Internet college recruiting and marketing: Web promotion, techniques and law

Journal of College Admission, Fall 2003 by Mentz, George, Whiteside, Richard

An Overview of Effective Search Engine Placement and Strategy for College Enrollment Management

After several years of using online recruiting techniques, researching the area of Internet marketing and consulting with companies regarding search engine ranking, we have made many observations about the evolution of the Internet as a tool for educating students and targeting enrollment for new admission.

All companies and trade names listed herein are the trademarks and intellectual property of the mentioned company, search engine or directory.

Exposure to the High School Students and the Applicant Pool

Schools train children to use the Internet. Today's youth and future Internet culture generations use and will use the Internet to research colleges. They research and visit colleges from the comforts of their homes and the library1 and are informed candidates for admission. Discussions with recent high school graduates also reveal that, because it requires less interaction with people, many enjoy the privacy of searching online and using online forms2 and achieving instant answers to questions using Web navigation and FAQ links.

Ease of Use

The admission site creator's challenge is to incorporate necessary information to promote the university. The admission and recruiting site's main page illuminates benefits, accreditation, ranking or accolades, facilities, housing, tuition pricing, value, location, phone numbers, and contact names. Implement online forms your IT department can handle. You want to market your university, but enrollment Web sites need to allow the application to be harvested without distraction or clutter.

Most universities organize their Web sites in "egocentric" fashion, so the material's organization mirrors the institution's formal organization chart. Thus, a student may follow several different pathways from the main portal to find the information he wants. For example, the admission function may be in one vice president's portfolio, housing in another's and financial aid in a third's. The "egocentric" nature of institutional Web sites assumes the prospective student understands the institution's organizational structure-a shaky assumption at best. While layering information may make sense to those affiliated with the institution (current students, faculty, staff, administrators, and graduates), such an arrangement confuses a prospective student examining many institutions in a short period of time. Site navigation should be tailored toward prospective students.

Layout the admission process information from a student's perspective. The following array of institutional information is intuitive to most high school students in the admission process:

* General Information for Prospective Students

* Applicant for Admission Information

* Accepted Student Information

* Enrolling Student Information

* Enrolled Student Information

While these major categories include redundancies, the value of presenting the information in process sequence outweighs them.

Focusing on Benefits,Value and Success

College marketing focuses on the product-the programs, majors and services-the college provides. This approach often leads to a "so what" reaction from the students because they are more interested in personal college attributes. A better approach focuses on the benefits and value of the experience. Understanding the connection between the educational process and the institution's services refocuses thinking.

Recruiters must:

* Show enthusiasm for the university and the success of the endowment.

* Show alumni pictures, statements/testimonials.

* Tie in your academics, graduate programs and other supplemental centers.

* Show alumni salary and employment statistics.

Colleges and universities should promote professors and administrators. Students may want to learn from a faculty member known for his or her unusual field. Savvy colleges mention these professors, their publications and their renowned research.

Similarly, consider before presenting institutional characteristics. For example, college Web sites often address average class sizes with language like, "the average class size for lower division courses is 25." Presenting data this way leaves the reader to determine the benefits of this average class size. Explain this fact's associated benefit so students can understand it. For example, if the college says, "our average class size of 25 makes it possible for faculty to work closely with individual students, conduct substantive in-class discussions and coach students in their areas of interest," the average class size data point becomes significant.

In Web site construction, those responsible for the design and content must assume the mindset of the student. They should articulate benefits and clearly link connections for those unfamiliar with the academy.

Integration of Price, Scholarship, Grant, and Financial Aid Information

Each admission site should contain clear application information, the process and turn around on applications and acceptance or rejection notices. Moreover, to appeal to all socioeconomic classes, each admission site must clearly explain the possibility of assistance in the area of paying for tuition or finding a job on campus. Web sites should present information on typical financial aid and net cost scenarios on the same data displays as published price, so students won't prematurely select a university based on the full cost.