CHESTER, Pa., March 9, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Blogging will prove vital in the increasingly interactive world of higher education, says EDU Internet Strategies (EDU-IS), a leading company in promoting interactive student recruiting and communication. According to a recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive, over 75% of the time prospective students spend searching for the right school is spent on the Internet, which directly impacts where they go.
Because of this, EDU-IS (http://www.EDUInternetStrategies.com) believes that online tools like blogs, interactive web logs where potential students can interact with current students and admissions people directly, can no longer be considered luxuries. Many students already use blogs in their daily routine, quickly making e-mail obsolete. Thus, incorporating blogs is a necessary service that potential students expect.
"Blogs have so many benefits," says George Waldie, director of EDU-IS. "Not only are they edgy, honest assessments and opinions attuned to the perspective of today's youth, but they are also a great way to drive traffic to your site. Search engines love blogs because they have archives, links and continuously updated content. But optimization is still important because search engines can quickly become flooded with blogs."
It is for this reason that EDU-IS is hosting a free web and audio conference on blogs and interactive communication. It will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 17, and is open to anyone working with a group of students, be it schools, departments, professors or counselors.
"People look to us as a leader in interactive marketing and recruiting," Waldie said. "Therefore we feel it is our duty to provide this service to the higher education community. Spring boarding off the popularity of blogging in the mainstream, we want to discuss the possibilities of blogging, how to overcome the initial stages and potential difficulties of establishing a blog, and more. We were one of the first companies to prove blogs can be a successful educational tool with our online reality blog, BlogAbroad.com. We want to share that expertise with the schools and programs that may be losing students because they can't get information out fast enough."
He went on to say, "Blogs are interactive F.A.Q.s. They have vital information about a school available 24 hours a day. They are the next evolution in student communication, and we are excited to be among the first to bring them into the mainstream educational world."
EDU Internet Strategies
EDU-IS is a consulting firm specializing in recruiting and marketing solutions for higher education institutions. They focus on interactive student recruiting, the process of communication between a student and a recruiter through multiple electronic media. EDU-IS is a service of Educational Directories Unlimited, Inc. (EDU), a leading Internet company serving higher education. Based in suburban Philadelphia, EDU's steady growth since its inception in 1989 has led to its inclusion in the Philadelphia 100 and Inc. 500 lists of fast-growing businesses.