Tag: Density

  • Measuring AI Density within the Evolving Search Marketing Landscape

    Measuring AI Density within the Evolving Search Marketing Landscape

    This fundamental shift demands a re-evaluation of how we evaluate, measure, and evolve our SEO and website marketing efforts. For higher education institutions, staying ahead of this curve isn’t just about visibility; it’s about connecting with prospective students in new and impactful ways.

    The world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is in constant flux, and never has this been more evident than in the current era of artificial intelligence. AI-driven search experiences are fundamentally shifting how prospective students search for schools and programs, and what worked yesterday won’t be enough to drive success going forward.

    Gone are the days when organic traffic and keyword rankings were the sole arbiters of SEO success. While still important, the reasons for their diminishing effectiveness are becoming increasingly clear:

    • Traffic is no longer a perfect proxy for exposure: With the rise of AI-powered search features like Google’s AI Overviews, users are increasingly finding answers directly on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) without needing to click through to a website. This “zero-click” phenomenon means your content can provide value and influence prospective students even if it doesn’t result in a website visit. A high ranking might lead to less traffic if the answer is provided directly on the SERP, skewing traditional traffic metrics.
    • Keyword rankings don’t capture semantic understanding: AI excels at understanding natural language and user intent. While a keyword ranking tells you if you’re visible for a specific phrase, it doesn’t tell you if your content is truly satisfying the underlying need or being recognized as authoritative for a broader topic. Users are asking more complex questions, and AI is providing more nuanced answers, making a simple keyword ranking less indicative of true search performance.

    The Rise of AI Overviews and Our “AI Density” KPI Approach

    Google’s AI Overviews (formerly Search Generative Experience) are transforming how information is consumed. These AI-generated summaries appear prominently at the top of the SERP, synthesizing information from multiple authoritative sources to provide immediate answers.

    Google AI Overview example within a higher education SERP

    For higher education marketers, this means that even if a user doesn’t click on your link, your institution’s content can still be featured, influencing their perception of your brand and their enrollment decision-making. With this, it is necessary to expand your measurement framework to encompass new KPIs; one such KPI is AI density.

    AI density measures how often your institution’s content is cited or referenced within AI Overviews for relevant queries. This KPI goes beyond clicks, focusing on the ultimate visibility and attribution your brand receives within these AI-powered summaries. A high AI Density signifies that your content is considered a trusted and valuable source by AI models, driving more visibility among high-intent prospective students.

    How to Influence Your Website’s AI Density:

    • Optimize for authority and trustworthiness: AI models prioritize content from credible and authoritative sources. Focus on building E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) through high-quality, in-depth content, expert authors, and strong internal and external linking.
    • Structure your content for AI readability: Use clear headings, concise answers to common questions, and structured data (schema markup) to help AI models easily understand and extract information from your pages.
    • Analyze source citations: Pay attention to which websites Google’s AI Overviews are sourcing their information from. Are you among them?

    Beyond the Click: Other Essential Modern SEO KPIs

    While AI density is a powerful new addition, a holistic view of your SEO performance in the AI era requires tracking a broader set of KPIs. Here are some that will become increasingly vital:

    • Search Share of Voice: This metric moves beyond individual keyword rankings to assess your institution’s overall visibility for a set of relevant topics or queries compared to your competitors. In the modern search landscape, this encompasses your website, your social media presence, your external brand mentions, and more.
    • On-Platform Visibility: Students are searching on more platforms than ever before, from social platforms like Reddit, YouTube, and TikTok, to chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Your SEO strategy needs to consider visibility on these platforms, and your KPIs should reflect your presence and engagement there.
    • Brand Search Volume: As AI provides direct answers, users may be exposed to your brand without visiting your site. Monitor branded search queries in Google Search Console and Google Trends. An increase in branded searches indicates growing brand awareness and recall, even if the initial search didn’t lead to a click.
    • Engagement Quality (Beyond Bounce Rate): Instead of solely focusing on bounce rate, delve into metrics that indicate true engagement. Look at “engaged sessions” in GA4, video views, downloads of resources, and repeat visits. These metrics show that your content is truly resonating with users, even if the conversion isn’t immediate.
    • Conversion Influence (aka Assisted Conversions): SEO’s role in the user journey is becoming more complex. It might not always be the last click, but it often initiates or assists a conversion. Utilize GA4’s attribution models to understand how organic search influences conversions further down the funnel, even if other channels get the “last click” credit.

    Adapting for the Future

    The shift in the SEO landscape is not a threat but an opportunity for marketers to become more strategic and meet prospective student needs more effectively. By evolving our KPIs to reflect the realities of AI-powered search, higher education institutions can gain a deeper understanding of their online performance and adapt their strategies to thrive.

    EducationDynamics is committed to helping institutions navigate this evolving digital terrain. By focusing on these modern KPIs, you can ensure your SEO efforts are not just about ranking for keywords, but about building genuine visibility, authority, and engagement in an increasingly intelligent search environment. Contact us to learn how we can support your strategy.

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  • Student Housing: A Question of Density

    Student Housing: A Question of Density

    (Or, why students get the halls they want but can’t afford rather than the ones they don’t and can.)

    David Tymms is a strategic advisor at QX Global. He previously held roles at London School of Economics as Director of Residential Services and at iQ Student Accommodation as Commercial Director.

    Student Numbers

    The number of full-time university students has grown rapidly in recent years according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), rising by nearly a quarter in the last half decade to 2.36 million in 2022/23. Figures have risen most for students who are typically the main drivers of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) demand. ​Since 2014/15, the number of full-time international students has risen 81%. As a result, core demand – first-year UK undergraduates, international undergraduates and all postgraduates – now accounts for 61% of the UK’s full-time student population, adding additional pressure on the sector to deliver purpose-built housing.​

    Unmet core demand (‘000s)

    Source: JLL; HESA

    Changing wealth profiles

    In recent years, there has been a significant increase in participation rates from lower-income households as widening participation strategies begin to bear fruit and tuition fees continue to fall in real terms (the recent inflation uplift notwithstanding). ​Despite considerable noise about access to HE in the UK, data shows the two lowest quintiles of household wealth have seen the highest rates of growth in student numbers over the last five years, with the figure from the most deprived quintile rising an impressive 29% between 2018/19 and 2022/23. In that same period, the number from the least deprived quintile grew by just 2.4%. International patterns are also changing as growth from China slows and lower-income students from the Indian sub-continent and elsewhere come to the fore.

    Full-time domestic students by household wealth, England

    chart visualization

    Source: JLL; HESA

    The Decline in Applications

    Nevertheless, new hurdles seem set to slow several years of unabated growth, particularly for international students. Visa restrictions introduced in January 2023 bar most from bringing their families to the UK while Nigeria, recently the third largest international student cohort in the UK, faces a currency crisis that may continue to impact applications in years to come.​ Sponsored study visa applications from January to October 2024 (350,700) were 16% lower than for the same period in 2023. With the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) also reporting a small fall in undergraduate applications, the various data sets point to a tough period ahead for UK HE.

    New Build PBSA Viability

    PBSA, in common with other real estate sectors, has been heavily squeezed by rising construction, raw material, financing and regulatory costs, including the new Building Safety Act. Today, delivery in all but the highest value markets (min. £200pw+) remains, at best, challenging and in most cases unviable, thereby excluding many university towns and cities.

    University of Bath PBSA Study

    So what does this changing student demography and tightening development viability mean for PBSA, where falling levels of new scheme openings have resulted in a record core demand level of 61%?

    Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) worked with a group of business students at the University of Bath to better understand the PBSA priorities of those studying in the UK. ​

    How would the following affect your decision in choosing student halls?

    chart visualization

    Source: JLL; University of Bath

    The research demonstrates that students still prioritise a single occupancy room with en suite bathroom. Twin rooms scored very poorly and only one third of students actively favoured catered accommodation. The results also confirm that students prefer ‘cluster flat’ accommodation types over studios and smaller apartments (4-6 sharers) over large. However, only 29% are prepared to pay more than £200pw.

    University Partnerships – The Opportunities and Challenges

    So how does the sector square the circle of delivering more viable – and thus affordable – room types given the clear evidence of students’ perceived priorities? ​Twins, non en suites, larger cluster flats and catered accommodation all provide potentially many more beds per land parcel. The Bath survey and other research, including by Student Crowd, is clear that these remain unpopular with students so we should be unsurprised developers and operators of ‘direct let beds’ generally build to these perceived priorities.

    Historically, one approach to increase PBSA density, and thus viability, has been university partnerships. This route sees occupancy either partially or completely de-risked for the accommodation provider. However, developing university partnerships can be challenging given the financial constraints in HE, the balance sheet treatment of such agreements and currently volatile student numbers. The Office for Students (OfS) recently forecast that 72% of institutions could have a deficit in 2025/26. Nevertheless, recent examples such as Unite Group’s deal with University of Newcastle and Urbanest’s with UCL, amongst others, show these challenges can be overcome, although examples are rarer for post-92 institutions. As Martin Blakey concluded in his recent HEPI Blog – Student Accommodation after 2024 and the Need for Strategic Realignment – ‘growth in student numbers no longer necessarily equates with the need for additional PBSA student bed spaces as has been the case over the last 20 years: future needs are changing and future accommodation provision cannot, for a whole variety of reasons, be more of the same’.

    Conclusions​

    The ‘direct let’ operators of PBSA, who dominate the UK market, face a challenging period ahead as they wrestle with development viability in all but a handful of markets and where their standing assets in some locations are becoming overpriced.  If the PBSA sector does not evolve, it risks forcing the fast-growing, lower income, domestic student population into different rental sectors (or to commute) and potentially damaging access to UK universities from emerging middle-income countries.

    This blog could not have been produced without the kind assistance of Marcus Dixon and Karl Tomusk at JLL.

    To download the full report please click here.

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