Web site monitoring
We use a service that gives us statistics about our website usage. We compare the monthly data to previous months and see if any of our demographics have changed and if we're still marketing to the right group.
Great that you were able to find the right keywords to improve your website ranking. It's a challenge and ongoing task to keep you website at the top. But it does pay off with qualified leads that your website generated. Thanks, Susan
Getting statistics for website usage is equaly important for large or smalls schools. We are a small school and our students find us through the internet. Our web service includes all the previously mentioned statistics, but also keywords people are searching for. So by adjusting our keywords we improved our website ranking.
Hi Marc
It is a challenge to pinpoint potential students. However, you can take a "picture" of your ideal student - the student who successfuly completes your programs. What do they look like in terms of gender, age, education, work experience, interests, and more. A successful student is what you want more of. When you have a model student in mind then you can figure out how to find more of them. What do they read? Look at? Where can you get their attention. Good luck, Susan
Statistics are good but they are not as helpful to us because they are too spread out.
Because we are very specialized it is very hard for us to pinpoint potential students.
Great point, Holli. Demographics provide a lot of clues about who your prospective students are. There can be a lot of surprises too. One is that perhaps there are leads for a program you don't have yet. These are prospects who don't match the ideal student for existing programs but would go to programs you can add. Thanks, Susan
we as well monitor statistics for our main websites - but checking demographics month vs. month is a great idea - thanks!
Thanks for the info. You might want to check the conversion rates and retention and graduation rates. The info may have a lot to tell you. Susan
Hi Susan -
I don't know about our conversion rates or retention. I do know that online leads do not have to come to the college, and we have almost all our students enroll online. The online enrollment works very well for us, plus we don't have to decipher all those students' handwriting! ;)
Sound great, Barbara. What is your conversion rate from website leads? And how do they do in school re retention and placement? Do online leads have to come to the school for an interview or tour or can they sign up on line? We are always interested in the best ways to maximize a school's website. Thanks, Susan
Hi -
We get just about everything you can think of - how many users log in, how long they stay, which country they came from, which search engine they used, how many times they come back, how many pages they look at, etc. etc. The president and the marketing director look at the stats, and if, for instance, we see an increase in the number of people from Chile who are visiting, we might adjust our content to be of more interest to them - maybe some Spanish language content, etc. Or if a lot of visitors are coming from Google, we might put some advertising on the Google home page. That kind of thing. It's pretty useful!
HI Barbara
Can you tell us more about the details you are provided about website usage. And also who you share the information with at your school. And how you make decisions to make changes. And what unexpected information you discover. Thanks, Susan
