Making faculty research discoverable: SEO tactics for scrappy teams

In higher ed, getting research noticed directly impacts school rankings, visibility and funding. But in today's political climate, securing research funding and reaching the right audiences is getting tougher. And traditional academic approaches to sharing research don't always stand out in today's attention economy.

At the University of Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs, we're tackling this challenge as a young school (just 10 years old) that draws on deep research expertise from across the university. We are building the Keough School's reputation as a globally recognized, policy-relevant research institution by helping our stories reach the right audiences.

SEO in higher education is typically focused on promoting academic programs, but we've been experimenting with how to apply it in a new context. We are weaving SEO into our editorial process from the very beginning to help faculty research reach a broader audience. We're borrowing ideas from B2C content strategy — using a "sense and respond" model to align research with what people are actually searching for — presenting in an accessible way without dumbing it down.

In this session, we'll share what we've been experimenting with, what's worked (and what hasn't) so far and the lessons we've learned along the way. Whether you're just starting to think about SEO for research storytelling or looking for ways to refine your approach, we'll offer practical takeaways, resources and real-world insights to help you navigate similar challenges.

If you're looking to bring SEO into your content workflow — without it feeling like an afterthought — this session will give you a practical starting point. We'll cover:

• How to layer SEO into your process in a way that makes sense for research storytelling (without turning everything into a keyword-stuffed blog post).
• Lessons from our trial and error — what's worked, what's flopped and what we're still figuring out.
• Resources to get you started, including downloadable guides and tools to help you put SEO into action.
• How to make the case for SEO to leadership and internal stakeholders — especially in academic research environments where digital strategy isn't always top of mind.