ERIC Number: EJ1253157
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Apr
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2325-4750
EISSN: N/A
Optimizing Away Summer Melt: How Search Engine Optimization May Reduce Summer Melt at Highly Ranked U.S. Institutions of Higher Education
Taylor, Z. W.
Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly, v8 n1 p33-40 Apr 2020
This study sought to understand the relationship between undergraduate yield and an institution's internet presence. Data were collected from 2018 "U.S. News & World Report" national university rankings, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Database (IPEDS), and summer 2018 (June-August) SEMrush data, a web metrics database housing institutional (.edu) search and traffic information. Results demonstrate, when controlling for institutional characteristics, organic keywords/ search-engine optimization (p < 0.001) predicts undergraduate yield as well as overall number of undergraduate applications (p < 0.001) and better than undergraduate admission rate (p < 0.05). Implications for research and practice are addressed, in addition to implications for theory regarding online academic capitalism and summer melt.
Descriptors: Higher Education, College Bound Students, Student Motivation, Search Engines, Information Retrieval, Data Analysis, Web Sites, Student Recruitment
American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. One Dupont Circle NW Suite 520, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 301-490-7651; e-mail: pubs@aacrao.org; Web site: https://www.aacrao.org/research-publications/quarterly-journals/sem-quarterly
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A