Your website is your school’s outward reflection of its mission, culture, and of course, its story.
This is how your community connects with everything happening on your campus and where they can inquire about enrollment—often one of your primary goals for prospective families. Because your site’s main focus is to capture the hearts of potential families, it’s important that your site doesn’t drive users away after a few seconds.
Sites with multiple pop-ups, confusing navigation, flashing advertisements, and long load times are much easier to leave without a second thought—especially if it’s one stop along a chain of intended visits. If parents are researching many different school options for their children and your website experience is poor, they won’t think twice about visiting your campus.
Here are some of top reasons for site abandonment, compiled from multiple sources across the web, as well as some tips for optimizing your site.
Mistake #1: Not Optimized for Mobile
Google made it clear to marketers a few years ago that if a website doesn’t display responsively on multiple devices, its place in search results will suffer. In other words, Google’s algorithm penalizes websites designed only for computer-based engagement.
We’ve all had to access websites not refreshed for today’s media appetite—the experience is painful. If your school hasn’t updated its website in several years and it’s not responsive to various devices, you’re not only being penalized by Google, but you’re also frustrating your users. In fact, 52% of global internet users access websites through mobile devices—41% of US users access through mobile.
Furthermore, a 2012 report discovered that 48% of users say if they arrive on a site that isn’t optimized for mobile, they believe that business simply doesn’t care about its visitors. If that was how people felt in 2012, imagine how they feel now in 2018. Also, 52% of survey respondents said they would be less likely to engage with a company offering a poor mobile experience.
Mistake #2: Long Load Times
Not only have recent reports stated that the average human attention span is now eight seconds (shorter than a goldfish's!), web analysts say that users will form an opinion about your site in half of a second. First impressions matter—don’t keep your potential families waiting!
Analysts also say that you have 10 seconds to express what it is your visitors will get out of your website. They will leave after this time if they don’t understand your offering or don’t connect with your content.
This is one of the reasons so many homepages have high exit rates. If your site takes six seconds to load, your content now only has four seconds to make a profound impression. But, also take note: 53% of web users will abandon a site if it takes longer than three seconds to load.
Mistake #3: Out of Date Blog
Seventy percent of internet users claim to learn more about a company through its blog than its content-driven pages, and 60% say they feel more positive about a brand after gleaning content from it. There’s no denying it, people still desire engagement with their organizations—and when it comes to deciding on their children’s education, they want to know they’re making the absolute best choice.
The content you publish on your website should clearly define your school’s mission and culture, and illustrate your school’s story utilizing multimedia. Food for thought: 73% of companies use video to promote their products and services. People engage differently with video than written text, so you’ll want to employ as many types of communication as possible. Keep in mind: users dislike content that autoplays. They welcome integrated content—but they also want to control how they receive it.
Your school’s blog is a great place to display your school in action. Blog posts can contain personal messages from your School Head, videos of your science classes at the state fair, updates on the annual fund from your development team, or highlights from Friday night’s football game. Your blog should capture and illuminate the pulse of your school. Connect and engage with your invested readers—your potential families.
Mistake #4: Excessive Pop-Ups
Advertisements and pop-ups are intrusive. No one enjoys being disrupted when they’re trying to learn something. Excessive pop-ups increase user frustration—and can be enough to drive your readers to another site.
Users also resent blinking ads and flashing animations. These are another distraction. When used in excess, these may be enough to make your readers leave your website to go to your competitors.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Advancement Vol. 16 No. 4 Four Small Tweaks That Can Make a Big Impact on Your Website
Additional ISM resources for Gold members:
I&P Vol. 43 No. 6 Create a Rich Inbound Marketing Strategy to Increase Website Traffic and Inquiries
