Evaluating Your Institutional Website

EVALUATING YOUR

INSTITUTIONAL WEBSITE ©ROBERT E. JOHNSON, PH.D. 2015

Improving Your Strategic Recruitment Communications Plan Academic Impressions

Houston, TX

June 1-3, 2015

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 1

KEEP. IT. SIMPLE.

What do most people

want from your website?

Fast task completion.


Let Google help you… https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/


Attention to Jakob Nielsen… http://www.nngroup.com/articles/university-sites/

Top 10 Design Guidelines… My favorites…

• #5

• “Make it easy to view a list of

majors and programs.”

• #8

• “Follow the user journey:

check the main tasks for

each of your audiences.”

• #9

• “Beware the perils of making

your website ‘cool.’“


Nielsen review of Bucknell website… http://www.nngroup.com/articles/breaking-web-conventions/

The Nielsen review… The Bucknell website…


Keep reading levels low… http://www.cam.ac.uk/research

University of Cambridge

Research Grade 10 Reading Level


TOP TASK DESIGN…

3 to 5 tasks are usually dominant.


MAJOR REASON PEOPLE VISIT

YOUR WEBSITE…

Complete a task…


THE GOLDEN RULE…

<5 seconds to connect


Top tasks for future students…

• Top tasks at the start…

• Find the programs you offer

• Visit the academic program(s) of interest

• Learn what you will cost

• See if your grads are successful (AKA, “outcomes”)

• Other important tasks

• Who enrolls at this place?

• What’s required for admission?

• Where are you located?


Not top tasks for future students…

• Try not to clutter a web page task completion

obstacles to a smooth task completion journey:

• Reading mission statements… for the university or for

individual administrative departments.

• Reading messages from deans and presidents.

• Learning when a college was founded.

• Scanning news story headlines.

• Watching home page carousels unfold.


BETWEEN SPEED & BEAUTY…

Always pick speed.

Especially on mobile.


Slower than most on mobile…


THE HOME PAGE…

Most people come to a home page to

leave it as quickly as possible.


4 center-stage top task links… http://www.uottawa.ca/en


Direct path to costs & scholarships…


8 easy-to-scan link clusters… http://sydney.edu.au/


http://sydney.edu.au/

Direct path to academic programs… http://www.stedwards.edu/


THE ADMISSIONS PAGE…

Top tasks differ over the recruitment

cycle.


Tasks grouped by cycle stage… http://www.esu.edu/admissions/index.cfm


A Canadian example… https://www.lakeheadu.ca/future-students


Opening with key questions… http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/

• One missing question:

• “What programs do you

offer?”

• Use analytics to

discard or replace

questions of little

interest.

• Ask recruiters about

college night

questions.


ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

OFFERED…


One option… big images, small text https://majors.stanford.edu/

• 99 programs with

interactive searching

by alphabet and

“interest.”

• Images usually match

the major.

• A long way to scroll

• Especially on a phone


Or just an alpha list of programs… http://www.stedwards.edu/academics/bachelors/programs


How fast on mobile? https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/

Stanford University… 54/100 St. Edward’s… 72/100


ON AN ACADEMIC

PROGRAM PAGE…


A first focus on outcomes… http://www.nait.ca/program_home_78110.htm

• As the page opens…

• Career options

• Employment rate

• Salaries

• All text does not mean

fast on mobile…

• 72/100


“REAL” VIDEO STORY

TELLING…


Short alumni “experience” stories… http://blogs.davidson.edu/afterdavidson/


Introducing (mostly) students… http://viewbook.enrollment.cmu.edu/site/viewbook/profiles.html


ESPECIALLY FOR

TRANSFER STUDENTS…

Top task: how many credits will

transfer to your school?


Self-help for transfer credit value… https://www.franklin.edu/transfer-credit-college-course-equivalency-tool


INQUIRY FORMS…

The longer the form, the fewer people

will complete it.

Guaranteed.


Blessedly brief inquiry form… http://bit.ly/OqbqFY


Asking permission to text… http://online.gannon.edu/request-more-information


Professional schools keep it simple… http://bit.ly/1aDruV9


Give people a reason to use your form…

Cornell University

• "Join our contact list

and receive emails,

electronic invitations

to programs, and

important admission

updates by completing

the form below."

American University

• “To receive additional information for Undergraduate Programs at American University, please complete and submit the following form. To use this form, you must have Java script enabled in your web browser. AU is sensitive to privacy issues and will not sell or otherwise distribute information obtained from this form. If your browser does not support forms, send mail to [email protected] to request application materials.”


mailto:[email protected]

Can you really personalize response? http://www.calvin.edu/admissions/contact/request/

• “Tell us more about

yourself, and we’ll

keep you up to date

about what’s going on

at Calvin in your

interest areas.”

Request for social security number? https://www.applyweb.com/public/inquiry?s=umuginq


An unusual auto response… https://www.findlay.edu/admissions/Request-Info

AT THE END…


6 key points to remember…

• People visit websites to complete top tasks.

• Let tasks guide navigation.

• Marketing-focused content is dangerous.

• Often creates speed bumps on the visitor journey.

• Speed gives competitive advantage with

impatient visitors, mobile or large screen.

• Let people tell “real” stories, preferably in short

videos.

• Keep inquiry forms short. Really short.

• Start a content reduction plan.


THANKS FOR BEING

HERE IN HOUSTON! Bob Johnson, Ph.D.

[email protected]

www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com

@highedmarketing

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC ... @HighEdMarketing 44

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Evaluating Your Institutional Website

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