Enrollment-Optimized College Website 2.0:
10 Essential Tests for Enrollment-Ready .edu Sites in 2025 and Beyond
A Fresh Take on a Trusted Assessment Guide
College websites remain the most influential resource for students during their college search—a position they’ve held since EAB’s Digital Agency team first published this assessment guide in 2020. Since then, we’ve seen:
- increased competition for enrollments
- shifts in student search behavior and UX expectations
- the rise of generative AI and AI-driven search
- growing demand for web privacy and accessibility
Given these evolving challenges, we’ve refreshed this guide to help you evaluate the most enrollment-critical elements of your .edu website—from content and SEO to analytics and beyond. You’ll also find strategic guidance to help you optimize, rather than overhaul, your site to better support enrollment goals.
Beyond serving as an assessment tool, this document is designed to support stronger collaboration between enrollment and marketing teams. It helps ensure your .edu functions as a focused, high-performing marketing asset, driving enrollment from interest to action while aligning with your institution’s broader goals.
Read this insight paper to discover:
- 10 essential self-tests to ensure your .edu site is enrollment-ready and aligned with rising student expectations
- New EAB survey findings from 20K+ undergraduate and graduate students on the role of an optimized .edu experience in college search
- Timely insights into how to make your site and enrollment content more authoritative, AI-ready, and findable in today’s evolving search landscape
- Key performance indicators and insights to track engagement and improve conversion in a privacy-first digital environment
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