Many learning institutions invest time and money building their own websites. And that’s good — every institution should have an online presence.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Your website, on its own, is not enough.
Not because it’s bad.
Not because you didn’t try.
But because of how the internet — and Google — actually works.
Google Only Shows a Few Results (The Rest Are Invisible)
When someone searches:
“Best schools in Nairobi”
“Nursing colleges in Kenya”
“TVET courses near me”
Google does not show thousands of results.
It shows:
About 10 results on page one
A handful more on page two
And realistically, most users never go past page one
Yet there are thousands of schools, colleges, and training institutions competing for that same limited space.
Do the math.
Even if your website is decent, fast, and well-designed, the odds of it ranking consistently for competitive education keywords are brutal.
Your Website Is Competing Alone
Your institution’s website is a single entity trying to compete against:
Universities
Government portals
Aggregators
Established education platforms
Media websites
That’s a lonely fight.
Search engines prioritize:
Authority
Depth
Content volume
User engagement
Structured data
A single school website — no matter how good — usually doesn’t generate enough signals on its own.
Central Repositories Change the Game
This is where central education platforms like Elimys come in.
A central repository aggregates:
Many institutions
Thousands of courses
Multiple locations
Continuous user activity
Google loves this.
Why?
Because users:
Spend more time on the site
Click between institutions
Compare options
Perform meaningful searches
That creates strong ranking signals your standalone website simply can’t match.
Visibility Is a Network Effect
Here’s the part many institutions miss:
When you join a central platform, you benefit from everyone else’s visibility.
Instead of:
One website
One domain
One set of pages
You become part of:
A large, authoritative ecosystem
Pages that already rank
Searches that already happen
Your institution doesn’t need to win alone — it rides the network.
Your Website Still Matters — Just Not Alone
Let’s be clear:
This is not an argument against having a website.
Your website is still important for:
Branding
Official communication
Trust and credibility
Direct visitors
But relying on it as your only discovery channel is a strategic mistake.
It’s like opening a shop in a quiet alley and hoping customers magically find it.
Central Platforms Solve a Discovery Problem
Students and parents don’t search for your school name first.
They search for:
“Courses”
“Location”
“Fees”
“Intakes”
“Scholarships”
Central repositories are built around how people actually search, not how institutions want to be found.
That’s the difference.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
Education is becoming:
More competitive
More digital
More choice-driven
Institutions that rely only on their own websites will be:
Harder to find
Easier to overlook
Left behind by more visible competitors
Those that appear where discovery happens — win.
The Bottom Line
Your website is necessary.
But it is not sufficient.
Google has limited space.
Students have limited attention.
There are thousands of institutions.
Being part of a central education repository is no longer optional — it’s strategic.
Platforms like Elimys don’t replace your website.
They amplify it.
And in a crowded digital world, amplification is everything.