Creating (or Re-creating) an Adult-Friendly Website

Creating (or Re-creating) an Adult-Friendly Website Education Dynamics – Carol Aslanian Seminar Series Chicago, IL: March 31-April 1, 2011 Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Most likely to drive people nuts… Confusing navigation, poor menus and links Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Adult students… Large public

Adult students… Small private

Major reason people go to your website… Complete a task Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

6 key truths about task completion…
People are impatient
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

The Golden Rule… 5 seconds to connect Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

April Fool’s Day Special… Don’t Do This! Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Large photos obscure navigation… http://ags.wlc.edu/ Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Fail to meet likely link expectations… http://www.graduatephiladelphia.org/paying_for_college.asp Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Offer choice… deliver none in 7 months http://www.graduatephiladelphia.org/calendar.asp Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Print publications online as PDFs… https://uwin.wisconsin.edu/backtocollege.aspx Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Organization-centric inquiry forms… http://bit.ly/h6AvuU Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Force people to read, not scan… http://bit.ly/fWyNFy Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Beyond April 1… Website features to build engagement Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Easy to scan = easier to navigate https://uwin.wisconsin.edu/ Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Search + site map… http://www.stedwards.edu/siteindex.htm Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Highlight a special program… http://www.return.utah.edu/ Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Highlight a special program… http://www.unm.edu/graduationproject/ Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Easy to scan 5 key points… Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Easy to complete admission form… Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Highlight a “ReStart” GPA policy… http://clas.uiowa.edu/students/handbook/restart Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Online classes = $$$ saved https://uwin.wisconsin.edu/backtocollege.aspx Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Clean, brief inquiry form… https://www.scps.nyu.edu/contactUs.htm Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Another, with motivation, from DeVry… http://information.devry.edu/us/domestic-request-info?vc=140427 Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Tips from a consortium… http://www.graduatephiladelphia.org/ Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

16 questions… track with analytics http://www.graduatephiladelphia.org/why_graduate.asp Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Pre-app transfer credit review… http://information.devry.edu/us/transfer-students?vc=167161 Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Great use of the “you” word… http://www.etowndegrees.com/about-us/overview.asp Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

“ You”-friendly transfer credit page… http://degreecompletion.stedwards.edu/x157.xml
Write like this…
“ Request a transcript from each college you’ve attended.”
16 times…
Use of “you” or “your” on this page
Abolish…
“ The student must…” language

Notes on social media… Higher education is not Disney World Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Disney World is not real… http://on.fb.me/fhrO7P Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Facebook to solve problems… http://on.fb.me/fnTsls Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

“ Generous transfer credit…” + scholarships http://twitter.com/SNHUTransfer
Bio Transfer Admissions @ Southern New Hampshire University. Generous transfer credit policies & up to $18k in scholarships to go on campus, online or on location.

Social mash-up on regular website… http://www.phoenix.edu/students/online_communities.html Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Wrapping up…
Task completion is the top priority for successful engagement
Photos, old-style marketing text can prevent task completion
Clean, simple page design works best
Text… that people can scan in 5 seconds
Keep forms customer-centric… short
Social media for ongoing engagement

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC Thank You! Bob Johnson, Ph.D. President Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC Marshall, MI 49068 248.766.6425 [email_address] Customer Carewords Website Research www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com

Creating (or Re-creating) an Adult-Friendly Website

by Bob Johnson on Apr 01, 2011

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Creating (or Re-creating) an Adult-Friendly Website — Presentation Transcript