As higher education marketing professionals, our job is to connect with new audiences in novel ways. We craft the first impressions, identify the differentiators, and tell the human stories that tug at the heartstrings and inspire possibility. When we talk to students in person, we can show our enthusiasm. We can be warm and supportive, brag unabashedly, and we make a difference for students who are excited about their college adventure. But how do we do this for today’s digitally immersed audiences? What do we need to convince prospective students to join our communities and give us their information so we can continue the conversation and make our case?
Higher ed marketers can build these relationships online in many ways: through a robust content strategy that shares the stories only you can tell, or with a user experience design that conveys your institution’s community and sense of place, for example. But no matter how you differentiate your college or university, no matter how great your photos are, at the end of the day, higher ed marketers are accountable for creating content that converts.
How can you ensure your content resonates with your audience? Build and test smart landing pages.
What is a higher education landing page?
A higher education landing page is a page on your .edu designed to convert students into leads. That’s it. That’s its sole purpose. A landing page is different from other pages on your website for two reasons:
- It has a form that allows you to capture a student’s information in exchange for a desired offer. These often take the shape of request for information (RFI) forms.
- It has minimal distractions (think different navigation, no other links) so the student is compelled to take the action. A home page with a form on it does not count as a landing page because it serves other purposes as well.
Landing pages can be standalone pages. (This is especially true if you’re engaged in digital marketing campaigns.) But landing pages can also be your marketing-critical pages, such as academic program pages. Every website should have landing pages, and your .edu should use them strategically to drive traffic, improve SEO, and build your brand.
Start by thinking about the types of students you want to engage. Understanding who’s interested in your college or university is an important component of any marketing strategy. Once you know what motivates a student to take action, you can build a landing page perfected to convert them.
10 components of an effective higher education landing page
A well-architected landing page is much more likely to convert students into leads. Your home page, for example, is not a great landing page because, by definition, it serves as a gateway to other pages containing more information about who you are as an institution, your academic offerings, admissions deadlines, and more.
Every landing page should have its own goal. If that means creating multiple pages for the same campaign based on the different outcomes you desire, that’s a much better option than directing every campaign to your home page.
Here are 10 key components of designing a higher education landing page that converts students to leads:
