Building Your Brand Online: Top Higher Education Webistes

Building Your Brand Online: Top Higher Education Website Examples ©Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. 2010 eduWeb2010 July 27, 2010 Chicago, Illinois

6 web tips to help your brand fly high…
People are impatient

People visit websites to… Complete a Task

Your brand will soar or crash with… Experiences on your website

Experience… more important than a brand claim
Attention to content and usability…
Can people easily find what they want?
Academic program list
Can they easily interact with you after they find it?
Options: phone, email, text?

Frustration points kill your brand…
Search engines that don’t work
Broken links
Links that don’t take people to what they expect
Out-of-date information
Content people can’t scan in 5-seconds

Distance learning students…

Parents & future students…

The brand image you want… http://bit.ly/aGHyOw
“ With my limited use of the Susquehanna University web-site I found many of the features quit appealing and I really have no complaints at all. I was able to find my information quickly and easily (with the use of the menus that are provided) and I'm able to get in contact with any of the professors that I might be learning from. The graphics are great, the information is up to date, I plan to visit even more in the future!”

Easy task completion…

Immediate brand impact… http://www.devry.edu/

Top tasks from the home page… http://umanitoba.ca/

Search and site map together… http://www.stedwards.edu/siteindex.htm

Make “online” easy to find… http://www.umassulearn.net/classes/fall-2010/online

Easy to scan academic page… http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/iMBA.shtml

Integrating web site & social media… http://www.langara.bc.ca/

Net cost calculator… quick, easy http://www.utoledo.edu/admission/cost/dhs/

No PDFs & “flip tech” for publications… https://apps.carleton.edu/giving/report/2009/

“ Right for the web” online viewbook… http://www.risd.edu/undergraduate/Default.aspx

Blog format for online magazine… http://alfredmagazine.alfred.edu/

Simple forms to encourage inquries… http://www.blueoxmailbox.com/Display/40/126/100/RequestMoreInfo.html

Another strong example… https://www.devry2.com/landing6/default.aspx?vc=140432

Easy cost calculator… http://adultlearner.njit.edu/costs/calc-tuition.php

A friendly registrar’s page… http://registrar.missouri.edu/

Welcome input from visitors… http://webredesign.blogs.wesleyan.edu/

Real stories validate your brand…
Stories must have credibility…
Stories told by people in your programs build credibility better than anything else
For ongoing engagement, blogs and social networks are the best way to tell those stories
Build on the strength of what you are
Be relevant to your customers

Coping with family, work challenges… http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/programs/emba/advance/balance.cfm

The proverbial summary…

Summing up points to boost the brand…
Find and eliminate things that don’t work on your website
Make tasks easy to do…
Read your web pages
Find academic programs and courses
Contact people on your campus
Complete an inquiry form
Calculate costs

Thank You! Bob Johnson, Ph.D. President Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC Marshall, MI 49068 248.766.6425 [email_address] Customer Carewords Research for Online Marketing Success: http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com

Building Your Brand Online: Top Higher Education Webistes

by Bob Johnson on Jul 26, 2010

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Building Your Brand Online: Top Higher Education Webistes — Presentation Transcript