Colleges and universities are under enormous pressure to do more with less. As college enrollment rates continue to slide across the United States, due in part to reduced birth rates and negative public perception of higher education, many higher education marketers are struggling to adapt. Add to this the fact that Generation Z users have extremely high expectations of digital experiences set by retail and social media giants like Amazon and Netflix, and it becomes clear why schools are falling behind in delivering personalized experiences that offer immediate value to the user. Higher education marketers simply can’t afford to overlook opportunities to improve upon their existing investments. This is especially true for smaller schools with smaller marketing budgets in which everyone is clamoring for the marketing team’s time and attention.

One of the most critical interactions prospective students have on a school’s website is searching for programs, majors, and courses of interest. So much of what happens next depends on whether or not a prospective student finds what they are searching for during this initial visit. With this in mind, we wondered whether most colleges and universities are invested enough in the quality of the search experience. In order to find out, we surveyed

higher education marketing professionals about their school’s search technology. We asked them about their perceptions with regard to the quality of search results, the search experience overall, the degree to which they had invested in improving search, and the extent to which search insights were being disseminated throughout their organizations.

Based on our research, we have found that there is a significant opportunity to increase conversion rates by improving prospective students’ initial search experience. Throughout this white paper, we will discuss the pros and cons of various approaches to site search and provide examples of best practices. Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of a personalized site search experience, how to implement these changes, and what metrics to track in order to measure success.

• The aspects of search that most impact the user experience
• The benefits of a personalized search experience
• What metrics to watch to assess the effectiveness of site search
• The value of analyzing and disseminating search data analytics across your organization

Declining Enrollment

According to a recent report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, college enrollment in the U.S. has decreased for the eighth consecutive year. The overall decline this year was roughly 300,000 students, or 1.7%. States with the largest declines in student enrollment numbers included Florida, California, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

The falling birthrates that began in 2008 are also likely to have a major impact on higher education enrollment in the near future. This is evidenced by the number of children in public kindergartens, which began falling in 2014 and is projected to continue declining in the coming years. Colleges and universities will likely begin feeling the impact of these changes by 2025.

Gen Z Expectations of Technology

Today’s prospective students have extremely high expectations of technology, and higher education institutions are not rising to the challenge. A recent report by ContentSquare noted that, “If you can’t

reach Gen Z in five seconds, you can’t reach them at all.” Young people’s expectations of technology have evolved from the use of sites and apps from social media (Facebook), video (Netflix), and ecommerce (Amazon) giants. They’ve grown up accustomed to this level of user experience, and they simply won’t engage with technology that doesn’t provide immediate value. The pressure is on for higher education institutions that seek to effectively reach and communicate with the first generation of “digital natives.”

The Need to Do More With Less

In today’s digital landscape, many colleges and universities have already invested heavily in their websites and social media presence. In order for that investment to pay off, the information on these sites needs to be easily accessible. Higher education websites tend to be very content-heavy and are oftentimes more difficult to navigate than other websites. By improving the search experience, colleges and universities have an unparalleled opportunity to improve conversion rates, and ultimately, win over more students at a lower cost.

“I don’t want to have to navigate this site the way they want me to. I just want to find the thing I’m looking for.”

— Every Frustrated User

As users, we’ve become accustomed to performing a Google search for anything and everything. Online search has become our default choice for finding answers. Similarly, visitors to your college or university’s website — whether they are prospective students, active students, alumni, faculty, staff, or parents — often have something specific in mind when they visit.

Behavioral studies by the Nielsen Norman Group show that more than 50% of people visiting a start page on a website go straight to the internal search box, and search is frequently used by 59% of website visitors to navigate. It’s also important to recognize that when browsing doesn’t yield the desired results, users will quickly turn to search as a last resort — or a first alternative to leaving the site and looking elsewhere.

These figures demonstrate that a good search user experience is essential to compliment the user experience of any website, and in particular, any site that has a high volume of content.

Especially in a mobile context, users are more likely to search than to browse because of the limited screen real estate. Given the dramatic increase in mobile device use—81% of Americans now own a smartphone and 40% of Gen Z consider themselves a digital device addict—improving the quality of the search experience has become imperative.

According to a recent study by Extractable, “when properly designed and executed, site search can decrease bounce rates by an average of 95% and increase engagement rates by as much as 300%.”

Clearly, site search is a critical interaction on any higher education institution’s website. However, we suspected that higher education institutions were severely underinvested in the quality of the search experience overall. In order to test this hypothesis, we decided to ask and find out.

About eCity Interactive

eCity Interactive is an award-winning digital design and marketing agency using proven methods to create experiences that inspire action. Our talented group of problem-solvers has the technical chops to make ideas happen and to look at things from every perspective. We believe that building strong relationships between our clients and their audiences leads to enduring success, and we love coming to work every day to achieve their desired results.

About Funnelback

Funnelback is a website search solution built for college and university websites. Born from a university project in the early days of the internet, Funnelback’s technology improves UX and supercharges site navigation with a smart search bar. Funnelback for Higher Education is an out-of-the-box search platform that gives your team the ability to promote results, customize the look and feel of your search, harvest insights from search data and unite separate content systems into a single search.