Student Search Behavior is Changing. What Does It Mean for Higher Ed Marketing?

Remember when Google was the undisputed heavyweight champion of where students started their search? Those were simpler times.  

Students have moved on, using a fragmented ecosystem of TikTok videos, Reddit threads, and AI-powered platforms to find information. If your institution’s strategy still centers around Google and hopes SEO will save the day, you may already be invisible where students spend their time.  

Higher ed must look to adopt omnichannel strategies and embrace video content, AI search, and digital communities like Reddit and Niche as systems that work together. After all, the future of student discovery requires being everywhere they search, not just where it’s convenient to market.

How is Student Search Shifting?

Student Search is Fragmented
 

Students no longer rely on a single search engine to find information. Their research spans a patchwork of sources, from TikTok and YouTube to Reddit threads and AI chatbots. They watch short videos to get the feel of a campus, dive into digital communities for honest, peer-to-peer perspectives, and turn to AI tools for fast, curated summaries. It’s not linear, and it’s definitely not centralized, which means institutions must appear in more places with tailored content on each platform.  

AI is Reshaping Search Results
 

AI-powered search engines prioritize concise answers rather than listing multiple web pages. Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Bing Copilot are rewriting the rules, pulling in skimmable content to deliver direct responses. To compete, universities need to format content with clarity in mind: conversational FAQs, structured data, and natural language that speaks to both bots and humans. If your content isn’t built for machines to understand, it may never reach the students who are searching. 

Video is Dominating Search
 

Video is quickly becoming the dominant way students discover and evaluate colleges. YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine, with over 50% of Gen Z turning to it first when researching products, services, or education. And TikTok’s hashtag #collegedecision has over 1 billion views. While this doesn’t negate the reliance on landing pages, there’s a very obvious shift to the importance of zero-click content as students explore trends and hashtags.

How Institutions Must Rethink Search Strategy
 

To stay visible, relevant, and discoverable, colleges and universities need to stop thinking in platforms and start thinking in ecosystems. That means showing up where students are, optimizing content for machines and humans, and treating visibility as a full-funnel, cross-channel effort.  

Think Like a Retail Brand  

Higher ed institutions should take a page from the retail brand playbook: be present, be consistent, be everywhere. Today’s prospective students bounce from platform to platform and expect to see the same voice, story, and value proposition at every turn. If your institutional content is only optimized for one platform, or if your messaging shifts from one channel to the next, students will scroll right past. More than ever, brand cohesion is critical. And when your story stays consistent (even as the medium changes), you stay recognizable, relevant, and at the top of your mind, no matter where the journey takes them. 

Optimize for Machines (and Humans) 

AI-generated search is your institution’s new virtual welcome desk, and it favors structured, scannable content. Your content has to be readable by both algorithms and actual people. Structure content with schema markup and FAQs, write conversationally, and ditch the jargon for clarity. If a chatbot can’t summarize your value proposition in a sentence, neither can a 17-year-old on a deadline.

Invest in Video and Interactive Content  

Video production is no longer an afterthought; it’s a must-have in today’s competitive search landscape. And building a smart, searchable video ecosystem requires more than just pretty campus footage. Think explainer videos, student Q&As, and campus stories with real search value. From metadata to captions, every detail should help people (and platforms) find and share your videos. 

Join the Conversation (or Risk Missing It) 

Students are already talking about your institution on Reddit, Discord, and other digital communities. The question is whether you’re listening or, better yet, participating. 

These platforms thrive on honesty and peer-to-peer advice, so showing up means being real, helpful, and human. Use social listening to track sentiment, answer questions, and address concerns before they become full-blown reputational risks. In these spaces, silence speaks volumes, and not in a good way.

From a recruitment standpoint, develop a strategy that empowers student ambassadors or admissions teams to respond to questions. When you lower the barriers and lead with trust, even off-the-cuff moments can turn into high-impact opportunities when curiosity is at its peak.  

The Bottom Line: Search is an Ecosystem, Not a Platform

Google still matters. Keywords, too. And yes, owned and paid media still have a seat at the table. But they’re no longer the whole story, and visibility is no longer a given. Today’s students are discovering colleges through AI assistants, social feeds, short-form videos, and candid conversations happening well beyond your website. To stand out, your media has to do more than rank. It has to earn attention, earn distribution, and earn trust. Search has evolved into a dynamic, visual, and community-driven ecosystem; It’s time to rethink your strategy for how students really search.

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