As campus communicators, we put a lot of work into crafting the best stories we can about the University and what happens here. It’s always disappointing to publish a great feature, only to get lukewarm engagement rates.
A key strategy for making sure your content gets in front of the right audiences is search engine optimization, or SEO. For many communicators, though—including myself—SEO seems a little nebulous.
Luckily, Notre Dame has an expert in Staci Stickovich, a marketing strategist in Strategic Content who specializes in digital strategy, paid media, and SEO. She’s an SEO all-star who consistently impresses us with her insight on how best to get University stories in front of the right people.
“Within the University’s Office of Public Affairs and Communications, I use data-driven insights to amplify Notre Dame’s mission—helping the University reach key audiences, strengthen brand visibility, and support communicators across campus with their digital and paid strategies,” she said.
Staci and I put together the informative Q&A below that covers what SEO is, how campus communicators can effectively use it, a checklist for using SEO in your content, and coming trends.
Could you tell us a bit about your background and what a typical day looks like for you?
I have a B.S. in marketing with a minor in advertising, and my career has spanned a variety of industries—from national brands and small tech companies to luxury yachting—before I found my home at Notre Dame.
I first joined the University in 2016 at DPAC, spent a year with OPAC during the pandemic in 2021, and officially became part of the team in 2023.
As a marketing strategist, my role is all about visibility—getting our content in front of the right audiences. I manage OPAC’s paid strategy and work across our owned channels to optimize content performance and strengthen our organic reach.
For those who are new to search engine optimization (SEO), how do you define it, and why is it important?
It’s the practice of making sure your content is discoverable when someone is actively looking for information you can provide. That means understanding how people search, what questions they’re asking, and how to structure and optimize your content so it shows up when people are actively searching for it.
It’s important because search is one of the few marketing channels that captures genuine intent. When someone searches for something, they’re already curious or ready to act. Strong SEO ensures that your content isn’t just visible—but relevant, trustworthy, and aligned with what your audience needs in that moment.
In your experience, what is the single biggest misconception that people on campus have about SEO?
I think the biggest misconception on campus is that SEO doesn’t matter. With generative AI reshaping how people find and consume information, it’s easy to assume search optimization isn’t relevant—but that’s not true.
What’s changed is how it matters. SEO isn’t just about keywords or rankings now; it’s about credibility and context. As AI tools summarize information directly in search results, we’re moving deeper into a zero-click environment—one where users often get answers without ever visiting a website. These tools rely on trusted, authoritative sources, so the focus has shifted from trying to “game” algorithms to creating strong, reliable content that reinforces your brand’s expertise and visibility.
What are some quick changes that communicators can focus on to improve their site or story ranking?
To start, communicators can focus on how content is organized and labeled. Titles and section headers are especially important. They tell both users and search engines what your content is about. Clear and concise titles help your story rank for the right searches, and section headers break it down in a way that’s easy to scan and understand.
Using consistent formats for headlines, summaries, author names, and captions is not only helpful from an accessibility perspective, but it also helps search engines recognize what the story or webpage is about, which improves discoverability.
Could you share your must-do checklist for optimizing a new webpage or news story?
Quick SEO checklist:
- Title tag: clear, keyword-focused headline (≈ 50–60 characters)
- Meta description: concise summary, benefit-driven (≈ 140–160 characters)
- Headings: one H1; descriptive H2/H3s for structure and readability
- Image alt text: short, accurate description (≤ 125 characters)
- URL: short, relevant, hyphenated (≤ 75 characters)
- Structured content: use consistent fields—author, date, tags, summary—for better indexing
What’s one common technical SEO mistake that content creators often overlook?
One of the biggest SEO mistakes I see is choosing clever titles and headers over clear ones. It’s tempting to prioritize creativity, but search engines (and readers) rely on straightforward language to understand what a page is about.
With search—and especially generative AI—context and intent matter more than ever, so if your headline doesn’t make that clear, your story might never be found.
What is one major trend that you think ND communicators need to be aware of and adapt to in the next year?
I think the biggest trend communicators need to pay attention to is how generative AI is reshaping search and content discovery. As more people get their information directly from AI-driven summaries, communicators should focus less on producing more content and more on creating authoritative, structured, and well-sourced stories that reinforce Notre Dame’s expertise and voice.
The communicators who embrace Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategies early will be the ones shaping how the University shows up in the digital conversation.
What are some good resources people can use to learn more about SEO?
There’s no shortage of great resources online for learning SEO. If I had to narrow it down, my top three would be HubSpot SEO Training Course, Google’s SEO Starter Guide, and Moz Beginner’s Guide to SEO. Together, they offer practical guidance on understanding keywords, search intent, and how content ranks—while also explaining how to organize content, write for both humans and search engines, and use SEO to strengthen storytelling.
While these don’t yet address Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) directly, they provide a strong foundation in search fundamentals that will help communicators adapt as AI-driven search continues to evolve.