Student testimonials / case studies
Student quotes, testimonials and case studies should be used across a number of key areas – high level quotes on the overall accommodation experience and offering on the main landing page, as well as testimonials for individual halls outlining the benefits of living in a particular residence. These elements all add the credibility of a peer review and can often provide an insight which isn’t captured in any other area.
Contact details
There should be a variety of contact options available for further enquiries – phone, email, drop-in times and any online messaging service or social media channels. It’s a good idea to ensure this information is in a prominent area on the main menu options or linked from relevant sections within the accommodation content. If there’s an enquiry web form, try and keep the data requirements to a minimum and ensure that a robust response process has been set-up to respond to queries in a realistic timeframe.
FAQs
Having a Frequently Asked Question section is a quick win for most websites to address key information which may not fit into other areas or which is important enough to reference again. It is always worth ensuring the pages are kept up-to-date and are regularly checked by the enquiry teams who answers calls and emails to ensure that additional details are added as appropriate.
Accommodation guide
Most universities will produce an accommodation guide for students to support Open days and on-campus events, and it is also worth adding a PDF link of the guide on the website for anyone who hasn’t been able to receive a copy, as a comprehensive guide to all the relevant accommodation information. These types of brochures are particularly attractive to parents/carers who prefer to view all the information in a brochure format.
Sustainability information
Environmental and sustainability information is a key area of student interest and may form part of the overall consideration process. Where possible it may be useful to outline relevant information relating to student accommodation. This could include sustainable building processes in any new developments, awards which may have been won or on a more general level what recycling initiatives are used within the halls on a day-to-day basis.
Accreditations/awards
If you have any accommodation accreditations and/or awards make sure that these are promoted on the main landing page outlining the relevant detail and what it means to the university and the students as an independent seal of approval.