Often times I have been asked, "you go to school where!" As I repeat back to them 'UNK' a confused almost dumbfounded look appear on their face. Let's face it, to us UNK is the University of Nebraska @ Kearney. But to others, confusion as to what UNK stands for remains. Common thoughts of what UNK stands for is the University of Northern Kentucky. This as we know, if far from our beloved UNK!
I was challenged with the task of coming up with five keywords in which a prospective out-of-state, high school senior, who is not from any of Nebraska's neighboring states might use to bring up our university's home page when doing a web search. This may sound easy but I was also told that I could not use the words Nebraska, Kearney, University or Undergraduate--these were specified as obvious keywords and were prohibited to utilize.
The first word I thought to use is ‘Lopers.’ This brings us to the lopers.com site which directs us to the UNK website too. Also, because athletics is a selection on the main UNK website, that web page should come up in a search as well. The fact that Loper is a rather odd mascot, may help in one’s search to finding our school as well.
The second key word I would use is 'Antelope newspaper' or 'KLPR radio'. Our school newspaper is titled the Antelope so there should be a link directed to UNK’s homepage and also to where the Antelope can be viewed. KLPR is our school’s on-campus radio station that would locate UNK as the direct site containing this station. However, a prospective student would have to know that was our school’s paper and radio station to locate the site.
A third key word I would use is Industrial Distribution Universities. I believe this word would be relevant because UNK is one of the few universities with an industrial distribution degree program. Because of that fact, UNK should be one of the websites that is displayed when searching with those keywords.
The fourth word I would use to is Midwest universities. Obviously due to UNK’s location, directly in the middle of the Midwest, the UNK home page should come up. Other universities such as UNO or UNL may be found as well which would only help the prospective students’ efforts because these schools are in the same university system as UNK and may provide a link to our home page.
The final word I would use in a search for UNK is education degree schools. We know that UNK stresses its education programs and is commonly known as a teaching college so a student looking for a university with an education/teaching degree program would most likely come across UNK in a search.
It is obvious how important it is to carefully select keywords in which your site would be found in a search engine. Without advertising numerous aspects of UNK and having distinctive programs, techniques and even a mascot, UNK would just be another university left in cyberspace. It is important to differentiate yourself from competitors in the business world and the same can be applied to this situation dealing with university searches.
An article I found discussed some tips to follow when selecting words to be used in a search engine.
What other keywords might you use? I'm completely up for suggestions!!! Give me some feedback on what you would search.
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