Prestigious award for our website

Because last night, our website Product Owner, Vera Wieringa, and our partner Netvlies won the International Splash Award in the Corporate category!

"We received this internationally recognized award because our website is built on a strong technical foundation and because we continuously improve it based on data and user insights. This demonstrates that prospective students are always at the heart of everything we do," says an enthusiastic Vera.

User first

The mission of Vera and Netvlies began four years ago. Their challenge was to combine three separate websites into one future-proof platform that could serve more than ten different target groups while remaining flexible enough to adapt to users' evolving needs.

Vera explains: "In the case study, Netvlies described our website as a digital ecosystem, and that's exactly what it is. Our educational portfolio continues to grow. On the one hand, we ensure that the website remains scalable so that we can effectively manage all our programmes. On the other hand, we focus on keeping the website relevant for users. We do this through ongoing research, always placing prospective students at the centre. How does a 15- or 16-year-old navigate the site? How does a professional search for programmes? And how do we ensure that these users find the right types of education? We rely on technology to support this, but above all on the insights we gain from our users."

The results speak for themselves

When asked what this approach has delivered, Vera pointed to the results included in the business case submitted by Netvlies:

• +8.5% more registrations for Open Days (validated through A/B testing)
• +87% increase in traffic from interest areas to programme pages
• +107% increase in clicks from search results
• +35% more registrations for information events for professionals
• +18% increase in clicks to registration forms for professionals

Continuous development

Vera and Netvlies demonstrate that a website is never truly finished after launch. "New types of programmes continue to be introduced, which means we are constantly reaching new audiences with new information needs," says Vera. "At the same time, the world around us is changing. We increasingly see prospective students turning to AI for information. We respond to these developments by continuously enhancing the website with new features and innovations, most recently with our new study choice test for secondary school students, which helps them find the educational direction that best matches their interests."

A well-oiled machine

Any successful collaboration is built on the people behind it. That’s why we would like to thank Netvlies for their help, support, flexibility and expertise. We’ll see you at the next sprint!