Your Higher Education Marketing Link of the Week… Bellarmine University: Top Tasks Home Page… 11 November

6 Task Links + Search Dominate the Home Page

One of the latest fads in higher education web design is the use of video views where a static hero image once went at the top of the page. Most of the ones I’ve seen show similar scenes that do little to differentiate one school from another. The result is a distraction from the primary reason people visit a home page: to leave it as quickly as possible to complete a task.

Bellarmine University indeed has a similar video display on the home page. But I barely noticed it because imposed over the campus scenes in large “you will see this in 5 seconds or less” text are 6 key links important to potential students:

  • Apply Now
  • Schedule a Visit
  • Net Price
  • Virtual Tour
  • Majors & Programs
  • Watch Video

If you don’t think those links will take you on the right path to task completion, just below them is a large “Search for programs, events, and more” search box. This feature reminded me of another Link of the Week pick this year, the home page at Xavier University.

On Mobile

The Bellarmine home page scores a respectable 66/100 on Google PageSpeed Insights for Speed and a strong 96/100 for User Experience.

While I was not able to show the mobile home page here, be sure to visit on your smartphone. You can’t miss the 6 task links as the page first opens, an excellent use of the power of words to help potential student visitors move along to relevant sections of the site.

Follow the Link of the Week

To see how one university dares to be different, visit the Bellarmine University home page.

Original Link of the Week Page

Regular readers will notice that we are again posting a Link of the Week selection within the blog. I’ve decided to continue posting new Link selections here. Each week’s description is available to future visitors and the blog is searchable.

To review earlier selections for 2016 and previous years, visit the Link of the Week Archive page.

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