Speed, Simplicity, and Top Task Completion: 3 Critical Steps to Boost Online Enrollment

SPEED, SIMPLICITY & TOP TASK

COMPLETION:

3 CRITICAL STEPS TO BOOST

ONLINE ENROLLMENT ©ROBERT E. JOHNSON, PH.D. 2013

Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D.

President, Bob Johnson Consulting

Effective Marketing for Online Education

December 10, 2013

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC... @highedmarketing 1

Carol Aslanian research… http://bit.ly/15WFLVw

• “A college’s website is the single most

important tool for attracting adult students.

• “… an increasing number of adult students

bypass the traditional recruiting cycle and

move straight from a search engine to a

college’s website to complete an

application, without any prior direct contact

with the college.” • “Hindsight, Insight, Foresight: Understanding Adult Learning Trends

to Predict Future Opportunities”

THE GOLDEN RULE…

<5 seconds to connect

MAJOR REASON PEOPLE GO

TO YOUR WEBSITE…

Complete a task…

Usually just 3 to 5

Top tasks for future students…

Important…

• Price information

• Financial aid

• Investment return

after graduation

• Academic programs

• Time to earn the

degree

• Flexible scheduling

Not very important…

• Social media

connections

• Info about presidents,

deans, alumni

• School news

• Connecting with

current students

HOW TO KEEP ONLINE

STUDENTS AWAY FROM

YOUR WEBSITE

The need for speed…

Online, slow can kill

PERFORMANCE IS A

PRIORITY…

“It’s possible to address

performance concerns... most

people don’t.” Tim Kadlec, Implementing Responsive Design

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC 7

MOST LIKELY TO KEEP PEOPLE

FROM ENTERING YOUR

WEBSITE…

Slow download speed…

more than 5 seconds

From a KISSmetrics report… http://bit.ly/14V7m92

Trend to bigger, slower web pages… Radware for Fall 2013 at… http://bit.ly/H0uNaV

Result: longer time to interact… Increases bounce rate, decreases conversions

Slower on every browser… Web Performance Today at http://bit.ly/1525Y7P

10 fastest business sites… <4seconds Web Performance Today http://bit.ly/1525Y7P

Tablet users have high expectations… http://bit.ly/HUPxPj (March 2012 research)

That are not being met…

RESPONSIVE DESIGN

ADVISORY…

Reduce content as much

as possible…

Get priorities in order… http://bit.ly/1aVCAiZ

• Start with mobile expectations…

1. Create a simple design

2. Highlight important info (AKA: top tasks)

3. Feature calls-to-action

4. Keep sites quick

5. Optimize for screen size

If you were starting RD from scratch…

Build from mobile up…

• Less content

• Fewer images

• Cleaner design

• Faster operating site

If from desktop down…

• Eliminate garbage

• Not all content is

“ready for responsive”

• Wait to launch until all

key pages are ready

• Does everyone

understand “speed”?

UC San Diego on a PC… 2.69 seconds http://www.webpagetest.org/

5 seconds on different devices… Test mobile at http://mobitest.akamai.com/m/index.cgi

Regular home page… Smartphone redesign…

RD vs. mobile download speed… http://mobitest.akamai.com/m/index.cgi

Top RD website… 3.57s

(average of 3 tests) Top mobile website… 1.80s

Mobile site speed leader… 12 requests

RD site speed leader… 28 requests

MOST LIKELY TO DRIVE PEOPLE

FROM YOUR WEBSITE…

Confusing navigation,

poor menus and links

Adult students… Large public

20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 5% 10%

Up-to-date

Accurate

Complete

Language

Contact

Participation

Recommendations

Search

Navigation

Layout

Visual appeal

Negative votes Positive votes

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC... @highedmarketing

Online students… Small private

10% 5% 0% 5% 10% 15%

Up-to-date

Accurate

Complete

Language

Contact

Participation

Recommendations

Search

Menus and Links

Layout

Visual appeal

Negative votes Positive votes

Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC... @highedmarketing

TOP TASKS ONLINE

STUDENTS WANT TO

COMPLETE…

How can your website help?

TOP TASKS WE’LL COVER IN

MORE DETAIL TODAY…

1. Understand how the degree will help with career advancement.

2. Calculate price information.

3. Find academic program information.

4. Easily make inquiries.

TWO UNUSUAL TOP TASK

TREATMENTS…

Right from the home page…

Priority: why adults return to college… http://www.capella.edu/

Task #1: career advancement

Priority: cost, right from the start… http://www.strayer.edu/

Task #2: price information

Offer a simple net price calculator… https://www.aidcalc.com/snhu/

FOR INDIVIDUAL ACADEMIC

PROGRAM AREAS…

Top tasks at a glance…

Professional school home page… http://management.bu.edu/

Easy to scan program choices… http://management.bu.edu/graduate/graduate-programs/

Class profiles by academic areas… http://management.bu.edu/graduate/graduate-admissions/profile/

BLESSEDLY BRIEF

INQUIRY FORMS…

The longer a form, the fewer people

who will complete it

Right from the home page is faster…

Task #4: inquiries

And this is even faster…

Everything at a glance… http://www.cstudies.ubc.ca/about/contact.html

Asking for preferred contact options… https://www.scps.nyu.edu/contactUs.htm

Program specific examples… http://www.drexel.com/online-degrees/engineering-degrees/ms-eng-

tech/index.aspx & http://www.wlc.edu/ags/maed/

Contact info from the program page… http://www.regis.edu/CPS/Academics/Degrees-and-Programs/Undergraduate-

Programs/Bachelor-of-Science-in-Accounting.aspx

OTHER TASKS TO

CONSIDER FOR SPECIAL

GROUPS…

How can your website help?

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

Special page for the military…

Most vet sites focus on cost…

Walden University… Liberty University…

Video for vets… a personal story http://www.devry.edu/admissions/military.html

TECHNIQUES TO

PERSONALIZE THE

EXPERIENCE…

How can you connected with

potential students?

Clear, friendly admission requirements… http://www.stedwards.edu/admission/adultlearners/requirements

• Write like this…

• “We consider your work

and life experience,

your....”

• 10 times…

• Use of “you” or “your” on

this page

• Abolish…

• “Applicants must…”

language

Chat contact for immediate questions… http://www.snhu.edu/Continuing-Education.aspx

Repeat the call to action… http://www.mbaregis.com/

Social media promo on website… http://www.phoenix.edu/students/online-communities.html

GROWING IMPORTANCE

FOR VIDEO…

Add video for program promotion… http://www.youtube.com/user/UBCContinuingStudies

Personal stories are best told in video… http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/programs/emba/work-life-balance

PUTTING CONTENT ON

THE PAGE…

K.I.S.S…

Simple, fast task completion

WEB READERS ARE SCAN

READERS…

If people can’t scan your pages, people won’t

read your content…

Important, inexpensive, quick change starts with a cursor…

Change big paragraphs to small paragraphs

Not so scannable on this page… http://www.cofc.edu/about/index.php

Easy to scan page… http://www.cofc.edu/academics/index.php

Eliminate dense blocks of text…

• Short paragraphs… 50 words or less

• One-sentence paragraph is OK

• Short sentences… 5 to 10 words

• Subheads…

• Active words, not labels

• Flow from the primary page heading

• Bullet points

Can’t scan “Program Highlights”…

Web-friendly content editing…

• The BS in Elementary Education is a Florida Department of Education

(FLDOE) approved program that culminates with both Reading and ESOL

endorsement.

• The program includes courses in teaching students with English as a second

language, students with exceptionalities, reading competency, classroom

management, assessment, and integrated approaches to teaching methodologies at

the elementary school level.

• Students will learn to facilitate lessons that integrate math and science, health,

music and movement, as well as literature, fine arts, language arts, and social

sciences.

• Field experience requirements are progressive in nature, building upon previous

semester experiences.

• Students will observe teachers in the field, teach lessons through the practicum

courses, and complete a full-time teaching internship in their final semester.

Courses are offered for full-time and part-time students, with blended and online

courses where applicable.

• Students will complete one upper division literacy course (3 credit hours) taught by

Florida Gulf Coast University faculty.

Easy to scan “Admissions” links… http://www4.esu.edu/admissions/index.cfm

Easy to scan “About” page… http://www.stanford.edu/about/

WRAPPING UP…

Mistakes to avoid…

Resources to follow.

Check mobile after the home page…

Fix long blocks of dense text…

And these mistakes as well…

•Broken links…

•Dated content…

•Photos not related to page content…

Follow how adults access the web… http://bit.ly/11zdtx1

Make the case for speed… http://www.copyblogger.com/website-speed-matters/

A speedy guide to going mobile… http://www.implementingresponsivedesign.com/

Test for “real world” performance… http://www.guypo.com/uncategorized/real-world-rwd-performance-take-2/

Compare mobile site performance… http://mobitest.akamai.com/m/index.cgi

Key points going forward…

• Speed is critical at every step

• Top task completion is a priority

• Cost information presented early

• Student profiles by academic areas

• Calls to action repeated often

• Blessedly brief inquiry forms

• Video story telling

THANKS FOR BEING

HERE IN SAN DIEGO! Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (248.766.6425)

bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com

www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com

@highedmarketing on Twitter

Speed, Simplicity, and Top Task Completion: 3 Critical Steps to Boost Online Enrollment

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