accessible information and web support rachael tooth, offa and murray simpson, net natives
TRANSCRIPT
In this workshop we will cover…
1) Where are searches happening for University? 2) Where are searches happening for student financial support? 3) When are searches happening for student financial support? 4) What are students searching for? 5) What else are they saying online?
The below data shows the number of searches for University related terms in relation to those aged 15-21 in every county per month:
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Rutland Leicestershire
No9nghamshire East Sussex
Tyne and Wear Cambridgeshire
Bristol Merseyside Hampshire
HerHordshire Lincolnshire Lancashire
Devon Northumberland
Surrey Gloucestershire
Norfolk Worcestershire
Cheshire Essex
Shropshire Wiltshire
South Yorkshire Cornwall
This is excluding the City of London which has the highest number of average monthly “university” related searches relative to its population but is not representative for this issue due to the high number of people working there compared to its population (Population: 7,500; Jobs in 2013: 435,000)
This table shows the number of searches that occur for student financial support in the various counties in relation to the population of 15-21 year olds.
0.0000 0.1000 0.2000 0.3000 0.4000 0.5000 0.6000 Rutland Dorset
Isle of Wight Buckinghamshire
Somerset Leicestershire
Gloucestershire Devon
Worcestershire Bedfordshire
Northamptonshire Staffordshire Lincolnshire
No9nghamshire Hampshire
Surrey Suffolk
HerHordshire Cheshire
Tyne and Wear Essex
South Yorkshire Greater Manchester
West Midlands
Avg. Monthly Searches related to Financial Support for Students -‐ Rela;ve to 15 -‐ 21 Popula;on
Bristol, Devon & Isle of Wight – When are people searching?
Knowing when people search for additional financial support can help Universities in a number of ways. Not only does it best advise when to run online digital campaigns to reach these students, it can also help shape a lot of the other work Universities do when providing students with information on additional support.
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
Bristol
Isle of Wight
Devon
4) What are students searching for? So we know where students search, and what Wme of year, but what are students actually searching for? And is the relevant informaWon being communicated and displayed to them when they seek it out?
The table suggests that the 3 most commonly used search terms in relation to student financial support are ‘finance’, ‘money’, and ‘student loans’. Terms such as ‘bursaries’ and ‘scholarships’ are actually much further down the search numbers, despite being the language most commonly used by Universities when providing information to students on the additional financial support available to them.
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
FINANCE BURSARY
What terms do students use when they search?
The table shows the number of searches related to student financial support in comparison to the number of searches happening for University related topics.
0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000
1,000,000 1,200,000 1,400,000 1,600,000 1,800,000 2,000,000
FINANCE UNIVERSITY
How large are those searches in comparison to the rest of the HE landscape?
NEXT STEPS Look at your online presence – is information on financial support easy to find? Think about your WP digital strategy – how are you reaching current and new students? Find out how often you talk about student financial support in your online profiles. How are you tracking and gaining research on your WP students at point of enquiry?