Using Landing Pages to Increase School Enrollment

Strategically Use Landing Pages to Increase Vocational School Enrollment

Growth of any kind can be a tricky thing. Sometimes, even frustrating. But, it doesn’t have to always be that way. Strategic, advanced planning and intentional efforts can help to drive healthy growth and remove some of the stress that can come along with it. This is especially true in the education field.

Pursuing a higher education is a must-have for most people today. And, America certainly has some of the top schools in the world to achieve that goal. However, students today are bombarded with questions about where to attend, how to afford it, and what to study. The chance to grow and learn can definitely be a frustrating path. And, if you’re a smaller trade, vocational, or technical college, how do you attract incoming students and grow your enrollment numbers when you have to compete with major universities and the appeal of campus living?

The answer may be as simple as strategically using your online landing pages as part of your marketing strategy.

Landing pages are just clear, defined pages on a website that feature a specific message and offer measurable data for the site owner. They exist for the sole purpose of capturing visitor’s contact information using key, opt-in methods for collection. You can use the to increase your enrollment by:

• Clearly Defining Your Purpose: Use your landing pages specifically to connect with future, as well as past and present, students by reaching them where they are. According to Pew Research, more than 95% of teens are online, using smart phones, tablets, and laptops to find what they’re looking for. Make sure that your landing pages are mobile responsive, and can be easily accessed and navigated through, no matter the device used. Link your landing pages to social media outlets so you can stay in front of your prospective students easily and consistently.
• Including Clear Call-to-Action Options: Your landing pages should provide you with measurable data from potential students. This involves incorporating opt-in forms that students can voluntarily fill out in order to get something in return. Be clear and distinct, and don’t try to manipulate students into giving you’re their contact information. Remember, visitors have landed on your site for a reason- to get information. You’re just offering what they want. Incorporate options like: “How to Apply,” “Financial Aid Assistance,” “Helpful Resources,” or “Attend an Informational Meeting” to give students an opportunity to share their contact information with you. This opens the door for you to continually connect with potential enrollment leads via email marketing efforts, snail-mail, or even telemarketing when applicable.
• Tracking Your Landing Pages’ Success Rates: Whenever your business attempts to use landing pages as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy, it’s important that you track your efforts to ensure that they are producing optimum results. This is known as A/B testing or split testing. When different designs of the same landing page are presented to audience members, conversion rate differences can be measured to determine which design produces the highest customer response. Do some changes lead more site visitors to fill out opt-in forms, while other designs yield few results? By measuring conversion rates through split testing, you can have confidence knowing that your efforts aren’t being wasted.

According to the National Education Association (NEA), nearly three-out-of-four working adults today are employed in middle-skill or low-skill jobs that only require some college training. That means, for the vast majority of Americans, attending a 4-year college or university isn’t necessary to attain a career filled with purpose and opportunity. Use this to your advantage, and help put your potential students on the fast track to success with a focused, comprehensive, and practical education that will save them thousands of dollars and too many years of unnecessary time spent on getting a degree they might not even need from a major university.

At Neon Goldfish, we are committed to assisting vocational, technical, and trade schools increase their enrollment by incorporating focused web marketing strategies into their overall marketing efforts. Ask us how we can help you utilize your website’s landing pages to their optimum capabilities.

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By Ken Franzen

President / Co-Founder of Neon Goldfish