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April 01, 2025
Jeff Dillon
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In higher education, every touchpoint with prospective and current students matters.
For Texas Christian University (TCU), the realization that their website search function was more than just a utility, and that it was a strategic opportunity, led to a transformative approach that has yielded impressive results for the institution.
Students expect university websites to function as seamlessly as consumer platforms like Netflix and Spotify. When they don’t find what they need quickly, they move on.
Today’s students have grown up in a digital environment where personalization, immediate access to information and intuitive interfaces are the norm. They don’t distinguish between their experience on consumer platforms and their expectations for a university website. The bar is set high, and higher education institutions are under pressure to meet it.
This reality is compounded by demographic shifts in the student population. The much-discussed enrollment cliff, the projected decline in traditional college-age students, means competition for institutions to attract each prospective student is fiercer than ever. In this environment, every website visit needs to be a frictionless, value-driven experience that guides users toward their goals without frustration or dead ends.
For TCU, the implications were clear: search wasn’t merely a navigation tool but a strategic asset that could support student success and institutional priorities. When students can quickly find what they’re looking for, whether it’s academic program information, mental health resources or campus events, they’re more likely to engage with the university and progress in their journey.
"For TCU, search was more than just a navigation tool, it became a strategic asset in supporting student success and institutional priorities."
Like many universities, TCU’s website had grown organically over time, with over 50,000 pages created and maintained by multiple departments across the institution. This decentralized approach to content creation and management led to several challenges:
As Corey Reed, TCU’s Director of Web Management, described it, the university’s online presence had become a “crazy quilt” of information—patches of content stitched together without a cohesive pattern or structure.
This complexity is not unique to TCU. Across higher education, websites have evolved to serve multiple audiences with diverse needs: prospective students, current students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and community members. Each group seeks different information and navigates the site with different goals in mind.
Perhaps most concerning was the disconnect between how students searched for information and how universities organized it. The top search term on most university websites? Academic programs. Yet, despite being the primary reason students visit university websites, program information was often buried beneath institutional history, campus news and administrative content.
"The top search term on most university websites? Academic programs. Yet, prospective students weren't always finding what they needed."
For TCU, these challenges represented not just a usability issue but a strategic problem. If students couldn’t easily find information about programs they were interested in, how many potential applicants were they losing? If current students couldn’t locate support resources when they needed them, how did that impact retention and student success?
Recognizing these challenges, TCU set out to redefine onsite search as a core user experience tool, with three key objectives:
This approach required a fundamental shift in thinking about search—from a reactive utility to a proactive strategic asset. Rather than simply responding to what users typed, TCU wanted their search function to anticipate needs, guide exploration and provide meaningful pathways through the university’s digital landscape.
"TCU set out to redefine search as a core user experience tool, leveraging data to break down silos and address shifting priorities throughout the academic year."
With clear objectives in place, TCU implemented a comprehensive strategy to transform their search experience. Here’s how they did it:
One of the most valuable insights from TCU’s search analytics was the identification of high-demand topics that lacked clear content. By analyzing search terms that returned few or no results, they uncovered critical gaps in their content strategy.
“Cyber Technology” is a perfect example of this process. Although TCU didn’t offer a degree specifically in cyber technology, they discovered many prospective students were searching for this term. Rather than leaving these searches with no results, they created content that guided students to related programs in computer science and information technology.
TCU implemented a multi-faceted approach using synonyms, promotions and content updates to ensure students always found relevant results. They created synonym mappings that connected common search terms to their institutional language, and deployed search promotions that highlighted the most relevant content for high-volume searches. And they developed new content to fill identified gaps.
“Search analytics uncovered high-demand topics that lacked clear content, revealing opportunities to better serve student needs.”
Beyond academic information, TCU recognized that their search function could play a vital role in connecting students with essential support services. Mental health resources, LGBTQ+ support and crisis intervention information were critical for student wellbeing, but these resources were often buried under more frequently accessed academic content.
TCU implemented what they called a ‘Search for Good’ strategy, using search promotions and weighting to ensure students in need could find support quickly. They identified key terms that might indicate a student in distress—terms like “depression,” “anxiety,” “suicide,” or “crisis”—and ensured that support resources appeared prominently in those search results.
This approach recognized that search isn’t just about convenience—it can be a lifeline for students in crisis. By making these resources more discoverable, TCU demonstrated their commitment to student wellbeing while leveraging search as a tool for support.
Traditional search interfaces present users with a simple text field and return a list of results. TCU went further by implementing custom filters that allowed users to narrow their results by content type, department, event date and other relevant factors.
For academic programs, consistently the top search category, TCU created a specialized search experience that prioritized program content and offered filters for degree level, college and areas of interest. This faceted approach to search helped students navigate the complexity of TCU’s academic offerings without being overwhelmed by irrelevant content.
They also applied this faceted approach to events and campus maps, two other high-demand content areas. By allowing users to filter events by date, type, or department and enabling location-based searches for campus facilities, TCU made it easier for students to find exactly what they needed.
“TCU implemented custom filters for academic programs, events, and campus maps, creating a more intuitive search experience.”
TCU’s investment in search transformation yielded impressive results:
Beyond these quantitative metrics, TCU observed qualitative improvements in the user experience. Students reported finding information more easily, and departments noticed increased engagement with their content. The search function had transformed from a source of frustration to a valued navigation tool.
TCU’s experience offers valuable lessons for higher education marketers and digital strategists:
Gone are the days when search was merely a backup for when navigation failed. Today’s students start with search, using it as their primary means of finding information. This behavior, cultivated by years of using Google, shopping online and using social media as search engines, means that university search functions must be proactive, not reactive—anticipating needs and guiding users toward relevant content.
From enrollment and recruitment to student retention and wellbeing, a well-designed search experience can advance strategic priorities. By ensuring that prospective students find program information, current students locate academic resources and those in need connect with support services, search becomes a tool for institutional success.
The data generated by search queries provides real-time insights into what students need and want. This information can guide content strategy, inform website structure and highlight gaps in the digital experience. By regularly analyzing search data, institutions can stay responsive to evolving student needs
“Search data offers real-time insights into what students need, providing a roadmap for content strategy and digital experience improvements.”
As higher education faces increasing enrollment challenges and competition for student attention, the quality of the digital experience becomes ever more critical. Most university websites are complex ecosystems of content, and traditional navigation alone won’t guide users effectively through this complexity.
A modern search experience can elevate digital engagement, improve conversion rates and support strategic priorities. It can transform the way students interact with your institution online, making the difference between a frustrated prospect who abandons their search and an engaged applicant who finds exactly what they need.
TCU’s success shows that rethinking search isn’t just about technology—it’s about meeting students where they are. It’s about understanding their needs, anticipating their questions and creating pathways that guide them toward their goals. It’s about recognizing that in the digital age, search isn’t just a feature—it’s a fundamental aspect of the student experience.
For higher education marketers, the message is clear: invest in search, leverage the data it provides and transform it from a utility into a strategic asset. Your students—and your institution—will benefit from the improved experience.
“TCU’s success shows that rethinking search isn’t just about technology—it’s about meeting students where they are and supporting their journey.”
Is your institution’s search experience helping or hurting student engagement? What insights might you gain from analyzing your search data? And how might a transformed search function support your strategic priorities? These are questions worth exploring as you consider the role of search in your digital strategy.
Watch the full conversation on TCU’s Blueprint for Success with Advanced Site Search.
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