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| Link of the Week... 26 June 2009... Cornell College |
| 112 Best Practice College and University Website Pages Most weeks on Friday I add a link to a college or university website that is superior to what else is available in student recruitment, alumni relations, fundraising or other areas that I visit in preparing presentations and website reviews for my clients. 26 June 2009... Cornell College... Building Brand Distinctiveness Building a distinctive brand in higher education isn't easy among thousands of institutions awarding college and university degrees today. For many potential students, one accredited institution is the same as another. Choice often is driven by price and convenience. The commodity pit is difficult to avoid. Cornell College does more than most institutions to take advantage of a unique brand attribute, scheduling students for "One Course At A Time." Cornell doesn't just put that "One course..." statement online and then move on to facts and figures. From a prominent home page location, visitors who want to know more can move to page where 8 students, 10 faculty, and 12 alumni give testimony to the power of that learning format. If you'd rather watch a video than read text, there's also a 3 minute, 47 second spot where students, faculty, and alumni testify briefly but strongly to the value of the brand element. Visit http://www.cornellcollege.edu/academics/ocaat/ and check brand building at Cornell College. Recommend a "Link of the Week" web page. Send me an email at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com Your website will benefit from my objective marketing communications review. Call me at 248.766.6425 or email at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com for details of a review that includes these elements, or customize for your special interests:
Reviews are individual, extensive, and generally consist of 30-50 pages packed with individual page comments, key page screen shots, and general site recommendations. Pricing is based on the size of your website and the primary content areas included for review. Add a Customer Centric Index survey of one or more of your key audiences (future students, current students, alumni, and faculty/staff) for direct feedback on 13 key elements of your website. To read about results of previous CCI higher education surveys, visit the Customer Carewords topic on my blog. Best College & University Website Archives 19 June 2009 — St. Leo University... Enabling Socia Media "Collectors" Social media "collectors" like to tell other people about their finds on the web. St. Leo helps them do that with links to 53 social media sites. Check this online marketing technique at http://info.saintleo.edu/col/ 12 June 2009 — University of Michigan... Financial Fundamentals A 9-slide presentation tells the tale of key income sources and how revenue is allocated to major areas of the University. Good start for a budget debate. Visit at http://vpcomm.umich.edu/budget/fundingsnapshot/ 5 June 2009 — Azusa Pacific University... Mobile Access Website How does your regular website look from an iPhone or other mobile device? Best to plan now for a simpler version that allows easy access to key content. Visit http://www.apu.edu/m/ and check a plain and simple version of the future. 22 May 2009 — University of Phoenix... Connecting 9 Social Media Sites One step from the home page is a web page with brief descriptions of 9 social media sites including FB, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Visit from http://www.phoenix.edu/students/online_communities.html 15 May 2009 — Wesleyan University... Engage Users in Web Design Involve your campus community right from the start of a new website design project. Wesleyan solicits comments on 3 home page designs. See how it works. And can work for you. 8 May 2009 — University of Missouri... Best Registrar's Site Visited 43 registrar's website entry pages in search of one that put students first, right from the first 5-second impression. The Registrar's Office at Mizzou stands above the rest. Service marketing is alive and well here. 24 April 2009 — Middlebury College... Frank Talk on Financial Crisis President Liebowitz speaks clearly about how plans will change from the impact from endowment and tuition losses than anyone else on the web. Follow the story as it unfolds. 17 April 2009 — City University of New York... "Post-click" Marketing Expertise Ad campaigns often fall apart after a person hits a website when there's no connection between ad and online experience. CCNY gets it right with an online page the mirrors the print ad. 10 April 2009 — Suffolk University... 11 Video Stories to Tour Campus & City Buildings and grounds take a back seat as students, faculty, and an intern supervisor tell personal stories to introduce Suffolk and Boston. Take the tour. 3 April 2009 — Brock University... Online Capital Campaign Top priorities and giving options are clear and easy at this site for the "Bold New Brock" campaign. Review the possibilities. 20 March 2009 — UT McCombs School of Business... 32 Student YouTube Videos Market 10 Academic Programs Creative students craft videos to promote their academic majors on YouTube. Watch your favorite videos. 13 March 2009 — Walden University... Word of Mouth Marketing Make it easy for your current students to invite friends and colleagues to join them at your school. Check's Walden's website referral page. 6 March 2009 — NYU School of Continuing & Professional Studies... Unique Inquiry Page Clean, quick inquiry form puts the visitor in charge re how they'd best like to receive information. Take a test drive. 20 February 2009 — DeVry University... Best Marketing-Oriented Home Page Engage in 5 seconds or less with academic programs and continue with live chat, video testimonials and more. Visit great marketing at http://www.devry.edu/ 13 February 2009 — Calvin College... Press Releases + Video for Online Impact And the text presentation is perfect for 5-second engagement. See how to do press releases online at http://www.calvin.edu/news/ 6 February 2009 — Rhode Island School of Design... Online Viewbook Banish PDFs and engage people with video stories and examples of student work. Open the viewbook here now. 23 January 2009 — Peddie School... Interactive Online Tour Select from 9 start options and view student and faculty video stories. Start your tour here. 16 January 2009 — University of Kentucky... Special Events Page Special events are often "promoted" with a press release that's unlikely to engage web visitors. This MLK holiday example shows how to do it for any event upcoming on your campus. Visit http://www.uky.edu/MLK/about.html 9 January 2009 — Worchester Polytechnic Institute... Social Media & New Admits YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter work with other social media elements to engage and convert new admits to WPI. http://admissions.wpi.edu/Congrats/connect.html 12 December 2008 — 2 Most Popular Links in 2008... Academics & Alumni The top site as for "The Perfect Academic Page at Penn State's Online MBA program at http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/iMBA.shtml A strong second favorite was Mount Holyoke College's "Alumni Blogazine" at http://www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/blogs/blog/mount-holyoke-alumnae-quarterly 5 December 2008 — Wesleyan University... President's Financial Crisis Page Video, FAQs, a blog combine with old fashioned text to tell the story of what's being done to meet the challenges of the uncertain financial future. http://www.wesleyan.edu/administration/securingthefuture/ 21 November 2008 — University of British Columbia... Online Annual Report Story telling along with the usual reports in a innovative, interactive Web 2.0 version that expands the impact of a print document. http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/annualreports/2008/index.php 14 November 2008 — Oklahoma State University... 5 Alumni Social Networks OSU creates instant visibility to introduce alumni to social networking opportunities. Follow the Orange Connection at http://orangeconnection.org/s/860/index-blue.aspx?sid=860&gid=1&pgid=370 7 November 2008 — University of Chicago Law... Story Telling on Twitter Students and faculty tell tales of the law school experience at "Tweet Chicago." Follow the Twitter stories at http://webcast-law.uchicago.edu/tweetchicago/ 31 October 2008 — Edmonds Community College... Onsite Social Networking Blogs, videos, events, chats, student activities on a single social networking page create strong connections and constant new content. Visit the social networking site at http://edmondscc.ning.com/ 17 October 2008 — College of Charleston... Top Student Profile Page People searching for the right college test the "fit" by what they know about who goes to your college now. This page hits the basic details and much more. Meet the Class of 2012 at http://www.cofc.edu/about/profiles_2012.html 10 October 2008 — Cornell University College of Engineering... Admissions Blogs Students searching for the right college visit academic areas of interest so why not put recruitment content on the academic program web pages? Read the blogs at http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/prospective/connect/blogs.cfm 3 October 2008 — University of Virginia... 26 Video Law School Stories YouTube is the vehicle the Law School uses to expand online communications and present video stories about academics, alumni support, facilities and more. Visit the site at http://www.youtube.com/UVALawSchool 19 September 2008 — University of Maryland... Networking by Academic Area "My Social Network" connects future and current students in the School of Social Work in 10 special interest group areas. Check the venture at http://mysocialnetwork.umaryland.edu/ 12 September 2008 — University of Alberta... International student recruiting Seriously recruiting international students with an in-depth website that includes scholarship countries and online registration before arriving at the university. Visit http://www.international.ualberta.ca/ 5 September 2008 — Northern Arizona University... Twitter for adult students Engage current and future distance learning students with a stream of Twitter items, crafted in about 140 characters or less to inform and entice. Follow a pioneering effort on the new Twitter site. 15 August 2008 — Capella University... Taking the mystery from online learning Capella offers 5 different options to remove the mystery about online learning, from FAQs to videos to a fee one-week seminar and more. Visit this page and check the options for yourself. 1 August 2008 — City University of Seattle... Quick connect for degree programs The "engage them or lose them in 2 to 10 seconds" rule is at work in this great introduction to 4 Masters programs, each with a brief description. Engage yourself when you visit this page. 18 July 2008 — Creighton University... Marvelously short online inquiry form Direct marketers know that the shorter you keep your online inquiry form, the more people will complete it. See the shortest form I've ever found on a college website right here. 11 July 2008 — Fanshawe College... International students tell their stories International students searching for a college will benefit from this easy-to-scan page with 17 stories grouped by the 9 countries represented. http://www.fanshawec.ca/EN/international/international/76212/testimonials.html 20 June 2008 — Centre College... A president makes a YouTube pitch The president goes online on YouTube to personally energize alumni for end-of-season contributions to the annual fund. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Ns-S-yoKI 13 June 2008 — Agnes Scott College... 15 student videos animate campus tour More than 15 student videos give new life to the online campus tour experience at a Webby Awards site honored for "Rich Media Advertising." http://www.realviewtv.com/online/agnesscott/index.html 6 June 2008 — Bluffton University... Student videos give life to the Mission Students tell video stories about Service, Discover, Community, and Respect values that distinguish a Bluffon education. http://www.bluffton.edu/about/distinction/respect/ 30 May 2008 — Ohio State University... Direct links to 5 social networking sites Connect direct to 5 social networking sites from a dedicated page on your "official" website, including Facebook, YouTube, and Wikipedia. http://www.osu.edu/features/2008/socialmedia/?feature=socialmedia&yr=2008 16 May 2008 — Dominican University... Very fast online scholarship estimator Answer 2 questions about your academic record and receive a quick estimate of the merit scholarship you might receive as a new freshmen or transfer student. http://www.ican.dom.edu/ScholarshipCalculator/ScholarshipCalculator.aspx 9 May 2008 — Penn State University Online MBA... The perfect academic page? The perfect academic program page? Just about. Great use of keywords, easy-to-scan and read text, clear links, smart video content, and more. See it all at http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/iMBA.shtml 2 May 2008 — Roanoke College... Online Contest to Build the Brand Recommend a mascot contest generates stories about why Roanoke is a "Classic College" in a unique online effort to build the brand and have fun doing it. http://www.classiccollege.com/ 18 April 2008 — Northwestern University School of Law Online, interactive viewbook starts with student and facuty videos telling the law school story. Links let you move easily from the viewbook to the main website. http://www.law.northwestern.edu/admissions/viewbook/ 11 April 2008 — University of Richmond An online "Undergraduate Catalog" makes it easy for future students to find the majors and courses that inteest them. A special feature makes it easy to send suggestions about how to make the catalog work even better than it does now. http://undergraduatecatalog.richmond.edu/ 4 April 2008 — University of Wisconsin Oshkosh A keyword search feature lets visitors quickly find out if a major is offered here, complete with links to information about it. Try the "Major Finder" at http://admissions.uwosh.edu/major 21 March 2008 — University of St. Thomas A "web encoure" for an online magazine creates higher impact with extra audio and video features for the Web 2.0 environment. http://www.stthomas.edu/magazine/2008/Winter/Broszko.html 7 March 2008 — The University of Southern Mississippi Student videos on TV and the Web integrate brand building and increase enrollment applications. http://www.usm.edu/spv/ 29 February 2008 — Mount Holyoke College Innovative use of the blog format brings an alumnae magazine to life on the web. http://www.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/blogs/blog/mount-holyoke-alumnae-quarterly 15 February 2008 — University of Missouri Video animates a print story about Missouri's poet laureate as Walter Bargen reads the poetry someone else is writing about and Web 2.0 shows real value. http://mizzouwire.missouri.edu/stories/2008/poetry-wings/ 8 February 2008 — Washington State University Engage high school students early with an "Imagine Tomorrow" contest and clearly present the participation and prize details in text and video. http://www.imagine.wsu.edu/about.aspx 1 February 2008 — Hobart and William Smith Colleges "Experience Maps" for students and faculty start at the front page and let visitors scan and select from 12 experiences to learn more about what interests them. http://www.hws.edu/ 18 January 2008 — Sacred Heart University Student story telling done really well in 8 "Learning 24/7" videos that tell tales of life on capmpus, from academics to athletics to just plain fun. Watch them at http://www.sacredheart.edu/pages/20701_learning_24_7.cfm 11 January 2008 — Colby College Student-generated content in personal stories, video, blogs, photos, podcasts and an online magazine in a leading application of Web 2.0 for student recruitment. http://www.insidecolby.com/ 4 January 2008 — UCLA Best-in-class web friendly presentation of capital campaign results, with links to 9 primary beneficiaries of campaign dollars at http://www.giveto.ucla.edu/campaignnews.html 7 December 2007 — St. Edward's University Future students and their parents will learn about possible merit scholarships in about 15 seconds when they answer 5 questions at this easy-to-use estimator. http://www.gotostedwards.com/calculator/ 30 November 2007 — University of Nebraska The College of Engineering takes student and faculty video stories to YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEoGawLjnts&feature=related 16 November 2007 — University of Manitoba 17 student and alumni blogs support a multi-media "Its My Future" branding campaign with stories of their personal successes at http://www.itsmyfuture.ca/ 9 November 2007 — Slippery Rock University Make "accountability" information about first-year retention, student engagement on campus, and much more highly visible from the front page of your website. http://www.sru.edu/ 2 November 2007 — DeVry University Take advantage of the popularity of online degree programs with a comprehensive demonstration of how things work at your university. http://www.devry.edu/images/keller-demo.html 19 October 2007 — Bradley University Financial aid estimator breaks the sticker price barrier to deliver net cost information for freshman and estimates of net costs for the next three years. https://admissions.bradley.edu/ssl/estimator/?status=viewtab1 12 October 2007 — Clark University Faculty connect with potential students in visual podcast stories "Their Other Life" outside the classroom. Hear the 6 stories at http://www.clarku.edu/clarkvoices/ 5 October 2007 — Nebraska Wesleyan University Faculty blogs as part of the student recruitment communication mix at http://admissions.nebrwesleyan.edu/academics/professor-blogs.php 21 September 2007 — Stony Brook University Virtual admission advisors that give accurate answers to question are rare. For an example that shows attention to keywords and content, ask a question at http://sunysb.askadmissions.net/sunysb/aeresults.aspx 14 September 2007 — Pitzer College A video press release replaces the traditional, hard-to-scan print version. http://www.pitzer.edu/multimedia/mediapraxisme.html 7 September 2007 — Dickinson College From an easy to scan list of academic programs, visitors create a "Custom Academic Viewbook" with info about each program listed on a single web page. http://www.dickinson.edu/academics/pgmvb.html 17 August 2007 — George Mason University Gunston, the university mascot, introduced humorous videos with the serious intent of generating online inquiries for the admissions office. http://www.masonmetro.com/gunstonfiles.cfm 20 July 2007 — Northeastern University A "Parents Corner" message board engages parents on campus safety, finanacial aid and more at http://messageboard.chatuniversity.com/neuparent/ 13 July 2007 — Smith College Easy to scan key branding statement tells admissions visitors "How Smith Feels" to differentiate the college in just a few seconds. http://www.smith.edu/about_howsmithfeels.php 6 July 2007 — Regis University Online MBA See an entry page optimized for search engine marketing, from the essential page title tag through the headings and primary content when you visit http://www.mbaregis.com/ 15 June 2007 — Gustavus Adolphus College Instant Messaging as part of the admissions communication mix is presented with an easy-to-scan clarity that's missing from most other IM efforts. http://admission.gustavus.edu/admissions/connect/im.asp 1 June 2007 — University of Toronto Rotman School of Management Watch an engaging YouTube promotional video featuring studens, alumni, and faculty at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSdtyaDW1W0&mode=related&search= 18 May 2007 — Case Western Reserve University Second Life joints the online student recruitment communications mix at http://admission.case.edu/secondlife.asp 11 May 2007 — The University Western Ontario 106 faculty, student, staff, and alumni blogs presented on a single high impact page at http://communications.uwo.ca/weblogs/directory.htm#alumni 4 May 2007 — University of Chicago Putting an alumni magazine online so that people will read it can't be done in PDF format. For a best practice example of how to create online content, visit http://magazine.uchicago.edu/ 20 April 2007 — UC Berkeley Integrate your official admissions website with YouTube after you see how Berkeley uses 20 "CalTube" videos to show the benefits of its academic programs and San Francisco environment. Make the connection at http://students.berkeley.edu/myberkeley/showcaltube.asp?autoplay=life 13 April 2007 — Connecticut College 13 faculty and student stories prominently displayed throughout the website create high marketing impact for text-only content. Read the stories at http://www.conncoll.edu/ 6 April 2007 — University of Richmond Innovative use of student videos to answer "Frequently Asked Questions" is just one feature of an "Experience Richmond" collection of Web 2.0 elements. See the collection at http://www.richmond.edu/prospective/faq/ 30 March 2007 — MIT Blogs from students and staff dominate the first admissions page as Web 2.0 continues to change the future face of college and university websites. http://www.mitadmissions.org/ 16 March 2007 — Muhlenberg College Visit one of the few, maybe the only, college website that speaks the truth about "preferential" financial aid packaging. This top content is at http://www.muhlenberg.edu/admissions/aid.html 9 March 2007 — Virginia Tech University A YouTube contest to create VTU stories and spread "Invent the Future" brand identity. See this new twist on shaping user-generated content at http://www.vt.edu/contests/youtube 2 March 2007 - Calvin College Web 2.0 increases the impact of press releases with links to Facebook, Digg, and Del.ocio.us and more. http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2006-07/sushi-theatre.htm 16 February 2007 - Longwood University Blogs, videos, podcasts and more student created features combine for high impact reality marketing at "Longwood Live." http://www.whylongwood.com/longwoodlive/ 9 February 2007 — The College of New Jersey Try an online tuition cost estimate, the website feature that's second in demand by college bound high school students. (For the most in demand, see the 11 August entry for the financial aid estimator at University of Toledo.) http://www.tcnj.edu/~admiss/costs.html 2 February 2007 — UNC Kenan-Flager Business School Easy to scan content, a video testimonial, and a strong page title tag make this stand out for unusually high engagement potential. See the results at http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/Programs/execMBA/weekend/index.cfm 19 January 2007 — Santa Clara University School of Law 15 blog topics keep everyone up to date, from future and current students to faculty, staff, and media. Blog's aren't just for personal stories any more. http://www.scu.edu/law/blog/index.html 12 January 2007 — Ohio University Continuing education gets a "Second Life" in 3-D in a new venture at http://www.blog4learning.com/2007/01/ohio_university_without_bounda_1.html 5 January 2007 — Fordham University 12 easy to scan video topics help build the Fordham brand identity. http://www.fordham.edu/Media/discover/Meet.shtml 8 December 2006 — Ball State University Student videos introduce the key academic learning feature that helps shape the Ball State brand of "Education Redefined" for future students and their parents. http://www.bsu.edu/portfolio/0612/ 1 December 2006 — Butler University Student vodcasts focus on the first semester in the College of Business Administration... and are posted on YouTube for extra impact. Visit http://www.butler.edu/vodcast 17 November 2006 — University of Manitoba MySpace adapted for a university website mixes talk of romance, biology, study skills, baking a pie and more at the Virtual Learning Commons. Web 2.0 goes to college at https://www.umanitoba.ca/virtuallearningcommons/ 3 November 2006 — Emerson College A "can't miss" display of academic programs at the admissions page. See the graduate programs at http://admission.emerson.edu/graduate/ 20 October 2006 — Boston University Student and faculty story telling videos, right from the front page. See the videos at http://www.bu.edu/ 13 October 2006 — University of Minnesota Integrated ad campaign... TV, print, radio, online, campus sidewalks. Read the rationale and see and listen to the ads for the Driven to Discover campaign at http://www.brand.umn.edu/discover/howItUnfolds/index.php 6 October 2006 — Carnegie Mellon University Videos, blog, and podcasts help convert web visitors inspired by a traditional ad camaign for the Tepper School's MBA program at http://www.mbarealitycheck.com/default.aspx?id=144000 15 September 2006 — University of Connecticut A powerful "can't miss" branding statement on the front page of the website is repeated and reinforced at the first admission page at http://www.uconn.edu/ 8 September 2006 — Pepperdine University A rare annual report designed for the Web, not a PDF copy from print. http://www.pepperdine.edu/annualreports/2005/ 18 August 2006 — Carnegie Mellon University Abby and Jenny, admissions robots, answer your questions when they can and ask you to call admissions when they can't. See the "Synthetic Interviewers" in action at http://my.cmu.edu/site/admission/menuitem.e5fc30afd07833c019300710d4a02008/ 11 August 2006 — University of Toledo Very fast online financial aid estimator and ROI for a UT education. Estimate what you'll pay at UT at http://www.financialaid.utoledo.edu/estimator/ 4 August 2006 — Texas A&M University System Press releases in blog format highlights new news and easy archive searches. Visit http://sago-news.tamu.edu/releases/ 28 July 2006 — University of Baltimore Follow Natalie through 8 30-second videos on life as a UB student as part of an innovative branding campaign integrating TV, web, billboards and more. See how well it works at http://www.knowledgethatworksub.com/ 14 July 2006 — Hendrix College Audio and print stories highlight alumni outcomes right from the admissions page. http://www.hendrix.edu/admission/admission.aspx?id=91 7 July 2006 — MIT Visit ZigZag, a video magazine that takes online publications a step ahead of most. http://web.mit.edu/zigzag 23 June 2006 — Walden University Student videos are used to verify the brand identity claimed on the front page. http://realpeople.waldenu.edu/ 16 June 2006 — Colgate University Video success stories from 9 Class of 2006 alumni for potential new students. www.colgate.edu/DesktopDefault1.aspx?tabid=2386 9 June 2006 — Capella University Put 3 great student stories right on the top of your front page... and follow them inside with 13 more. www.capella.edu 2 June 2006 — Buffalo State College Get more people to “Interact” at your website. Put podcasts, message board, blogs and more in one convenient location. And label it, “Interact." www.buffalostate.edu/admissions/interact.xml 19 May 2006 — North Dakota State University Great example of website interactivity as 30 students say “Ask Me” about NDSU. Pick your favorite by major or home town. www.ndsu.nodak.edu/askme/ 12 May 2006 — Furman University Furman validates the stories of every student who blogs when it lets Greg tell why he plans to transfer. www.engagefurman.com/ViewJournal.asp?ID=126&FirstName=Greg 5 May 2006 — Miami University of Ohio Junior inquiries receive an email link to student videos on life at Miami. www.miami.muohio.edu/admission/miami/miami.cfm 28 April 2006 — Biola University “Hugs from Home” from parents creates strong “word of mouth” marketing. www.biola.edu/parent/products_services/ 14 April 2006 — Mount Holyoke College Visit for a great campus tour experience, using the interactive power of the Internet to put the visitor in charge. www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/tour/ 31 March 2006 — Skidmore College Use Internet interactivity to engage alumni at your website. www.skidmore.edu/alumni/sbn/ 17 March 2006 — Houghton College Houghton College integrates blogs, podcasts, and photos — “next generation” blogs. www.houghton.edu/admission/ 10 March 2006 — Cornell University Cornell University presents 30 creative and entertaining gift giving opportunities. www.alumni.cornell.edu/creative_ways.htm 3 March 2006 — Boston College One of the few fundraising pages that shows how a gift benefits individual students. www.bc.edu/friends/invest/bcfund/ |