Exploring the hidden costs of attending a university open day
Based on previous research, we gathered to discuss the costs of attending a university open day in further detail and invite you to put forward your thoughts on the matter as well!
Insight
How does the cost of virtual events stack up against real-world events?
Universities have long made use of online events in some form. But a scramble to replace real-world events has seen a spike in new institutions jumping on board. Was this only a response to COVID-19 or should we expect to see virtual events stick around? Will they become a more permanent feature? Will universities see the benefit as a long-term addition to their recruitment activities? We examine one of the reasons why online events offer a long-term addition - cost.
What is graduation going to look like in 2020?
As social distancing in the UK continues, there are pressing questions about certain parts of University life. One of those being graduation. We here at SMILE, gathered on a Zoom call to discuss the current situation and what institutes can do as an alternative and if we can help with that.
Identifying Site and Menu Architecture Using GatherContent
At SMILE, we use GatherContent to manage our own website's copy and media content. We have learned that the ability to easily arrange and view our content in this way has highlighted how this system can be further used as a powerful tool to identify or improve site map and menu architecture. Here, we share some of our key learnings.
Online vs Real World Open Days
COVID-19 has left universities with no option but to turn to virtual events as a replacement for their real-world events. But they’re not a like-for-like replacement. This post looks at some of the key considerations for those looking to run virtual events.
SEO Tips for writing content for your website
These are some SEO Tips for writing content in a way that will benefit your search engine ranking. Search Engines like good content. So don't let these take over your writing. A lot of these tips are simply good writing pointers in general. Google is clever enough to see past the old loopholes and rewards good citizens.
Virtual Open Days
With COVID-19 forcing the majority of the world into quarantine and lockdown, the education sector has been left unable to carry out their scheduled events. Open Days are just one example of those affected events.
Re-thinking ‘online open days’ with SMILE Hijack
For Regent’s University, London.
User insight driving design choices
Since 2014 SMILE have been working with the University of Birmingham, a Russell Group institution, on delivering their online event platform. The platform’s longevity is a testament to its success. In its first iteration, the platform began life as a…
The power of personalised videos in student recruitment
University College Birmingham valued individuals: so much so that they wanted to run a personalised campaign. SMILE worked with the college over two years to deliver a personalised video campaign that returned unbelievable results.
Generating an authentic experience for online events
“Being authentic” is perhaps the most overused phrase you’ll hear when engaging students online through digital open days, chat-bots and other online experiences. But you can really get to the heart of decision-making moments if you can leverage the right conversation, so working out what authenticity looks like for you will help you go in the right direction. This article aims to uncover some of the key considerations when engaging youth audiences online.
Quick and dirty background video
Background video is a useful tool in a web designers toolkit. I’ll show you how quick and easy it is to pull together. You can see it on a whole swathe of websites now — probably (in part) due to technological reasons. It’s easier to code it up and it’s widely supported by browsers.