Feb 22nd 11 Posted by Kati Davis in Analytics, Digital

3 Program Page Approaches to Steal

Zappos sells shoes. Best Buy sells electronics. Netflix rents movies. Marketing a commodity online is much easier than marketing higher education, right? Wrong. The difference is that there’s a much longer “purchase” cycle in higher education. But over and over again students continually cite a single thing as one of the most important deciding factors: the program.

Sure, college is an experience outside of the classroom, and there are a variety of factors (cost, aid, activities, etc.) that influence a decision. Those shouldn’t be downplayed. But, at the end of it all, they have a degree to show for their hard work and time so you have to offer a program they feel they will enjoy and/or in which they will successful. With students applying to more institutions than ever, it’s essential to make your program stand out.

Whether it’s the faculty in that area, the technology available to students, or other strengths, the program page is the place to make your case.

Let’s take a look at a few examples of institutions taking this user-focused approach to their program pages (in no particular order):

1. University of Idaho

Take Note:

• The program page packs in a lot of valuable information students need on one page. The “Related Degrees” section helps keep them on the site to browse other possibilities. The calls-to-action to get more info, visit, and apply can’t be missed.
• The degree finder allows you to find the major you’re looking for on your own terms—by searching, looking at a full list, or by the college.
• “You’ve looked at” and “You might also” consider sections intelligently recognize what the visitor has previously viewed and related programs to check out.

2. Ohio State University

Take Note:

• The program list offers ability to search or see an alphabetical list.
• Rolling over the program name in the list reveals a “quick view” outlining what that area entails.
• Okay, for those of you paying attention, yes, the “program pages” are PDFs. Not ideal at all. But, they’re working with what they have. The user can easily find the list of majors and all the related pieces of information. With limited resources, working with what you have and repurposing is key. I would venture to guess this may be a stop-gap until those web-friendly pages can be developed.

3. Azusa Pacific University

Take Note:

• The program finder provides a search field, but also the ability to filter by type, location, and school. The search page has a quick view with a short overview for each program, including the location and number of units.
• The program page has an “At a Glance” sidebar with tidbits of info including a student testimonial. It also does a nice job of drawing your eye to those ever-important calls-to-action to apply and request info. A testimonial is highlighted
• The imagery is applicable and unique to each program. Subsequent pages allow the visitor to dive deeper into the program, its requirements, and related careers.

One of the best things about each of these three examples of program pages is that they have a solid format for the type of information presented. It’s consistent across programs. You know, regardless of which major you’re viewing, that you will have a set of information provided about it.

My opinion is one thing. The stats are another.

The team at APU offered some insight on their program finder, which launched in June 2010. In comparing June 2009-February 2010 with June 2010-February 2011, the results show:

• Page views: 93.15% increase
• Unique views: 104.43% increase
• Time on page: 19.69% increase

In addition, in looking at the last year, the program pages have accounted for approximately 14% of APU.edu’s total site views―the home page being responsible for 19.78%. How’s that for compelling?

Program pages are to a college website what shoes are to Zappos. I know what you’re thinking. You have a to-do list a mile long with requests from all over campus. But, if you pick one initiative to focus on this year, make it your program pages. I promise, the hard work will be worth it.

Does your institution provide some of the best program pages, too? What other good examples have you seen out there?

[Thanks to Dustin Reynolds and his crew for providing the stats and background from APU!]