University rankings are one way to attract prospective students to your university, but rankings alone aren’t always enough. Most students start their university search online by entering terms into Google and doing a bit of online research. So we compared the top 25 ranking universities in the UK to their search popularity on Google to see whether the results match the official ranking figures.
Here’s what we found when we compared the official university rankings with the popularity of universities on Google search in the past 12 months in the UK:
| Official University Rank |
University |
|---|---|
| 1 | University of Oxford |
| 2 | University of Cambridge |
| 3 | Imperial College London |
| 4 | University College London |
| 5 | London School of Economics and Political Science |
| 6 | University of Edinburgh |
| 7 | King’s College London |
| 8 | University of Manchester |
| 9 | University of Bristol |
| 10 | University of Glasgow |
| 11 | University of Warwick |
| 12 | Durham University |
| 13 | University of Sheffield |
| 14 | Queen Mary University of London |
| 15 | University of Southampton |
| 16 | University of Exeter |
| 17 | University of York |
| 18 | University of Leeds |
| 19 | University of Birmingham |
| 20 | University of St Andrews |
| 21* | University of Nottingham |
| 21* | University of Sussex |
| 23 | Lancaster University |
| 24 | University of Leicester |
| 25 | Cardiff University |
| Google Search Rank |
University |
|---|---|
| 1 | University of Oxford |
| 2 | London School of Economics and Political Science |
| 3 | University College London |
| 4 | King’s College London |
| 5 | University of Warwick |
| 6 | Imperial College London |
| 7* | University of Cambridge |
| 7* | Durham University |
| 9* | University of Exeter |
| 9* | University of Manchester |
| 9* | Queen Mary University of London |
| 12 | University of Sussex |
| 13 | University of Nottingham |
| 14 | University of Edinburgh |
| 15* | University of Leeds |
| 15* | University of Southampton |
| 17* | Cardiff University |
| 17* | University of Sheffield |
| 19 | University of Birmingham |
| 20 | University of Glasgow |
| 21 | University of Leicester |
| 22* | University of Bristol |
| 22* | Lancaster University |
| 22* | University of York |
| 25 | University of St Andrews |
[Statistics from Times Higher Education and official Google Trends]
Most of the universities are in the arena of their official ranking figures, but some universities – like the University of Sussex – are performing better on Google searches than their rankings would suggest, whilst others, like the University of Cambridge, aren’t as popular on Google searches as you would expect based on their ranking.
So what does all this mean? Your online presence can be a vital determinant in students decision-making processes. Do you know if you’re being found online? Are you nurturing your leads? How does your university compare to the top 25 UK universities? You can find out here by entering your university’s name and comparing it with upto 4 other universities.
Do you want to improve your search results on Google? At AlphaGraphics, we specialise in helping higher education institutions deliver data-driven, automated marketing campaigns to improve student recruitment. To find out more, visit: www.education.alphagraphics.co.uk
