Virtual training and e-learning opportunities were already showing significant growth before the events of this past year unfolded. In fact, in February 2020, Research and Markets published a report that projected online education would reach a total market size of over $300 billion by 2025—a number that will likely have increased as a result of the pandemic.
While this increase in demand is great news for associations, it also means an increase in competition. Education traditionally provided by associations and professional societies is now available by an ever-growing network of sources.
Increase in Virtual Training & Learning Resources
Over the past year alone, we’ve seen non-traditional resources such as LinkedIn, with their new LinkedIn Learning platform invest a significant amount in virtual training programs that range from soft skills online training to earning micro-credentials for specific tech knowledge and skills. A flood of self-proclaimed professional development experts are offering webinars, virtual coaching, and mini-workshops that often qualify toward continuing education credits. Even prestigious universities such as Harvard and Stanford are opening their courses to a wider online audience of working professionals.
The best way to compete is to make sure your training content is what prospective learners see when searching for answers and solutions. To achieve this, associations need to put more focus on optimizing their educational content for search engines.
How Associations Can Increase Visibility of Online Educational Content
Research has shown that people—particularly young professionals—turn to search engines like Google for answers above all other resources. But they don’t look very far. The top five search results get 65% of the clicks. Increasingly, you’ll find some of the newer resources mentioned previously in those top five spots.
It doesn’t take a significant amount of time and resources to be competitive in the online search space. In fact, we’ve found three simple tactics that many associations overlook. If just these three steps alone were addressed, it would make a significant impact on the visibility of your virtual training programs, while still protecting their value to your participants.
We’ve developed a free 30-minute on-demand webinar that covers:
- Why it’s so important to make sure your educational content is optimized for search engines – with real-world examples!
- How to tackle the three most overlooked search engine optimization (SEO) tactics using existing resources
- Live examples that demonstrate how these steps dramatically increase the visibility and reach of your content
Watch Our Webinar: Simple SEO Strategies for Associations
By spending a little time each day ensuring your training programs are served-up to prospective learners in search engine results, you will benefit from the increased demand for online learning opportunities.
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