Our Top 5 Business School Websites
Institutions are challenged to balance the needs of the various stakeholder groups (prospective students, current students, alumni, business community) and prioritize content based on institutional goals, but the main goal of most institutions is to recruit students. Here are our picks, among many great examples, of five standout recruitment-focused websites. We used the following criteria to determine our picks: intuitive navigation, accessible/clear content, and prominent calls to action.
1. University of Chicago Booth School of Business
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business website has a clean design with excellent navigation. The MBA Programs section highlights their four campuses and does a standout job of summarizing Booth’s program offerings. This is a great example of providing meaningful content addressing prospects who may be in the early stage of evaluating programs.
Once the user selects a program, Chicago Booth provides meaningful content tailored around each program format. For example, the Full-Time MBA program page includes quick program and class snapshots that highlight the location, length of program, how many classes per quarter, and other essential pieces of program information. The content is presented graphically and through dynamic media (photos and videos) making it easy to digest. The Booth website is a great example of the right balance of content (most business school websites have way too much text and are too dense.) We also like the vibrant red calls to action and the invitation to “Engage” with the institution.
2. Boston University Questrom School of Business
The Boston University School of Management website is a great example of an institution focusing on targeting prospective students and highlighting key interest areas front and center on their homepage. Website visitors expect key program information to be clear and accessible. Boston University has gone a step further made key information accessible on the homepage. At Eduvantis, we have seen very few institutions highlight prospective student information as prominently as Boston University, which ultimately signals to the prospect that the institution values them.
Once a visitor navigates to the graduate section of the website, the various Boston University business programs are showcased encouraging prospects to learn more. From a user experience perspective, the easier an institution can make it to navigate their website, the more effective it will be at both creating a positive brand impression and encouraging inquiries. At Eduvantis, we recommend eliminating everything but the essential content to encourage easy browsing and information gathering.
3. Arizona State University Carey School of Business
The Arizona State University Carey School of Business website is a standout example of intuitive navigation and a website with the perfect balance of text and images. On all pages, Carey has prioritized the most important content and cut everything else, leaving only the essential information. On most business school websites, the content is overwhelming: Text is too dense and difficult to read and visitors are unclear where to click next. This is not the case with the Carey website. The focused content makes for a positive user experience because information is easy to digest and visitors are encouraged to contact Carey to learn more.
In their carousel, Carey has primary calls to action at the core of the website. These calls to action are perfectly placed above the fold to encourage immediate engagement. On all additional pages, calls to action are also bright yellow and prominently featured, signaling to the prospect what the institutions wants them to do. Once the user clicks any of the call to action buttons, they are placed into a funnel that leads them to a simple inquiry form based on their selections, making is easy for prospects to inquire, sign up for an event, or apply. It is a simply seamless experience.
4. University of Toronto Rotman School of Management
http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/
The University of Toronto Rotman School of Management has a unique but very effective website strategy. Visitors to the homepage are greeted with a simple call to action inviting them to engage with the website through defined points of entry, ultimately allowing Rotman to funnel visitors through defined user paths with the goal of encouraging visitors to inquire. Calls to action are prominently and strategically placed throughout the website making it easy to engage with the institution.
Rotman has taken a unique approach on their program pages as well, which we really like. Even though there is a lot of content it is organized incredibly well through a tab based structure with simple titles, such as “Getting In” and “MBA Program.” The sidebar margin is also organized incredibly well, encouraging prospects to explore, connect, and apply in a wide variety of ways.
5. University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business
Finally, the University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business website has the best-in-class example of a program page: the navigation is simple and each program page has a simple inquiry form located in the right column of the site making it very easy for prospects to inquire. The content on the website is also appropriately calibrated to the needs of a prospect – content can be easily consumed in 30 seconds or less and prospects are encouraged to inquire to learn more.