Site Clinic: How Shanghai American School Ranks (almost) #1 for “International School in Shanghai”

What happens when you Google “international school in Shanghai”?

The first school to appear organically isn’t one with “international” in its name—it’s Shanghai American School (SAS). That’s impressive, considering the top results before it are school directories and Wikipedia.

But here’s the fun part: SAS doesn’t even fully optimize for that keyword in its title tag. They’re ranking first despite missing an easy SEO win. So how do they do it? And where could they improve? Let’s dive in.

First Impressions: A Clean, Student-First Experience

One thing SAS gets very right is user experience. The homepage feels modern, clean, and focused on the student journey rather than just academic achievements.

Above the fold, SAS rotates four strong, aspirational headlines: ?? Learn at SAS ?? Dream at SAS ?? Be Yourself at SAS ?? Find Yourself at SAS

Right away, this shifts the focus from the school itself to the student’s experience, which is a smart move. Accompanying this, three engaging images showcase students learning, collaborating, and having fun—no stock photos, just real school life.

Directly below, SAS highlights its history since 1912, reinforcing its credibility. And navigating the different grade levels is easy, thanks to a well-structured carousel that quickly guides parents to Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle, and High School sections.

?? Takeaway? It’s a welcoming, user-friendly site that makes a strong emotional connection from the start.

The following is a short 10 minutes impression in form of a small site clinic.

The Best Feature: “Meet a Student, Family, and Alumni”

This is where SAS truly shines. Instead of just listing testimonials, they go all-in with mini-documentary videos featuring: ?? A student ?? A family ?? An alum

These are beautifully produced, authentic, and persuasive—exactly the kind of content that builds trust with prospective families. Seeing real people share their experiences makes a far stronger impression than a paragraph of marketing text ever could.

?? What’s missing? Right now, it’s a bit limited. There’s just one student, one family (with two kids), and one alum. Expanding this section with more students, more families, and even teachers would add depth and make the content even more engaging.

SEO Breakdown: What’s Driving SAS’s Visibility?

SAS dominates Google US rankings, where it: ?? Ranks for 1,100 keywords ?? Gets an estimated 3,000 visitors/month (via Dragon Metrics) ?? Ranks highest for: 1?? “sas shanghai” (brand) 2?? “shanghai american school” (brand + generic)

It’s mostly branded search traffic, which is expected for an established school. But interestingly, a website redesign in 2024 might have played a role in its gradual traffic increase.

The previous design regularly updated homepage content—something that helps signal freshness to search engines. If high-ranking content was removed in the redesign, it could have led to temporary ranking drops, but traffic has been climbing month by month ever since.

Backlink Power: Why SAS Ranks So Well

Here’s where SAS really wins in SEO: high-authority backlinks.

It’s got links from: ? Microsoft.com ? NYTimes.com ? USAToday.com ? WashingtonPost.com

That’s a huge trust signal for Google. Backlinks from top-tier sites boost credibility, making it easier for SAS to rank above competitors even without a perfectly optimized keyword strategy.

Opportunities for Improvement ??

SAS is already ranking well, but with a few tweaks, they could dominate even further:

1?? Fix the Title Tag – Right now, it reads: ?? "Shanghai American School | Top International School" A stronger version would be: ? "Top International School in Shanghai | Shanghai American School (SAS)" This better aligns with how people search, making it easier to rank higher for non-branded searches.

2?? Expand “Meet a Student/Family/Alumni” – More personal stories = more trust. Adding more perspectives (especially teachers!) would deepen engagement.

3?? Be Careful with Homepage Content Changes – If past homepage updates helped rankings, SAS should ensure key ranking content isn’t lost in future design updates.

4?? Leverage Internal Linking – With strong backlinks already in place, better internal linking could help distribute SEO strength across key pages.

Final Thoughts

Shanghai American School has a strong brand, a great website, and a top ranking, but with just a bit of SEO fine-tuning, they could pull even further ahead.

? Their student-first design makes a great impression. ? Their video storytelling builds trust. ? Their backlinks give them a huge advantage.

With some keyword and content optimizations, they could solidify their position as the #1 choice for families searching for an international school in Shanghai.

What do you think? Does a school's website experience impact your perception of the school? Let’s discuss! ??

Also look at ISB - International School of Beijing Mini Site Clinic: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/site-clinic-what-international-school-beijings-isbs-pentzek-%25E6%25BD%2598%25E6%258B%25A9%25E7%25A7%2591-9mxfc/?trackingId=03F9TICGeWr6ngzl0d6D0Q%3D%3D

and of SIS in Shenzhen: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/site-clinic-how-shanghai-american-school-ranks-almost-pentzek-%25E6%25BD%2598%25E6%258B%25A9%25E7%25A7%2591-iofpc/