This year's study, in partnership with Chegg, reveals where perspectives from teens using college websites and higher ed marketing professionals converge and differ — and how marketers can leverage this knowledge. Based on research conducted in 2016 by Chegg and mStoner, this presentation explores: - Seven common myths about what prospective students like and don’t like about college websites. - Perspectives from prospective teen students and college marketing professionals — where they converge, where they differ — and how marketers can leverage this knowledge. - Website content that best influences prospective students’ admission journeys. - Best practices for website organization and strategy.

1. Mythbusting Websites
5 December 2016
#AMAHigherEd
#higheredmyths

2. what you think teens
think about
.edu websites: and
what teens really think
##
#AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths

3. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Michael Stoner
President, mStoner
Michael.Stoner@mStoner.com
@mStonerVT
Gil Rogers
Director of Enrollment Marketing, Chegg
gil@Chegg.com
@GilRogers

4. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
download: mstnr.me/MythB2016

5. Today’s
Agenda
1. About this study
2. Myths? Realities?
3. Takeaways
4. Discussion & questions

6. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Myth? Or
Reality?

7. 8
Myths or realities?
#AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
1. Your website is effective if it isn’t responsive.
2. Teens will think poorly of your college if you have a bad website.
3. Your website is the most important influence in a teen’s
decision to apply.
4. Teens overwhelmingly prefer video and images to text on
college websites.

8. 9
Myths or realities?
#AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
5. Teens move freely back and forth between social media and
college websites.
6. Teens are eager to engage with your college through a
smartphone app.
7. Virtual tours are way more important to teens than campus
maps.

9. 10
Demographics: Professionals
#AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
• Work across multiple functions: marketing, communications, web, social
media, admissions
• Institutions: 40 % public, 20% private universities; 33% liberal arts, colleges
community colleges, prof schools
• More than 50% have worked in higher ed for 5-15 yrs.
• 596 responses included in final report

10. 11
Demographics: Teens
#AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
• 62% high school seniors; 35% juniors
• Most considering applying to public (86%) or private universities (61%) &
51% considering both. 28% considering applying to liberal arts colleges
• 87% had started researching colleges already
• Prospect pool is diverse: 47% Caucasian/White; 24% Hispanic/Latino; 23%
African American/Black; 11% Asian
• 2,346 responses included in final report

11. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Your website is
effective
if it isn’t responsive.
Myth or reality?

12. #higheredmyths
66%
of teens used a smartphone or mobile
device to respond to our survey.

13. #higheredmyths
81%
of teens told us they visited a college website using a
mobile browser in our Mythbusting Admissions research,
conducted in 2015 (mstnr.me/AdmissionMyths)

14. #higheredmyths
70%
of teens told TeensTALK® 2016 that they
use a college website throughout their admission process
(bit.ly/2frJo5e)

15. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Teens will think
poorly of your college
if you have a bad website.
Myth or reality?

16. #higheredmyths
82%
of professionals said that a bad website
will have a negative impact on teens
opinion of the college.

17. #higheredmyths
43%
of teens said that their opinion of a college
would be affected by a bad website.

18. #higheredmyths
74%
of juniors agreed that “College websites make a
difference in my perception of the school.”
(E-Expectations 2016: mstnr.me/E-Expect16)

19. 20
#higheredmyths
Kind of jobs I can get
Tuition, costs, aid info
Academic info
Student life info
Admission & app processes
What other students are like
Info re tours, info sessions
Scheduling a visit
0 10 20 30 40 50
Hard-to-use areas
of .edu websites

20. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Your website is the most
important influence in
a teen’s decision to apply.
Myth or reality?

21. 22
The question we asked
#AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
“When you evaluate a particular college prior to deciding
whether to apply, how important is the college’s website
in your decision whether to apply or not?”

22. #higheredmyths
80%
of professionals rated the importance teens
placed on a college’s website as 6 or 7.

23. #higheredmyths
84.4%
of respondents to NACAC’s “2015 State of
College Admission” attached “considerable
importance” to websites as an undergraduate
recruitment strategy (mstnr.me/2dAAeSn)

24. #higheredmyths
of teens rated the a college’s website as 6
or 7 among sources of information.
37%

25. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Question:
“Which resources did you or
would you use during each
phase of the college application
process?”
data & figure from TeensTALK® 2016; © Stamats 2016 | © Chegg 2016

26. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Teens overwhelmingly prefer
video and images to text
on college websites.
Myth or reality?

27. #higheredmyths
2.4 hrs
average time teens spend each day watching
TV/DVDs/videos (The Common Sense Census:
mstnr.me/2eko4vY)

28. #higheredmyths
76%
of professionals said that teens prefer
video to text and images.

29. #higheredmyths
40%
of teens say they prefer video content
to text.

30. #higheredmyths
Content preferences on a college website
what teens say
(n=1902)
what professionals
believe (n=520)
text & articles 64% 17%
photography 60% 74%
charts and infographics 47% 55%
headlines and subject lines 47% 57%
videos 40% 76%
other images besides photography 8% 6%

31. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Teens click through
to your site
from social media sites
and vice versa.
Myth or reality?

32. #higheredmyths
Click-throughs from a .edu site to a social site*
to Facebook
to Twitter
to Instagram
to LinkedIn
to YouTube
to college search/help
80
44
10
35
25
34
57
69
11
63
39
53
professionals (n=434) teens (n=1349)
*when researching colleges

33. #higheredmyths
Click-throughs to a .edu site from a social site*
from Facebook
from Twitter
from Instagram
from LinkedIn
from YouTube
from Snapchat
from YikYak
to college search/help
78
5
15
35
7
32
23
33
73
20
40
61
58
58
45
59
professionals (n=430) teens (n=1431)
*when researching colleges

34. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Teens are eager
to engage with your college
through a smartphone app.
Myth or reality?
#AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths

35. #higheredmyths
54%
of professionals said that teens will download
and use a college’s app after they’d decided
which institution they were attending.

36. #higheredmyths
72%
of teens said they did not download or use
any college apps.

37. 38
#higheredmyths
updates on admissions info
learn about college-specific info
submit an applicataion
communicate with a college rep
take a virtual campus tour
0 16 32 48 64 80
Half of teens
would download
an app to
communicate
But: do you offer what they want?

38. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Virtual tours are
way more important
than campus maps.
Myth or reality?

39. #higheredmyths
39%
of professionals said that teens looked at
a campus map when researching colleges.

40. #higheredmyths
78%
of professionals said that teens used a
virtual tour when exploring colleges.

41. #higheredmyths
67%
of teens looked at a campus map when
researching colleges

42. #higheredmyths
64%
of teens used a virtual tour when
researching colleges

43. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Bonus round:
best .edu websites

44. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Professionals

45. #AMAHigherEd #higheredmyths
Teens

46. #higheredmyths
Teens and your website …
• Your website is important throughout the process, but different parts
are important at different times.
• Your site must be responsive: 66 percent of the teens responding to
this survey used a smartphone or mobile phone to fill it out. In
contrast, 92 percent of professionals used a desktop or laptop
computer.
• Photos are important forms of content. But pay as much attention to
the text on your site as to the videos.

47. #higheredmyths
Teens and your website
• The content about academics/majors is very important. Make it
robust and easy to find. And remember: teens look for both these
terms on your site.
• The campus map is a neglected information resource for teens: they
use it in a variety of ways in addition to way finding.
• Your social media sites are important in creating an impression of
your institution, but teens won’t necessarily go to your site from
Facebook or vice versa.

48. Handout:
mstnr.me/AMA-Myth-2016
Mythbusting Websites:
mstnr.me/MythB2016
Mythbusting Admissions (2015):
mstnr.me/AdmissionsMyths