Could You Widen University Participation Through Your Website?
The bigger question here might be what other channels should you be looking at to ensure you’re reaching all audiences, with digital poverty still a considerable issue among youth audiences.
But, when it does come down to your website, how genuine is your desire to really make it work that bit harder to engage students who may have a whole breadth of other factors making their higher education decision challenging?
University websites have a lot of content – this is not news, we know you can handle the truth. And whilst some campaigns and content logic may help those students needing additional support, the stark reality is most likely to be that it's there…. If they know where to look.
Personalised user journeys on your website may sound far-fetched and hard to attain, but if you view your audience groups in terms of the questions they might have and the content you have to solve them, you can really speed up the conversation.
How do students identify themselves?
Before you’ve taken details from a student, through a form for example, they are likely to be researching your institution and exploring if it looks like it might be for them.
Do students from a “Widening Participation” background identify or acknowledge this criteria? Some might be aware of some of the additional support available to them, but many won’t. Being able to provide some visual prompts to guide them towards viewing another piece of content or performing an action that’s relevant to their journey could really help their research and ultimately their decision-making process.
Can you learn about your student groups?
Of course.
Whether that’s financial advice, information about support groups or speaking with an advisor online or over the phone, you could improve a prospective students’ website experience and their interactions with you.
Websites are a reflection of who you are as an institution, so being able to provide a supportive, well-conceived approach to helping all students find relevant content could really improve students’ early experiences of you.
Read more about how Cues.ai can be used not just as a student recruitment tool but also to support widening participation here.
