers navigate a page easily.
How should you structure your header tags?
- You should have one H1 tag, mirroring your page title.
- H2, H3, and H4 tags should break content into clear, digestible sections. They should follow a hierarchical order.
5. Avoid competing and duplicate content
We’ve all been in a meeting where a ‘Single Source of Truth’ has been mentioned… but avoiding multiple pages targeting the same search term is crucial for SEO and the broader user experience. Rather than setting up a new page on an existing topic, look at how you can embed your new content within an existing page.
How can we help you to create your ‘Single Source of Truth’?
- Reach out to digitalteam@exeter.ac.uk for web structure and project management support.