Evaluate Your College Website Strategy Against Best Practices and Enrollment Goals

We regularly update our keyword SEO

We perform keyword optimization on content and metadata for our enrollment-active pages at least once every six months.

We regularly assess our search-rank performance

At least once every three months, we track our institution’s search rank for key enrollment-related queries, including variations on the searches below.

• Colleges in our state
• Colleges in our state offering our most strategically important majors
• Specific types of colleges in our state (e.g., small liberal arts colleges)

We compare ourselves to our competitors

We compare our search-rank performance for key enrollment-related queries with that of our competitors; we rank at least as high as they do for these queries.

Our SEO accounts for voice search

Our keyword research and content optimization incorporate a basic understanding of how voice search differs from traditional text-based search.

We assess search rank beyond our primary market

We use SEO tools to simulate searches performed in strategically important geographical markets outside of our region, to understand how our search rank varies by location.

We perform a full SEO audit of our website annually

Our institution performs a full SEO audit of its website once a year. Each audit generates a “punch list” of specific follow-on work aimed at error corrections and enhancements.

Our enrollment-active pages have undergone technical SEO

We have taken the following steps to ensure that all our enrollment-active pages are search-engine optimized:

• They are internally linked
• They have a title, meta description, and H1
• They have alt tags for photos and video
• Their URLs are visible to Google’s indexing bots
• They use breadcrumbs to help with navigation

Our .edu has undergone technical SEO

We have optimized the following SEO-critical technical aspects of our website:

• It has a sitemap
• It has a robots.txt file
• It uses canonical tags
• It uses structured data (i.e., a schema)
• Average page-load time is faster than peer benchmark

Our enrollment team has SEO experts

Our enrollment team includes one or several staffers who are proficient in the following aspects of SEO:

• The use of Google Analytics and specialized SEO tools for the identification of SEO-relevant webpage errors, including technical errors, navigation problems, and issues related to content quality
• Keyword and share-of-voice analysis
• Assessing webpage load time (ours and that of our competitors)
• How to optimize website content for SEO

Our enrollment team has access to specialized SEO tools

Members of our enrollment team have access to advanced SEO tools (e.g., BrightEdge, SEMRush, Screaming Frog) that provide us with the following features and capabilities:

• Crawler-based identification of website technical errors
• Prioritized recommendations for correcting website errors
• Assessment of competitive keyword positioning and share of voice
• Templates for creation of search-optimized content
• Ability to simulate searches performed in specific geographical locations
• Competitor-domain analysis
• SEO self-education resources and learning tools
• Google Analytics integration

We focus on what’s most important to prospective students

Our school’s website includes pages dedicated to the topics we know to be of greatest interest to students, including those listed below. Most of the time our enrollment team spends on website content focuses on these topics.

We actively identify content gaps

We use data on inbound student queries (via website internal search, call center, etc.) to identify gaps in information provided on our website. Our monthly website report shows which topics are generating the most engagement.

We create customized experiences

Our website tailors content shown to individual visitors based on their specific interests and funnel stage (as inferred from data we have gathered on them).

Our school’s homepage effectively embodies our brand

The design of our school’s homepage is based on a detailed vision of our school’s differentiated value proposition for students; every element of the page works toward conveying that in a clear and compelling way.

Our content always puts students at the center

All content on our enrollment-active pages frames key differentiators of our brand relative to prospective students’ concerns, interests, hopes, and aspirations.

We never show “unbuffered” cost information

Information on cost of attendance, financial aid, and other topics that might trigger student concern over debt never appears without value information adjacent to it (including, for example, information on outcomes).

All pages on our website show an obvious visual kinship

All of our enrollment-active pages use a common visual language, including navigation, layouts, fonts, and brand standards; they are immediately recognizable as “the same.”

Our graphic vocabulary follows common website usage

Icons and other navigation-related visuals that our website uses are consistent with those typically used on most other websites (e.g., a magnifying glass for search).

Our layouts strike an optimal balance between images and text

Our enrollment-active pages use photos, graphics, and video to draw users in and direct their attention; text is used to efficiently convey critical information that is not easily communicated through purely visual means.

Our layouts make effective use of blank space

Our enrollment-active pages use empty space to produce visual “breathing room,” reinforce hierarchies of importance across the information presented, and enhance scannability.

We use sophisticated multimedia formats

Media used on our enrollment-active pages include interactive, immersive formats that layer navigable 360-degree photo panoramas, text, video, and still imagery in a seamless ensemble. Content of this sort can be inserted in-line on any page on our site, the same way photos or other common website content formats would be.

Our enrollment-active pages include video

Our enrollment-active pages use video wherever it is a good match with the information we are trying to convey, such as describing physical spaces on campus.

We make sure our videos don’t “kill” other content

We avoid using video on pages where the main point we are trying to convey is best communicated in another format, such as text or still images, due to video’s tendency to draw attention away from other elements on a page.

The photos we use convey important messages

Photos used on our enrollment-active pages are never merely filler or decoration; in every instance they reinforce key messages we hope to convey to prospective students.

Our photos are of consistently high quality

Photos used on our enrollment-active pages are executed to a high technical and aesthetic standard. They show actual scenes from our campus and its surroundings (we avoid stock images) and favor subjects that are photogenic and distinctive to our brand. We avoid visual clichés.

We tailor copy length to purpose

Our copy is concise, using only as many words as are required to get our point across effectively. That said, we make effective use of long-form content wherever appropriate (especially for topics where content depth and related SEO benefits are key, e.g., on academic-program pages). 

Our copy is considerate

Our copy avoids unnecessarily using words that large numbers of students or parents (e.g., those from first-generation families) are unlikely to understand, including specialized higher-education terminology.

Our copy effectively embodies our brand

The tone, style, and messaging of our copy consistently reflect our brand—our copy could be picked out among other schools’ website copy even if identifying details were removed.

Our copy is search engine-optimized

Copy for the enrollment-active pages on our site is created by or in collaboration with an SEO expert.

Our copy is audience-tested

Our copy is regularly reviewed and rated by students and parents for understandability and interest. Lessons learned from those reviews are incorporated into our website copy-writing guidelines.

We make information-gathering conversational

The forms we use to collect information from visitors to our website do not just present users with a static set of fields to be filled in, as on a paper form; rather, they use a progressive, sequential format whereby information is solicited in a series of successive prompts that adapt to user responses, an approach known to boost form completion rates. We are able to capture information from partially completed forms.

We use a content calendar

We use a content calendar to ensure that material available through our site at any given time of year matches our users’ needs and supports our  recruitment strategy. The calendar provides a framework for content planning, updates, and performance assessment.

Revising content on our enrollment-active pages is fast and easy

New or revised content can consistently be uploaded to our enrollment-active pages in 24 hours or less.

We limit who can create content

The ability to create new content for our enrollment-critical pages is limited to a specified set of users who are trained in our content management system and, preferably, users who are proficient in SEO.

Our content meets widely recognized accessibility standards

Content on all of our enrollment-active pages meets World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) web-content accessibility guidelines (WCAG).

Our website is organized with prospective students in mind

The organization of our school’s website clearly mirrors the interests and priorities of prospective students and their parents.

We sequester low-relevance content

Material on our website that has low relevance for prospective students and parents is kept separate from the content we are most eager for them to see, through one or several of the following means:

• It is kept on an intranet or separate subdomain
• It is kept within navigation paths clearly marked for other audiences
• We prevent it from being indexed by search-engine crawlers

Navigation to our most important content is quick and easy

Our navigation strikes an optimal balance between menu complexity and click-path length (these factors typically working as trade-offs, with more complex menus enabling shorter click paths and vice versa). Pages featuring information that prospective students and their parents care most about can reliably be accessed in thirty seconds or less from any page on the school’s site.

Our internal search function is actually helpful

Our site’s internal-search feature reliably returns results with high relevance; students and parents can quickly find important information using it. Alternately, we use a chatbot to achieve similar ends.

Our site uses both audience- and topic-specific navigation

All enrollment-active pages on our site prominently feature navigation elements (e.g., tabs, links) specific to key audiences (prospective students and parents) and enrollment-critical topics (e.g., how to apply, academic majors). The appearance and location of these elements are consistent across all pages.

Our site features ubiquitous enrollment-focused calls to action

All of our enrollment-critical pages prominently feature one or several of the following calls to action (or differently worded equivalents):

• Learn more
• Apply
• Visit
• Give

We provide shortcuts to keep users oriented

Our site uses the following navigation features to keep users from getting lost:

• All of our enrollment-active pages feature a “home” button that links back to the school’s main page
• Our website uses breadcrumbs to assist with navigation on portions of the site with deep hierarchical content
• We use jump links to make long-scrolling pages easier to navigate

Our website explicitly addresses frequently asked questions

Our enrollment-critical pages include FAQs; questions addressed in the FAQs are known, via quantitative and qualitative analysis, to be ones students and parents ask most often.

We take multiple approaches to spot navigation problems

We routinely analyze data from the following sources to identify information prospective students and parents are looking for and to identify any problems they are having finding it:

• User testing
• Google Analytics data
• Searches entered into our site’s internal-search feature
• Student surveys
• Queries submitted by students (e.g., via direct contact with counselors)

Students can quickly find key content using a phone

A prospective student looking at our site on a phone can find content on all key enrollment topics in under 30 seconds from anywhere on our site.

It is easy to see and interact with our site on a phone

Pinching and zooming are never required to view content on our enrollment-active pages or to perform actions we are most eager for students to take, including:

• Requesting information
• Scheduling a visit
• Submitting an application

Our user testing covers different device types

When testing our enrollment-active pages with prospective students and their parents, we ensure that testing is performed on phones, tablets, and desktop devices.

We test the mobile speed of our enrollment-active pages

At least once every three months, we use Google’s Mobile Speed Test tool to assess load time for our enrollment-active pages. We use this same tool to benchmark our page-load speed against that of our competitors and to identify specific site modifications we can make to improve performance.

We assess our enrollment-active pages for mobile-friendliness

At least once every three months, we use Google’s Mobile-Friendly tool to identify potential shortfalls in the performance of our enrollment-active pages.

Our enrollment-active pages focus on essentials

We ruthlessly pare down material included on our enrollment-active pages to the absolute essentials, to improve ease of navigation on phones and help avoid cluttering mobile layouts. This process is informed by clear criteria we have for which content matters most, and why.

Our site uses device-appropriate navigation features

The mobile and desktop versions of our site use navigation features best suited to each, e.g., swiping for mobile devices and hover-based navigation for desktop devices.

Our approach to website design is multi-device from the outset

From its very earliest stages, our website design process considers user experience across different device types. It is aware of trade-offs involved in mobile optimization and seeks to strike a balance between what works best on each platform.

The technical build-out of our site follows mobile best practice

Technical aspects of our site build are in line with generally recognized best practices for mobile optimization, including:

• Caching
• Use of a content delivery network (CDN)
• Image compression
• Minified code
• Up-to-date plug-ins, themes, and content management systems

We use Google Tag Manager

Our team uses Google Tag Manager (or a similar tag-management solution) to improve the trackability of recruitment-related actions students take on our website. This lets us see whether students are following paths to conversion that we are most eager for them to take.

We capture website interaction at the level of the individual user

Our information systems capture data on individuals visiting enrollment-active pages on our website; data on their interaction with our website across successive visits is attached to their record, creating a detailed profile that evolves over time.

We can connect website data with recruitment-campaign data

We can connect website-interaction data for prospective students with data for those same students from other recruitment-marketing channels, such as direct-marketing emails, digital ads, and campus visits.

We can tell which visitors to our site are prospective students

We use data and analytics (e.g., pixel tracking) to identify students from our prospect pool among anonymous visitors to our site.

Our website data informs our content-creation efforts

Aggregate data on website-visitor behaviors is used to inform the content we create for our enrollment-active pages; we invest the most time and effort in content that is showing either unusually high or low levels of engagement (capitalizing on the former and troubleshooting the latter).

We use website data to refine our approach to particular prospects

We use website data on particular prospects to refine our recruitment-marketing outreach to them, including admissions counselor interactions.

We use data to understand how our website influences enrollment

We can connect data on student website interactions with downstream recruitment outcomes to see which parts of our website play the biggest role in attracting and converting prospects.

We create customized website experiences

Our website tailors content shown to individual visitors based on their specific interests and funnel stage (as inferred from data we have gathered on them).

We use our website data to find latent market potential

The data we capture on visitors to our website includes location data, and we use that data to help identify geographical markets with untapped recruitment potential.

We regularly evaluate our website via user testing

We have key audiences user-test our website’s enrollment-active pages at least once per year and whenever major changes to our site are planned.

Our testing focuses on what’s most important

Our testing focuses selectively on aspects of our website we know to have the greatest impact on user experience, including how easy it is to find important information and how engaging the content that presents that information is.

Our testing is guided by hypotheses

We use Google Analytics to generate hypotheses about where content or information architecture for our enrollment-active pages might be improved, and those hypotheses inform our user testing.

Our testing includes parents

We consider parents of prospective students to be a key audience for our website and therefore involve them extensively in our user testing. The testing we do with them incorporates knowledge regarding how their interests and concerns overlap with and differ from those of students.

Our testing takes into account demographic differences

Our testing groups include a representative mix of individuals from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, including first-generation and low-income students.

Our testing factors in funnel stage

We perform user testing with students at different stages of the recruitment funnel, and the testing prompts we use focus on topics we know to be of greatest interest to students in each stage.

We train our facilitators

Our testing is facilitated by individuals who have at least basic familiarity with related best practice, including how to design effective testing prompts.

Our testing is versatile

We are flexible and inventive in how we gather user feedback; while we use advanced techniques (e.g., recording website sessions), we also use quicker and easier low-tech approaches (e.g., written notes from conversations with users).

We capture feedback in high-impact formats

The format in which findings from our user testing are recorded include high-impact media such as video (suitable for engaging key website stakeholders, including academic department heads).

We treat testing as an ongoing source of insight

While our user testing is most intensive during website redesigns, we do it continuously, across all stages of our website’s lifecycle.

We have full staff coverage for core website capabilities

Our institution has clearly identified personnel responsible for the aspects of website design and maintenance listed below. In cases where multiple individuals are responsible for a single function, their respective purviews and responsibilities are clear.

• Front-end development
• Back-end development
• Content creation
• Content strategy
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Website analytics

Our enrollment team has the right website expertise

Our institution can easily and reliably execute the functions listed below in relation to enrollment-active pages on our school’s website. If sufficient capacity cannot be secured from institution-level staff, it is provided “locally” by enrollment-team staffers and/or contractors.

• Front-end development
• CRM integration
• Content creation
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content strategy
• Website analytics

Our website has clear goals

Our school’s website has enrollment-specific goals that were developed in partnership with marketing and academic leadership and have been signed-off on by sponsors in senior administration.

Our key website stakeholders are in frequent contact

Marketing, enrollment, and academic leaders meet at least once per month to discuss the website. Enrollment and marketing leaders talk with each other informally about the website at least once per week.

Our website goals have high relevance for all key stakeholders

We have a document that frames website goals relative to objectives of the institution as a whole and those of individual departments, including enrollment, marketing, and key academic divisions. This document serves as a common frame of reference for our regular website leadership meetings.

Our website budget reflects our website goals

Line items on our website budget map to specific website objectives and, through those objectives, to broader organizational strategic goals, including enrollment goals.

We have a clear decision-making framework

Our institution has an explicit framework governing editorial oversight for enrollment-active pages on our school’s website. This framework describes the roles played by enrollment, marketing, and academic leaders and covers such considerations as who is responsible for soliciting input and making recommendations and who owns the final decision. All key stakeholders are familiar with this framework, and it is used consistently for major decisions impacting the website.

Our web team is responsive

Our enrollment leaders can reliably influence content on enrollment-active pages on the school’s website.

We balance editorial control with agility

Our institution gives owners of specific portions of the website maximum local control over content creation and updates while also ensuring effective editorial oversight and coordination.

Enrollment-active content involves stakeholders from the start

When creating content for enrollment-active pages on our site, we partner closely with key stakeholders (e.g., academic department heads) from the start. They understand what our enrollment leaders want and why (and vice versa).

The design process for our website is consultative

Our web team solicited input from the following stakeholders as part of the design process for our institution’s website:

• Enrollment, academic, and marketing leaders and their staffs
• Students—current and prospective, undergraduate, transfer, commuter, and international

We use evidence to engage academic department heads

We use data, such as the items listed below, to help secure the cooperation of academic department leaders when making changes to enrollment-active academic-program pages.

• The percentage of total academic-program-page traffic that comes from the admissions page
• Benchmarked engagement metrics for academic-program pages, including bounce rate and average time on page
• Qualitative feedback on academic-program pages gathered from prospective students via user testing and other means

We track and report the metrics listed below on a monthly basis

Traffic metrics

Self-benchmarking

Our monthly reporting on the metrics listed above includes year-on-year comparisons (i.e., current value versus value for the same time period one year ago).

Peer benchmarking

Our monthly reporting on the metrics listed above includes comparisons with peer benchmarks.

Our systems talk to each other

We have built out automated data connections between our content management system (CMS) and the other systems we use to gather, store, and analyze data on prospective students, including our customer relationship management (CRM) system. These connections enable us to associate all data on our interactions with a particular student to a single record for that student.

We can flexibly modify connections between our systems

When necessary, we can build out new automated connections between our different website-related data systems or edit existing ones. The cost for us to do so is not prohibitive.

Our CMS has built-in content frameworks

Our content management system provides a structured framework for content creation; it constrains the form that new content takes, to help ensure consistency across pages and facilitate repurposing of content.

Our hosting approach is a good match with our needs

We have configured our hosting setup (e.g., cloud-based hosting, dedicated-server hosting) to ensure a consistently stable, fast, and responsive website. For example, it can easily scale, using load-balancing or other means, to cope with increases in traffic.

Our website is secured with HTTPS

Our school’s website has an SSL certificate, and we have ensured that none of our enrollment-active pages reference non-HTTPS elements.