Did you know that while most higher education websites are filled with valuable information, many fail to convert traffic into student inquiries? The average college website converts anywhere from 2% to only 4% of visitors into inquiries, meaning thousands of potential students leave without ever taking the next step. This statistic highlights a critical issue many institutions face today. In a world where online presence is paramount, having a website that drives conversions is non-negotiable.
The good news? With a few strategic changes, your site can capture more interest, engage more prospects, and enroll more students. Let’s dive in and ensure your website does more than just inform; let’s make it work for you by speeding up prospective student decision-making!
Why Your Website Isn’t Converting Prospective Students
Many institutions pour immense resources into developing websites, aiming to create a user-friendly experience that showcases their degrees, programs, and vibrant campus life. But despite these efforts, many fail at converting visitors into leads. Here are some common pitfalls that could be sabotaging your website’s performance:
- Confusing Messaging: If a prospective student can’t immediately understand why your programs matter to them—whether it’s career outcomes, course flexibility, or tuition affordability—they’re more likely to click away. Clarity helps them connect with you, without requiring them to go on a treasure hunt to figure out if you’re the right fit for them.
- Missing Calls to Action (CTAs): Every page should guide users towards a specific action. Here’s a tip: Think of your website as a campus tour. If the guide spends the tour showing off your facilities and then ends abruptly, without ever telling visitors how to contact admissions counselors, apply, or request more information, they’ll leave your potential students wondering what to do next. Your CTAs are the guideposts that move them forward. Make them visible and use them often.
- Overly Complex Navigation: If potential students can’t easily find the information they need, they will quickly lose interest. Back to the campus tour analogy: Imagine being a new student, trying to pick your way through campus. Some paths and buildings have no signage at all, while the ones that do either don’t point them in the right direction or don’t clarify the building’s purpose. Not very helpful, right? On your website, make sure you label pages clearly, group them in a way that makes sense, and try to avoid nesting too many levels so users have to “dig” to find the page they’re looking for. Overwhelm causes frustration, and frustration loses leads.
Step 1: Clarify Your Brand Message
In the digital era, attention spans are limited. What if you had only 10 seconds with a prospective student in an elevator, could you explain why they should choose your institution over another? That same clarity needs to be front and center on your homepage.
Here are a few ways to refine and clarify your messaging on your website:
1. Use Clear Headings: Each section of your website should have headings that instantly inform users about the content.
Example:
- MIU’s Sustainable and Regenerative Living (BS) program created a targeted landing page as part of a campaign to attract more students into the program. Notice how headings were used to communicate both the leading idea of each section and further drive home the program’s unique selling propositions (USPs).
2. Eliminate Jargon: Using overly complicated terms can confuse visitors and detract from the message you want to convey. Many institutions’ websites use terms and focus on topics that stakeholders and staff might relate to or find interesting, but the main audience your website copy should be engaging is your prospective students. So, write it that way.
Examples:
- Vermont College of Fine Arts’ home page does a great job of including speaking points that relate directly to their target audience (students), by highlighting benefits they would find valuable and speaking directly to them by using words like “you” and “artists and writers”, instead of “we”. Simple changes that make a big difference!
- For their MFA in Film Degree, VCFA continued the pattern of speaking their students’ language by using “you” more than “we” and addressing student goals and pain points directly on their program landing page:
3. Showcase Outcomes: Highlight the benefits of your programs and how they can meet potential students’ needs. Instead of just listing degrees, show where your graduates work, provide alumni success stories, and display testimonials from students who landed their dream job.
Example:
- SIUE’s BS in Surveying and Geomatics program provides the perfect example of this on its paid ads landing page for the program. Without having to scroll, visitors can easily see what positive outcomes could result from completing the program. As they move down the page, more examples and student testimonials are provided as further proof of the potential success a student can achieve with SIUE.
By adopting these strategies, you can create a compelling narrative that effectively engages and attracts your target student audience. Borrow from these client examples above to help you brainstorm!
Step 2: Use Your Website Layout Strategically
Many institutions overlook the physical layout of their websites. A strategic design can make a significant impact. Take retail stores, like IKEA, World Market, and Bass Bro for example. These stores are laid out strategically to help buyers find what they need, notice exciting or new products they weren’t even looking for, and easily find their way to the checkout to complete their purchases. Providing an enjoyable buyer experience improves sales, and isn’t that different from a great online user experience, whether you’re selling products online or promoting programs for enrollment.
Here are a few tips to help you better organize your site to increase engagement and get more prospective students to apply:
- Optimize Your Hero Section: This is the top part of the website, just below your navigation bar, but still above the fold. Invest in impactful visuals – whether as a background image, a clickable video embed, or bold graphics – along with concise messaging. This area is your first opportunity to capture attention and keep your visitors on your site and interested in what else you have to offer. Take the MIU landing page, for example:
- Position CTAs Wisely: Place your CTAs prominently in multiple locations on each page. Whether that’s for signing up for newsletters or downloading course information, CTAs should be unavoidable. Throughout SIUE’s landing page for their BS in Surveying and Geomatics program, you’ll find multiple red buttons encouraging the viewer to “Apply Now” along with a few reminders of the free Career Guide resource available for download.
- Visual Cues: Use arrows, design elements, or contrasting colors to direct users’ attention to important areas on your website. The bright green banner, connected icons, and numbers used in this section of VCFA’s MFA in Film landing page help catch the viewer’s attention and clearly communicate the steps they can take to enroll.
A well-structured layout maximizes user experience and guides visitors towards taking action.
Step 3: Offer a Lead Generator
Since not every visitor on your site is ready to enroll or start the application process right away, you need a way to engage and stay in touch with those who are still on the fence before they bounce and you lose them for good. That’s where a lead generator comes in. A lead generator is an asset that provides your visitors with value in exchange for their information. This way, you get their contact information in order to stay in touch with them, and they receive something useful from you. This also creates a reciprocal relationship, subconsiously making them more likely to trust you and want to continue engaging with you.
Here are some effective strategies you can try:
- eBooks: Create comprehensive guides related to your programs or industry trends and offer them as free downloads.
- Checklists: Develop downloadable resources that help users prepare for college applications or program requirements.
- Webinars: Host informational sessions that can provide valuable insights, interaction with professors, or virtual tours. These also encourage further interaction by potential leads.
You may be thinking: But can’t they find this information on Google? Probably, but that takes time – time to ask the right questions, time to gather and process the information. If you can provide a way for them to easily find what they need and get their questions answered all in one place, with little to no effort on their part, then your offer becomes much more enticing.
Step 4: Nurture, Don’t Neglect
So, you have captured leads through your offerings. Now what? Next, you must nurture these leads instead of letting them go cold. Like stoking a fire to keep the embers alight, you want to regularly reach out and engage with your leads to keep them interested and to keep your institution top of mind. Otherwise, their interest is more likely to die down, and you risk the chance of them forgetting about you and deciding to enroll with someone else.
Two ways you can continue nurturing leads to increase your lead-to-enrollment rate:
- Email Sequences: Develop an email marketing sequence to follow up with leads who have downloaded your resources or shown interest in some way. This could include additional insights, program updates, testimonials, or promotional offers like tuition assistance. The more you can tailor your emails to address the specific interests and needs of your leads, providing relevant and personalized content, the longer they’ll stay engaged.
- SMS Campaigns: Get a little closer by using SMS automation. Text messages are a quick, easy way for your prospects to engage with you. We’ve seen SMS work great for connecting prospects with admissions counselors to help them decide which program is best for them, or as a low-barrier way to get answers about the enrollment process.
Nurturing leads is about reminding them you exist, building relationships and trust, making it more likely they will choose your institution when ready to enroll.
The Blueprint for Enrollment Success
By implementing the steps outlined in this guide, you can turn your passive website into a dynamic lead-generating machine. Remember, it’s not just about attracting visitors but converting them into meaningful inquiries that can ultimately lead to enrollments.
Need help implementing these steps? Schedule a call with our enrollment acceleration experts today! For an expert opinion tailored to your specific needs, don’t hesitate to reach out.
