Data Analytics in Course Catalog Management
October 8, 2024
Last updated: January 21, 2025
Data analytics provide insight that enables you to enhance your institution’s course offerings. By analyzing catalog traffic and user behavior, institutions can identify which programs and courses attract the most interest, allowing them to better align their offerings with student demand and optimize resources in accordance with that insight.
Clean Catalog Offers Plausible Analytics
Plausible is our default analytics provider — it's GDPR compliant and also provides important data. We can use Google Analytics upon request.
Expanding Popular Content
By tracking which course listings and program pages receive the highest traffic, institutions can identify popular subjects and expand those offerings.
Since courses typically have a maximum capacity for enrollment each semester, it can be difficult for your institution to gauge continued student interest once all seats have been filled. Website traffic on your course catalog can provide an alternative method for viewing those demand metrics.
If certain programs or courses are consistently visited more, this data suggests a growing demand that can inform decisions to offer additional sections or similar courses. Institutions can also use this data to evaluate the success of existing courses and identify opportunities for new offerings that align with student interests.
In the same manner, you can also view the most popular policy pages on your course catalog to expand on that content for students and staff alike.
Targeting Prospective Students
Knowing where website traffic originates is crucial for recruitment strategies. Clean Catalog provides tools to track where prospective students are coming from, whether through search engines or social media, as well as what specific geographical regions are generating the most traffic.
This data can help refine SEO strategies, tailoring keywords and content to attract more students. For example, it may be possible that your school is receiving the most interest and catalog traffic from prospective nursing students, which may signal your staff to further market that program. Institutions can also target specific regions or demographics where interest is highest, improving outreach efforts.
Keeping Catalogs in Compliance
Catalog metrics can be a powerful tool for higher education institutions, but they also must be handled with care. Clean Catalog ensures that all data analytics are conducted in compliance with GDPR, protecting the privacy of users. While leveraging data insights, institutions can rest assured that student privacy is prioritized and institutional content is protected.
In addition, Clean Catalog's site metrics run continuous tests to ensure catalogs are accessible and error-free, load quickly, and offer a smooth experience for all users. Metrics on page load times, device usage, and broken links allow institutions to always keep a finger on the pulse of catalog efficiency and completeness.
Data analytics in course catalog management enable institutions to make data-driven decisions that enhance course offerings, improve student recruitment, and ensure a seamless user experience. With Clean Catalog software, institutions can confidently use data to stay responsive to student needs while maintaining a high standard of accessibility and performance.