The Importance Of Higher Education Websites
A Statista survey conducted in 2022 found that 89% of college-bound students in the United States said that college websites were important for their college research. So, if institutions want to attract these prospective students and convert them into enrollees, higher education leaders must design websites that are helpful, accessible, and engaging. In this article, we’ll discuss how higher education websites influence enrollment and what steps your institution can take to create an effective, student-friendly site.
How Can A Higher Education Website Influence Enrollment?
If your institution’s website is easy to find and navigate and helps students access the information they’re looking for, students will be more attracted to your college or university. Students’ ability to obtain information on your website is especially important since this will ultimately help them make their enrollment decisions. If they can’t find details about admissions, campus life, financial aid, housing, and more, they’ll distrust your institution and lose interest in applying.
Carrie Phillips, chief communications and marketing officer at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, goes as far as to say that your institution’s website reflects the campus experience. “If the experience they get on the website doesn’t match the campus experience and functions, it’s just going to frustrate and upset that student,” said Phillips in an Evolllution blog post. In other words, if your institution’s site is inaccessible or unhelpful, then students will think similarly about your college or university. This will deter them from progressing further in the enrollment funnel.
What Makes An Effective Higher Education Website?
Several factors contribute to a higher education website that boosts engagement and drives enrollment. We look at six of them below.
1) Findability
If students can’t find your website, then they won’t apply. So, how do you ensure students and their families find your college or university online? The answer is by using Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
SEO optimizes your website so search engines like Google can browse your site for information and categorize it, helping your college’s website and web pages appear in search results. Some SEO best practices are to identify optimal keywords relevant to students’ needs and include them across your website. For example, use them in blog posts, news articles, course descriptions, and other areas of your site where they naturally fit.
Your institution’s page titles should also feature keywords, deliver accurate information, and differ from other pages. Similarly, your website’s meta descriptions should naturally incorporate keywords and phrases and use unique descriptions to ensure greater visibility.
2) Navigability
A simple, navigable website means all people—including those with disabilities—can explore and interact with it. This is critical since the more people that can access your institution’s website, the more people you can convert.
You can improve the navigability of your university’s website by providing a clear navigation structure. For instance, you could organize your website menu by audience (e.g. students and faculty), main topic (e.g. academics), or both. Also, strive for minimalism. Choose clean, modern designs for the web interface, provide ample white space, and use sticky headers, hover effects, and other student-friendly elements.
3) Engaging, Relevant Content
Compelling content attracts students to your site and keeps them coming back for more. Through blog posts, videos, images, infographics, and more, you can highlight the stories of current students and faculty as well as your institution’s offerings. This builds your school’s trust and credibility. And if you incorporate your unique selling proposition (USP) into these content formats, you can convince students to choose your institution over thousands of others.
For example, if you pride yourself on your institution’s renowned study abroad program, you could have students write blog posts about their experiences taking courses in Paris, Rome, and other exciting cities. Or, if your school offers state-of-the-art facilities, you might include high-quality videos of students working in modern laboratories.
4) Clear And Actionable CTAs
CTAs naturally guide students through the enrollment journey, nudging them closer to conversion. Say a student visits your website and wants to learn more about campus life. They navigate to the corresponding page, read a few paragraphs and short testimonials, and check out a few photographs. The student likes what they see, but they know—and you know—that text and photos can only say so much about the campus experience.
So, you include a CTA directing the student to take that natural next step of visiting your campus. This way, the student can experience your institution for themselves. Ultimately, the CTA inspires the student to schedule a visit, helping them continue on the enrollment journey.
Of course, matching CTAs to the steps students take as they navigate your website isn’t enough. You’ll also want to place CTAs in prominent places; highlight them using distinct fonts, colors, and button shapes; and use actionable language to boost conversions and engagement.
5) Mobile Responsiveness
In the last quarter of 2024, mobile devices (excluding tablets) generated 62.54% of global website traffic. And with 95% of teens having access to a smartphone, ensuring a mobile-friendly website is imperative if institutions want to keep visitors on their sites.
Mobile responsiveness encompasses a variety of elements, including website layout. For example, your university’s website should adapt to different screen sizes and web elements. Mobile CTAs should also be big enough to click (at least 44 x 44 pixels) and have sufficient white space. You’ll also want to condense contact forms so they fit the size of a mobile device.
6) Strong, Consistent Branding
A unique and compelling brand makes your institution stand out from the nearly 6000 colleges and universities in the U.S. A 2023 literature review also found that strong university branding improves students’ satisfaction, loyalty, trust, and behavioral intention. This means more inquiries, applications, and conversions for your institution.
Bolster your school’s brand by highlighting its USP in all marketing and communications. If your university offers unique academic programs, promote that on your homepage and web pages, send personalized emails to prospects who’ve expressed interest in individualized studies, and spotlight current students with distinctive majors on various social media channels. Just make sure that your messaging is consistent in colors, fonts, logos, and brand voice.
3 Examples Of Effective Higher Education Websites
These three colleges and universities provide ample higher education website inspiration.
1) Rock Valley College
Rock Valley College (RVC)’s website was recognized by Modern Campus as one of the best higher education websites in 2023. And we’re sure the site’s navigability was a key reason why.
RVC’s website has a clean, simple, and well-organized homepage. Prominent button CTAs also allow users to choose the type of student they are (high school student, new college student, etc.) so they can be directed to targeted information. Additionally, students can self-select based on their intent (apply, get more information, etc.) This helps them easily find the information most relevant to them and take action without any hassles.
2) University Of Montana
The University of Montana (UM)’s site features a wide range of compelling content. This includes eye-catching infographics, feature images, and a news section highlighting the stories of students and faculty.
UM even offers a microsite that contains branded interactive and multimedia elements, including quizzes, videos, games, and playlists. Students can’t help but interact with these enticing web elements, giving the institution more data so they can personalize the website experience and student journey for prospects.
3) University Of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame (ND) is a case study in robust branding. The institution has strong brand standards, including guidance on colors, logos, fonts, and website requirements. The guidelines mandate that all university websites use the Notre Dame Web Theme as a starting point. This ensures web content adheres to the school’s brand signatures.
ND’s strong branding not only builds prospective students’ awareness of the university, keeping it top of mind when it comes time to apply. But it also strengthens the institution’s credibility—a critical factor since students are making one of the most important decisions of their lives.
How To Design A Higher Education Website That Drives Enrollment In 6 Steps
Keep the following six tips in mind to design a high-converting higher education website.
1) Tell A Story
An authentic story that delivers valuable information and centers human connection will inspire prospective students to take action. Your institution might tap into its storytelling side by publishing features about current students so prospects get an idea of the student experience. On your homepage, you can also feature videos breaking down your school, its mission, and what it offers to students. This will allow students to connect with your university on a more personal and emotional level.
2) Prioritize Simple And Functional Design
If your website is simple and navigable, students will stay on it longer and likely take action—whether that’s scheduling a campus tour or requesting to speak to a representative. You can promote website functionality and navigability by taking the following actions:
- Use intuitive interfaces, clear and prominent CTAs, and simple website menus.
- Follow a consistent layout across pages.
- Avoid clutter and break up large blocks of text.
- Use sans serif instead of serif fonts for enhanced readability.
3) Use Visuals
Prospective students are presented with copious amounts of visual content daily. So, add visual interest to your website to catch and hold prospects’ attention. Here are a few ways to make your website visually appealing:
- Include a slideshow of images to highlight happenings on campus.
- Use GIFs and short videos so prospects get a glimpse into student life.
- Use icons and infographics for impressive statistics like program rankings, number of student internships, and starting salaries for graduates.
4) Make It Easy For Students To See Themselves
Students seeing their diverse interests and backgrounds reflected on your school’s website and in its broader messaging can influence their college decision. Indeed, student diversity and organizations were among the top factors affecting students’ college choice.
Help students see themselves on your campus by offering virtual tours, interactive campus maps, and 360-degree views of campus facilities. Also, place testimonials from currently enrolled students of various backgrounds on web pages so prospects can see their majors, ethnicities, and hobbies represented.
5) Strive For Accessibility And Mobile-Friendliness
A Concept3D report on the state of digital accessibility in higher education found that 55% of current students either have a disability or know someone close to them who has one. If colleges and universities want to attract and serve all students, then they must promote accessibility across their institutions, including on their websites.
So, prioritize responsive design, optimize all CTAs and contact forms so students can take next steps without any hassle, and provide descriptive alt text for images. Additionally, use tools to ensure compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
6) Make It Interactive
An interactive website allows prospective students to submit inquiries, schedule campus visits, pose questions to AI chatbots, and more. In other words, it turns prospects into active users and helps them progress through the enrollment funnel.
Encourage prospects to interact with your institution’s website by including surveys and contact forms. You can then use this information to personalize the student journey even further. Also use polls, quizzes, videos, financial aid calculators, virtual tours, and other interactive elements.
Your Higher Education Website Is An Extension Of Your Institution
Your institution’s website reflects the experience prospective students will have at your college or university. So, make your school’s web content navigable, accessible, and valuable. Additionally, ensure it tells a story, incorporates high-quality visuals, encourages engagement, and makes it easy for students to see themselves on your campus. By taking these actions, you’ll convince students to choose your institution over the dozens of others on their list.
