When I talk to web marketing professionals at colleges and universities about their website audiences and who matters most I’m almost always given one of two distinct answers.

1. All of our audiences are important. We don’t have one single most important audience.
2. Prospective students are most important. Without new students coming in each year we have no school.

Let’s be very clear here, having a concrete answer and understanding of this fundamental question greatly changes the way you approach the creation and marketing of your website. I think it’s safe to say at various points in my career I’ve fallen into each of these buckets. The department you work for can also greatly change your opinion on this.

Absolutely there are sections of your website that are specifically targeted to particular audiences, but what I’m talking about here is the overall theme and approach of your top level pages and content. I feel that to properly answer this question we have to take a step back and do something that makes most people in higher education cringe. We have to think about this scenario from a business standpoint.

Follow the Money

If we analyze the value of a college website from a business standpoint then we look at the various ways the site helps us to make money. From the standpoint of a school there are a handful of ways that a college/university makes money.

1. Tuition
2. Government Grants and Funding
3. Alumni Donations
4. Other Gifts

At each school the percentage breakdowns are a little different but private institutions are usually more tuition driven and public institutions usually have more federal funding. At some private liberal arts schools tuition can account for 75% of the annual revenue. But even state schools are highly dependent on tuition revenue, and it is very hard, if not impossible, to influence government funding based on what is on your website.

When you think about your website from how is it going to help generate additional revenue or funds to run and operate the school it is very easy to see why prospective students have to be the main marketing focus on the website. If a school isn’t constantly recruiting and bringing new students to replace leaving students then it simply can’t afford to stay in operation. Also, without students what is the point of a school really? I’m sure I’ll get someone who wants to argue against this and your comments are always welcome.

Prioritizing Website Development

Understanding that prospective students are the most important audience for your website allows you to develop content and features to positively influence prospective students to make a decision to attend your school. If you are still developing a marketing plan for this audience you will want to take additional steps to understand the value of an applicant and understanding your marketing funnel. Otherwise the focus has to be on creating the types of content and features that are most value to this audience. Some examples of these include:

• Online Application Process
• Course Catalogs
• Academic Department and Major Content
• Financial Aid and Tuition Information (Net Price Calculator)
• Facts and History About the Institution
• Student, Faculty and Staff Blogs
• Interactive Campus Maps and Virtual Tours
• Online Videos

If you already have all these website elements maybe you could spend time to improve or tie them more into your recruitment funnel. There are also countless other features and types of content your website should include. The point I’m hoping that you pick up on is that all elements of your website should have some understanding and thought put into how they influence prospective students even if the main audience of a specific section or piece of content is for another audience.

Want To Learn More?

Later this month, July 23rd at 2PM EDT, Michael Fienen and I will be running a free webinar discussing the question ”Is the interactive campus map the most important website feature?” We’ll be diving deeper into this subject and discussing how this specific feature on an institution’s website is valuable to all audiences but is especially valuable for the prospective student.

Sign up for this free webinar today.

This post was written by Kyle James