"Attracting New Students. . .
The First Fold Makes Your School's Web Site! (Or Breaks It.)"

by Bob Topor
Senior Consultant, Topor Consulting Group

Potential students to your college or university web site are not looking to make a new friend. They probably don't want to chat or play games. And they don't give a darn what you think about anything, least of all your academy. They only want to know:

1) What's in it for me?
2) Why should I believe you?
3) Why should I inquire or register with you?

Many have the attention span of a gnat. They will answer the first two questions to their satisfaction within the first few seconds. Only if they like these answers will they even consider the third. And at least a partial answer to it must come easily, or they'll never see your sales pitch.

Provided your web home page (first fold) downloads quickly, visitors will stick around until it does. But as it starts to load to the screen, the first fold (home page screen) must fill rapidly. It must immediately provide information that compels the answers you want your visitor to decide upon. (If there are any graphics on the page, be sure dimensions are included in the HTML so text will quickly load up top.)

In the home page (first fold), answers to the above questions must flow from. . .

1) Benefits, benefits, and more benefits.
2) Demonstrated professionalism and expertise.
3) Clear statement of the USP (Universal Selling Proposition).

I compare the web first fold to a direct mail envelope. If the container is good enough to invite opening, most readers will go a greater distance and investigate the contents.

More About Marketing Benefits:
They must be presented with words and pictures. While not easy to define, they are the only tools available to trigger the answer you want to the question, "What's in it for me?" This part of the message must be crafted as carefully and strategically as an ad central to a major advertising campaign.

On your web site, the home page headline shouts the major benefit of the academy. As with a good commercial sales letter, each word draws the visitor more deeply into the site. It's all about benefits. And all points to the registration form and a student application or invitation to visit.

Most sites offer a variety of benefits and/or services, which means the simplicity in a single advantage site can only be approximated. The home page is the entrance to corridors leading to the sale of different benefits. (Or to great information, free stuff, etc.)

This requires even more judicious use of the home page (top fold). The benefits presented must be specific to services, rather than to features of a single offering. In the first fold, introduce those services most likely to be of interest to an unknown visitor. A possible alternative is to work with the services you most want to sell.

Home pages, unlike cemetery tombstones, do not have to remain stagnant and permanent. You may want to "test" a variety of first fold openings. Alternating home pages, over time, may be a wise idea.

Professionalism And Expertise:
Demonstrate these as the first step in answering the question, "Why should I believe you?" The way in which benefits are presented goes a long way toward achieving this goal. Given a sharp, professional presentation, your skeptical visitor is likely to say, "So far, so good." And to withhold final judgment, particularly as to trustworthiness.

In this regard, the appearance of the site is fundamental. Again looking at the first fold, all must support well stated benefits. Even enhance them. A garish or cluttered page destroys any credibility that might flow from the content. Likewise for any graphic that does not enhance the appearance of the site *and* the message.

The first fold should be the prelude to your school's image and personality. Your distinct competitive advantage should emerge. It should be enhanced by every subsequent page. Each contribution should form a greater and more powerful communication. The marketing sum effect is the addition of all its parts.

About Your USP:
When a visitor answers the question, "Why should I come to your school?" with, "Okay, you'll do," he or she is ready to inquire, visit or register. And the option to do so must be handy. Throughout, however, the content must continue to provide solid reasons for inquiring, for you don't know when the decision may be made. It is not likely to happen in the first fold. The initial response, though, needs to be at least, "Okay, I'll tag along a ways." A good USP is sufficient to bring this response.

The USP may be incorporated in a logo, offered in a colored cell within a table, or maybe the last line on the screen at the bottom of the first fold ( a tag). Where it is positioned is not important. But the visitor must see it and easily grasp its meaning in the first or second scan of the first fold. It should be consistent in "feel."

But What About The Rest Of The Site?
Pieces of cake. Really. Some may argue the most difficult task in online marketing is generating targeted traffic. I don't agree. While it takes a good deal of time, effort and often dollars, it is largely a 1-2-3 sort of process. Do this, that, and then that. Others have clearly defined the steps that need to be taken, and the order in which to take them.

For me, the greatest challenge in marketing online is building the first fold on the home page. If your visitor scrolls down or clicks off into the site, you have attracted a potential student. In fact you have one who is likely to grant you a little slack. Thus perfection is not demanded throughout the site. Top quality is sufficient. But the first fold must be absolutely perfect.

Think of a newspaper. What part of it is assembled with the greatest care? The top fold of the first page. It's what shows in vending machines and on newsstands. How many millions have bought a newspaper because a single headline grabbed hard? Many, that's certain. Is the first fold on your website less important?

I have a strong hunch I can not demonstrate. Of those who click off a site never to return, ninety-some percent do so without leaving the first fold. Get it right and those who arrive with, "What's in it for me?" will say, "This might do." It's a giant step toward a registration (and an admit).

 
      Bob Topor
      Higher Education Marketing Senior Consultant,
      Author, Lecturer, Publisher

— A new service from Bob Topor of Topor Consulting Group International —

For the modest fee of $1,500 Bob Topor will review your college web site and provide a professional marketing critique which will cover:

• First fold marketing analysis
  
• Tips about positioning your academy in the academic marketplace.
  
• Comparison to your major competitors (you provide the list- not to exceed 6 competitors.)
  
• A written review for your consideration.

Requests are handled on a first come, first served basis. All reviews are confidential and guaranteed to be provided by Bob Topor of Topor Consulting Group International, Mountain View, California.