Transforming your higher education website from a mere brochure into a conversion magnet is an art and a science. Just call us Leonardo da Vinci.
When your university or college’s website is as multifaceted as your organisation, it can be hard to know where to focus your efforts in higher education marketing.
As different departments battle for visibility, you’re smoothing feathers and promising “it’ll be in phase 2!” like your life depends on it. Everything needs to fit into your big marketing plan - you’ve got messaging to consider, campaigns to execute, time-sensitive materials to publish, and somewhere amongst all this, someone asks you, “How are those conversions looking?”
While new projects might seem like the magic bullet for success, often the real game changer could be enhancing what already works.
For instance, a modest increase in conversions on an existing form or a few more brochure downloads weekly could significantly increase your ROI and free up your time and budget for other projects.
The problem is that Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) takes tinkering time. And that’s a luxury many in higher education might not have. But not to worry, it’s also one of the easiest tasks to outsource to experts like us (more on that later).
Simple fixes for instant conversion rate improvements
Whatever conversions you’re being measured on - downloads, sign ups, enquiries, emails, phone calls - the trick isn’t to gather a crowd like a guest lecture by Brian Cox, but to get them to stay for the Q&A, sign up for the science club, and join in with “Things Can Only Get Better”.
We’ve got plenty of experience in higher education marketing, and here are some straightforward fixes to common CRO pitfalls that you can apply straight away:
Make contact info user-friendly: A phone number or email that isn’t clickable can be vexing. Always extend a digital handshake by making contact details effortlessly interactive. And remember, while Gen Z might prefer to slide into your DMs, Professor Aberforth has just mastered his phone’s unlock code.
Shine a light on your CTAs: Don’t let your calls-to-action be the wallflower at a party. Elevate them to rockstar status, placing them in the header where they can command attention and lead the conga line.
Simplify navigation: Think of your website’s navigation and the touchpoints that led a user there as a clear path rather than a maze. This one needs you to actually understand what your conversion journeys are, however. Google Analytics is your friend for this one, as well as heat-mapping and UX tools.
Optimise forms: If your forms are as daunting as a quest through Mordor, it’s time to cut back (or at least make sure you set expectations). Keep them brief and clear to prevent “form fatigue” and avoid abandonment issues.
Our successes with improving higher education conversion rates
Higher education institutions are always on the lookout for reliable partners to guide their digital journeys. Here’s why we can make a significant difference to your conversion rates and overall performance:
- Expertise in UX: We have a phenomenal user experience team that looks at everything from research to design to architecture. We make sure every aspect of the user interface is feared up to maximise engagement and conversions.
- Advanced SEO strategies: SEO can sometimes feel like a dark art. But we use search optimisation techniques that have been tried and tested in the higher education sector.
- Effective PPC campaigns: With precision-targeted PPC campaigns, we place your offering right in front of potential students and other audiences. Managing the whole process, from keyword research to ad copy to landing page, you’ll see better results from your campaigns.
We weren't quite sure what we wanted in the initial stages, but their friendly team worked with us at every stage to identify our goals and achieve them.
- Workers Educational Association (WEA)
For the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA), we revamped their website to make it a lot easier for users to find courses, sign up and learn online. We integrated their main systems directly into their website, ditching the old way of sending users off to a different site. This made the whole user journey smoother.
Our agile approach meant constant tweaking and improving - based on what WEA and their users told us they needed. This way, we could make changes quickly and efficiently, keeping the website up-to-date and user-friendly.
The result?
- Increased enrolments (conversions) with WEA’s online courses
- Increased memberships and volunteers
- Increased satisfaction responses from learners on the user-experience journey and finding help when needed
Versantus have been instrumental in shaping the Skoll Centre’s vision for a new website and have assisted us in developing a comprehensive roadmap to get there. The team’s expertise has proved invaluable and we have really enjoyed working with David, Rose, Dan and Nik
- Sophie Crowe, Skoll Centre
For the Skoll Centre at the University of Oxford, we work on improving the website to make it more user-friendly and cohesive. By bringing scattered content into one central hub, we simplified navigation and strengthened their brand presence online. This made it easier for users to find what they needed and interact with the site.
The result was better engagement, more effective conversions.
You can read the Skoll Centre case study here.
Leave it to us
Our core values ensure we deliver ongoing success for our clients. They stick with us year after year because we’re easy to work with, share their ethos, and deliver actual results.
We adopt a flexible approach to marketing that allows you to adjust your strategies according to your business needs and budget, making sure you get the best results and value for your money. When you’re working on generating conversions, this method helps you focus on the most impactful activities.
Would you like some guidance around digital marketing for higher education? Would you like an audit of your current activities to see where you could improve conversion rates? We’re here to help.