A Birdseye View - Finding a University programme – an internet hit or miss?

OK, after the end of year barbecue, back to the reality of University Life - Many students around the world use an internet search machine to find the school or programme of their choice. Depending on budget students make an initial choice and send of an information request, an application form or even call for an appointment. Speediness of study, brand or image, scale of easiness (or difficulty!), immigration and visa, location, student housing, night life, amenities, social programme, all these and many, many more factors help a student decide where they are going to study and live as a student.

Nowadays, the search method of choice is internet, and although education agents are still very active in a number of countries (and often a good way for students and their parents to make a qualified decision) , ‘self-help’ is a more frequent method chosen, and Universities are careful to make sure their websites are positioned well on the internet. Although larger Universities, with a very wide range of academic programmes on offer can make an internet ranking seem easier, small institutes can profile themselves well on internet, if they provide ‘good’, ‘true’ and ‘honest’ content, in a ‘Google context’ –obviously any institute that prides itself and education wants to promote itself in a way that represents what it is, but getting it right on Google is always a challenge.

Below an overview (for those nerds of you even slightly interested of the key phrases used by people who landed on the Wittenborg University Website (www.wittenborg.eu) in the month of June 2013! In the end we had 13668 unique visitors from 151 countries, according to the stats. Out of an estimated 196 countries in the world, 151 is not bad, for a small University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, such as Wittenborg!

Interesting is how few students seem to searched for “best job after study in Holland” or “Is it good to study in the Netherlands?”. The only key-phrase to have mentioned entrepreneurship is “why study economics for applied entrepreneur”, which in itself is a great question, however the lack of “entrepreneurship study” in the search terminology is worrying. Speaking to the number of young entrepreneurs in our Final Year class of 2013, then Wittenborg had better promote the term “study entrepreneurship Netherlands” more actively. (Mind you, today we are 6^th hit for “study entrepreneurship Holland” – it’s all about a name). Surprisingly, regional Hogeschool - Saxion University is high with both search terms – can it be that this region, the so-called “Stedendriehoek, or City-Triangle” is especially concentrated on young entrepreneurs?

Ok, for the nerds – a post of the key-phrases that brought visitors to the site in June 2013! (If anyone wants a list of the countries and other stats, then make an appointment with Andy at the Front Desk!

A Birdseye View

WUP 1/7/2013

Below – a link to the top 1000 Key Phrases used by visitors to have landed on Wittenborg University’s website, www.wittenborg.eu in the month of June 2013 (with the number of unique visits):

top 1000 Key Phrases - June 2013