Le Moyne College

From Content-Centered to Student-Centered

For years, we've measured success by how much content we publish and how many people visit it. But prospective students don't experience our websites that way. They consume our content as a series of questions they're trying to answer and many times they're asking those questions somewhere other than our website.

While we're never short on content, our assets so frequently become woven into a digital structure that reflects our internal organization instead of our user. This question-based searching presents a tremendous opportunity if we're willing to rethink the existing strategy and measurement models to adapt to the changing times. When I think of how AI search has impacted our content strategy, I'm struck by how many of the concepts we talk about around AI search have always been important:

• Clear Language: we love jargon, we understand the jargon, but a 17-year-old searching for information does not and should not.

• Question-based content: Are we answering the most important questions on ouraudience's mind? Can I afford it? Is this worth it? What if I don't know what I want to do with my life?

• Authentic Proof Points: Saying we support undecided students isn't nearly as persuasive as showing how one student arrived unsure what to study, discovered a passion, graduated and built a career. There's also a difference between telling prospective students they'll build mentoring relationships with their professors and sharing the stories.

• Talking About Values: As a Jesuit institution, we have a unique value proposition, but those words alone do not for the most part resonate with prospective students. We discovered that prospective students weren't asking about our Jesuit identity. They were asking whether they would find purpose, support and opportunities to make an impact in the community (and the world).

The days of trying to fit every possible answer onto a single admissions web page are over. Students no longer expect institutions to hand them an encyclopedia of information. They expect immediate, relevant answers to the question they're asking right now. When we organize content around these questions, everything improves from the user's experience to AI visibility.

Designing Content around the Student Journey

This has been a seismic shift in how we think about and present content. We organize content around four stages from exploration through enrollment, asking a simple question at each point: What decision is the student trying to make next?

We've thought about what specific content they need at each of these stages as they explore college options, narrow their choices, make confident decisions on where to enroll and confirm they've made the best decision to support their personal and professional goals. Our content at each stage in the process is shaped by the real questions they ask, found from our personas of “ideal” students, questions students are asking on forums like Reddit and by talking to students. This method has evolved our strategy from providing every piece of information to meeting them where they are.

As the value of a degree is questioned, this approach has also shaped how we present outcomes. It's no longer enough to deliver vague proof-promises of post-graduation success. It's our responsibility to share real careers (with salaries) for our programs, the specific career support we provide, the opportunities students will have for career exploration and the real words of our young alumni.

We weave this content throughout our content, leveraging student blogs to provide more authentic share of voice authority. Again, not reaching students on an institutional level, but a personal, aspirational level. This comes from a focus on sharing student advice, leveraging podcast content into digestible blog posts and presenting real opportunities our students have taken advantage of. Authentic proof points are woven into all aspects of our content.

Measuring Success in the Age of AI Search

But this new content strategy only works if we see results that validate the shift. While we're never short of data in the higher education space, measurement can often turn into producing vanity metrics showcasing page views and engagement rate that can make us feel like we're succeeding without looking into if we really are. The more meaningful question in reporting is looking at data that shows:

• Did we get students to move to the next stage of the journey?

• Did we answer the question they came to us with?

• Did they consume confidence-building content?

Those are the dashboards that provide actionable insights. Are we missing an opportunity to share student perspectives on mentoring? Are we answering questions around how we support our students' mental health? Have we created content that grounds the student in confidence? Where are the gaps we need to fill?

As we track AI search results, we've stopped asking whether the AI search tools mention us as a primary focus. We ask whether AI is helping prospective students make progress through the admission decision journey. The result has been a clear shift in what information is surfaced.

When we query AI search tools with the questions our students are asking, we're seeing not only our web pages cited, but these supporting blog articles as well. AI hasn't changed our mission. It clarified it. Success isn't whether ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity mention our institution. Success is whether prospective students leave those conversations with enough confidence to take the next step in their decision. If AI is helping students make better decisions, then we have to make sure we're providing content that deserves to be part of that conversation.