Websites That Work

I am researching what makes websites appealing to students when they visit. There are several articles that I found that were very insightful. Here is an excerpt:

The Evolution of Online Student Recruitment

Tough economic times call for harder scrutiny of marketing dollars, among other belt-tightening measures. To help institutions hone in on the best use of marketing dollars, Campus Technology talked with higher education marketing expert Bob Johnson. Johnson has been studying, writing about, and lecturing on student recruitment practices since the early '80s and now consults with colleges and universities. His focus has shifted to online marketing in higher ed. "At some point," he said, "[universities] stopped asking me how to do a better view-book. [Now], people are interested in how to make Web sites stronger for recruiting."

In this first segment of a two-part interview, he talks about new ways in which technology is being used to connect with students and parents--and how students use technology to find schools. Johnson also discusses why putting excess effort into a school's home page isn't the best use of online marketing funds. Johnson blogs about the topics discussed here, and much more, at bobjohnsonblog.com.

I looked at a couple of websites and here are some that I personally liked.

This is Wharton School of Business' website.

http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/undergrad/

Here is another great example from MIT.

http://www.mitadmissions.org/

What appealed to me the most were the steps along the top that guided students in their application process to MIT.