Last month we hosted 150 higher ed leaders to talk about something most institutions are feeling but haven’t quite put language to yet:
Search isn’t on fire, but it is melting.
Organic traffic is compressing
Paid search is getting more expensive
AI assistants and LLMs are changing discovery behavior
Zero-click is here and real
And yet - 85% of journeys still start with Google.
This isn’t a collapse. It’s a structural shift. And it’s one that requires concrete conversations if institutions want to navigate it well.
Coming out of that webinar, we’ve had a slew of interesting - and varied - conversations. Chief among them was a desire to move the discussion from 30,000 feet down to ground level.
In many ways, search is shifting from a traffic engine to a trust engine. Institutions that win will be the ones whose content shows up everywhere students evaluate options - not just where they start searching.
That’s why I’m excited to share that next week Kanahoma will be hosting Part 2 of our webinar series on the topic:
This session cuts through the noise around AI and SEO to focus on what actually matters: visibility that supports decision-making. We’ll explore how AI is accelerating evaluation-stage behavior, why SEO must now function as institutional infrastructure, and how to build an omni-channel presence that drives both trust and enrollment.
You’ll walk away with practical workflows, strategic guardrails, and a readiness checklist designed for CMOs, enrollment leaders, and digital teams who need to lead, not react.
So if you enjoyed the last conversation and are ready to get tactical, I’d encourage you to RSVP here and join us.
And while I’ll no doubt shift topics in the next newsletter to something other than search, know that if you still want to chat about it, I’m always game. I’ve had some amazing conversations over the past couple weeks with many of you around the nuances of Reddit, influencer strategy, in-house content engineers, and a whole lot more.
Wild times…
- Seth
About The Author
Seth is the founder and CEO of Kanahoma, a San Diego-based performance marketing agency on a mission to build a better agency for organizations building a better world.
You can learn more about who we are and what we do at www.Kanahoma.com.
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