Figure 3: Summary of total rating scores on all 28 characteristics.
L. De Weaver , PhD Candidate, School of Commerce and Management, Southern Cross University, Email: lynne.deweaver@scu.edu.au
A. Ellis, School of Commerce and Management, Southern Cross University,
Email: allan.ellis@scu.edu.au
In the face of growing competition for students, Australian Universities are becoming increasingly aware of the need to market their products and services both locally, nationally and internationally. As well as refining traditional print based materials the Web offers a new range of marketing possibilities.
The authors conducted a pilot study of nine Australian universities and rated their Web sites on 28 characteristics that were deemed relevant to successful Web-based marketing.
Surprisingly there was considerable variation in the total scores. Most universities could easily improve their situation by simply improving their performance on characteristics that were scored as inconsistent. The top scoring university provides a clear guide as to what is best practice. Highlights of each site are provided.
University Web-Marketing represents a powerful and cost-effective way to reach prospective students. It is a process by which universities can identify and target potential students online in order to deliver a range of products and services that meet their needs. A University’s website enables it to reach more prospective student visitors, wherever they may be, as well as overcome the various constraints of producing and distributing print based marketing materials and broadcast advertising.
However, as Walters' states, (2006, p.44) “…good content will not be enough to win the contest for students.”
Campus Review (11 April 2006, p.12) recently featured a brief article about University websites written by well-respected IT consultant, Graeme Philipson, who stated, “The Internet is an educational resource of almost infinite magnitude. It’s all about information. But not all of these sites are easy to use.” His assessment was made on the basis of whether or not the 16 University websites he visited were easy to navigate, whether they had sitemaps and if they were easy to search. While the authors of this pilot study used wider selection criteria to assess the sites of the nine Universities they selected. (Charles Sturt’s site was the only University common to both.) There is currently a dearth of information available regarding University Web-Marketing.
Data captured from the commencing student surveys under taken by Southern Cross University (SCU) each year indicates that SCU’s website is a major source of information about its programs for prospective students.
As the costs associated with attending University continue to escalate, prospective students, regardless of their age, need to give careful consideration to their ‘purchasing decision’ as to which University they want to attend. The University marketplace has become a ‘buyer’s market.
The comparative process of deciding on which university to attend and which programs the various universities have to offer, can be a lengthy one for prospective students. During this time students often attend a variety of Tertiary Information events. The nature of this process can be equally true for the ‘mature age’ market segment. The school-leaver market segment is defined as anyone who enters University directly after competing secondary studies, while the mature-age segment is the designation given to anyone entering University for the first time that has not come directly from secondary studies.
While traditional marketing methods are still used by all universities to some degree, the increasing cost of traditional media and print-based materials, linked to the rise and greater affordability of Web usage, has led to an increase in Web-Marketing activity. It has subsequently become an essential component of the marketing mix for most Universities. The challenge has become how to integrate Web-Marketing strategies into other marketing efforts to gain greater synergy and brand consistency.
As in traditional marketing, Web-Marketing is both an internal process as well an external process. De Weaver explains, (2001, p. 43) “The internal process refers to that part of your business which customers don’t see but which affects their level of satisfaction.” For example, in a University environment some internal factors that must be addressed include answers to questions such as:
While some of the external factors for Web-Marketing reflect the traditional ‘4 Ps of Marketing’, e.g. Product, Price, Promotion, Place, there is a 5th P - for People - which must also be taken into consideration if Web-Marketing is to be effective. This ‘People Strategy’ should answer questions such as:
To be successful, Web-Marketing should support, as well as integrate with, a University’s entire marketing program. University websites must also be recognised for what they are, another distribution channel. However, it is one that enables prospective students to access the information they want online wherever and whenever it is convenient for them to do so – provided the information they seek is available.
To paraphrase Gupta and Lehmann (2005), you need to understand why a prospective student should attend your University and not your competitors. They go on to say (p115 – 116), “Understanding the sources of customer value helps you to design effective programs.” In other words, how will a visit to a University’s website deliver value to the prospective student?
Understanding ‘customer value’ from a student’s perspective makes it much easier for University’s to develop effective Web-Marketing programs. Although developing a truly dynamic, intuitive and interactive website is highly dependant on budget, effective Web-Marketing strategies do not necessarily correlate to the size of the budget but rather to implementing effective Web-Marketing strategies which will enable a website to deliver real customer satisfaction.
However, in designing a website consideration must be given to the fact that not everyone who visits the site will have access to the latest software and hardware nor will they all have access to broadband and modem speeds vary considerably, especially in regional areas. Indeed in regional areas of Australia, modem speeds can be so slow as to be unsuitable for handling graphic intensive pages. An additional point, that of competency was well illustrated in The Sydney Morning Herald (March 12, p.5), when it highlighted the issue of technical proficiency of prospective students. In a prominent feature article on computer access at NSW State Schools it was revealed that, “Many staff rooms are stocked with one computer for every ten teachers. Schools do not have adequate ‘functioning computers to teach the syllabus requirements.’ The Department of Education does not provide on-site technical assistance. About 30,000 teachers and support staff work with 300,000 high school students. Students share computers and allocated time at those computers. This information was sourced from the NSW Teachers Federation.”
So while there are physical and skill limitations in implementing Web-based marketing strategies, the over-riding issue is to deliver a value proposition to site visitors that clearly delineates and differentiates a University’s brand value proposition.
Easy access to information is fundamental in developing an effective university Web-Marketing strategy. That is why the structure, or architecture of a university’s website, is crucial to its success because it must enable visitors to locate the information they want as quickly and efficiently as possible. As Loshin, et al (2001, p. 398) state, “…the driving design principle behind the Web site must be to provide information wanted or needed by the customer…Valuable information, then is the foundation of Web development…A site’s Web pages should contain an intuitive structure…Sites that are difficult to navigate are, not surprisingly, often rejected by users…The larger the site, the more diligent designers must be to structure it in a way that enables customers to quickly locate information.” This is particularly true in the design of a University’s website.
Navigation usually starts at the University’s homepage. The design of the homepage is therefore crucial, not only must it be attractive, easy to read and communicate the University’s brand values, but it must also facilitate navigation to elsewhere on the site.
The information in this pilot study provides a snapshot of what was available on the nine sites during the study period 1 – 15 March 2006. Approximately 45 minutes was spent on each site. These sites were selected so as to include a representative sampling of the various sizes and types of universities located in New South Wales and Queensland. The small regional universities selected were Southern Cross University and the University of the Sunshine Coast, larger regional universities included Griffith University, Charles Sturt University, University of New England and Newcastle University, while Queensland University of Technology and University of Queensland are city-based and Bond University is a private university.
Philipson (2006, p13), assessed the 16 Web sites he visited on a only three variables, for the navigation aspect, he chose to use subjective term such as; ok, easy, very easy, poor and none and, for the sitemap and search component, just a Y or N were used.
Because of the volume of information available on all sites, the research for this pilot study was restricted to undergraduate Faculty of Arts programs and international pages. In all cases, the homepage was the starting point. In order to structure this evaluation exercise the following rating scale was used:
In some instances where a ‘No’ was recorded it was because the information could not be found within the allocated time. Using this framework, the highest possible score would have been a 56.
The report card was divided into two parts with Figure 1 covering the basics required to deliver an affective marketing message and where taken from De Weaver (2001), while Figure 2 covers the additional marketing material required to provide even greater and more persuasive information for visitors. It also reflects the variations in information required by prospective students and key influencers.
UNIVERSITY WEBSITES |
SCU |
Griffith |
QUT |
UQ |
CSU |
USC |
UNE |
N’castle |
Bond |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Characteristics rated |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Is navigation from Homepage easy & consistent throughout site? |
I |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
I |
I |
Y |
Is content written in a friendly & accessible manner? |
I |
N |
N |
Y |
I |
I |
N |
Y |
Y |
Is it easy to access Course Information? |
I |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
I |
N |
N |
N |
Is text easy to read, e.g. written in plain English with legible font |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
I |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Are hyperlinks used to link relevant information? |
I |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Is there design consistency across 2 levels of Web-site hierarchy? |
I |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
Is ‘How to Apply’ information for UG’s easy to access? |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Is ‘How to Apply’ information for PG’s easy to access? |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Is ‘How to Apply’ information for Internationals easy to access? |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Are documents easy to Download? |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
I |
N |
Are there links to other sites? |
Y |
N |
I |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Is Browser Interface seamless? |
Y |
Y |
I |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Does site offer a general search function? |
I |
Y |
Y |
Y |
I |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Does site offer a course specific search function? |
Y |
N |
I |
Y |
I |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
Does site offer Foreign Language content? |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Have Privacy Statement? |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Sub-total Part 1 | 22 | 12 | 21 | 30 | 12 | 23 | 15 | 20 | 16 |
Figure 1: Part 1 ratings of the information required to meet minimum Web-Marketing requirements with Y equalling 2 points, I equalling 1 point and N equalling 0 points.
UNIVERSITY WEBSITES |
SCU |
Griffith |
QUT |
UQ |
CSU |
USC |
UNE |
N’castle |
Bond |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Characteristics rated |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Use of testimonials/endorsements |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
I |
Y |
Do they have virtual tours of campuses? |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Hyperlinks to UAC &QTAC sites? |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
Is there specific information for Yr 12’s? |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
Is there specific information for Yr 11’s? |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Is there specific information for Yr 10s? |
|
N |
N |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Is there specific information for Mature Age? |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Is there specific information for Parents? |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Is there specific information for career Advisors? |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Are contact details clear, e.g. phone numbers, |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Are there links to Alumni pages? |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Can you buy University branded merchandise online? |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
Subtotal B |
4 |
10 |
6 |
18 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
11 |
6 |
TOTAL (Figures 1 & 2) |
26 |
22 |
27 |
48 |
14 |
25 |
17 |
31 |
22 |
Figure 2: Part 2, ratings on an additional 12 marketing characteristics with Y equalling 2 points, I equalling 1 point and N equalling 0 points.
Figure 3, provides a summary of each university’s total score when rated on all 28 characteristics. .
Figure 3: Summary of total rating scores on all 28 characteristics.
Figure 4 illustrates how many ‘Yes’s each of the universities in this pilot study received, it also gives a clear indication as to how UQ’s site meets more of the needs of prospective students who may be seeking information in order to make a ‘purchasing decision’.
Figure 4: Ranking according to number of ‘Yes’ ratings
with highest to lowest shown left to right.
Figure 5 is interesting because it reveals which university sites have the greatest potential to easily become better at Web-Marketing as they have already made good inroads into making their sites more accessible in terms of the information they provide.
Figure 5: Ranking according to number of ‘Inconsistent’ ratings with
lowest to highest shown left to right.
Figure 6 indicates that all sites in the pilot study had room for improvement in developing better Web-Marketing strategies, some to a greater extent than other.
Figure 6: Ranking according to ‘No’ ratings with
lowest to highest shown, left to right.
Given that universities have had more than 15 years of exposure to Web technologies and have established marketing departments, it is surprising that such variations exist between individual institutions and that some rate so low. One wonders if any monitoring or ‘competitive analysis’ has been undertaken by any of the universities in this pilot study or if the variations relate to resourcing and budget issues.
Effective Web-Marketing should take into account such things as: the search skill capability of site visitors, their facility and access to up-to-date computer equipment as well as the speed of their Internet connection as not everyone has access to broadband connection and this is the usual case in many regional areas. Therefore, large, graphic intensive sites with the potential to display all the ‘bells and whistles’ that web designers like to use will be impossible to access for those with slow modem speeds. It also means that those with slow modem speeds will become impatient and log out before seeing any relevant information.
Universities must also consider that Web searches are often conducted by people who know what type of information they are looking for, but not quite where to find it. This is why the importance of key words cannot be over-emphasised. Search engines such as Google have become major influencers in getting web users to use search functions on larger sites. The more specific the key word selected the better the search result for prospective students.
Consideration must be given to the fact that a university’s website is an additional distribution channel that needs to reflect its brand values and corporate livery as well as integrate with all its other marketing activity. It can also be a very cost-effective means of enhancing both domestic as well as international marketing activities and, as such, more extensive research should be undertaken that would encompass all Australian universities and look at all the programs offered by them.
Additionally, in order for Web-Marketing to be more effective there needs to be greater integration of design with content linked to a better understanding of how visitors move around on a website as they seek information. To this end it would be highly desirable for market research to be carried out with prospective students as they carry out some directed Web-searches.
The challenge to those universities with the higher number of ‘I’s’ is to address the issues that these inconsistencies indicate in order to make their Web-Marketing program more effective.
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Lynne De Weaver & Allan Ellis © 2006. The authors assign to Southern Cross University and other educational and non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The authors also grant a non-exclusive licence to Southern Cross University to publish this document in full on the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM and in printed form with the conference papers and for the document to be published on mirrors on the World Wide Web.