Research: CMS Enhances Recruitment for Universities

This blog is a summary of a Noel-Levitz White Paper.

Content Management Systems make it easy for anyone to update a university Web site, keeping the information as current and as relevant as possible. Lately, it seems that college Web sites have become the key aspect for recruitment, so it is now a necessity to put the most relevant information in the spotlight as easily and as quickly as possible.

The cooler the Web site, the more likely it is that students will become interested in your university. So college sites must become interactive and include more Web 2.0 aspects than ever. Videos, flash-based design, and other like media can organize information in a cool way that will grab students’ attention.

However, the content of the site is still the most important thing. Noel-Levitz found that 80 percent of college-bound students said that content is more important than design, and 57 percent said that they wouldn’t consider going to a school whose Web site seemed dated or incorrect. So it’s essential to implement an easy way to update and make changes to the content of your university Web site.

The relevance of information is especially important when it comes to admissions and financial aid information. Your university site must answer all of your potential students’ questions while promoting your university’s brand, while encouraging the students to come back for more.

The problem with not having a CMS is that, usually, only one or a few people are qualified to update the university site. CMS makes it possible for even non-technical users to update content without any training. Now a large group of people will be able to constantly update the Web site content with ease.

The main goal of CMS is to increase the amount of communication between the university and its stakeholders. CMS makes it easier to get the most relevant information to its end users, and current information is the most valuable when it comes to recruitment, as potential students need the most up-to-date information of all of your Web site viewers.

Click here to see the full Noel-Levitz White Paper.