Visit Modern Campus

Building High-Touch Digital Experiences That Convert

As generative AI reshapes digital search, institutions must move beyond generic content and lean into bold, brand-driven storytelling to stand out. A modern web strategy must blend scalable personalization with human connection to guide learners through high-stakes decisions with trust and clarity. In this interview, James Kurtzleben discusses the impact AI and large language models (LLMs) have on content strategy and balancing personalization with human touch in the student journey.  

The EvoLLLution (Evo): How is web strategy’s role evolving within business schools to not only prospective students’ but current students’ rising expectations? 

James Kurtzleben (JK): On the one hand, the best practices from 20 years ago—great content, thoughtful SEO, knowing your audience and integrating online content with print and signage—are still important, but the biggest shift lately is the impact of large language models, especially on search. Now, more than ever, your organization has to be authentically your brand, distinct from competitors. LLMs tend to flatten search results, especially if you’re only listing program offerings without adding depth to your marketing. 

Even using an LLM for a first draft means your content structure might mimic everyone else’s, so organizations need to lean into their personality and culture. You need to say something others aren’t—both what you say in content and in how you say it. LLMs push institutions to highlight what makes them special, so they don’t get lost in that leveling effect. So, yeah, good content—real, distinct, meaningful content—matters more than ever. 

Evo: What are the most impactful ways personalization can enhance the digital experience and support enrollment goals in higher ed? 

JK: Personalization helps with buying decisions, but it’s tricky in higher ed. You’ve got folks just out of high school and working professionals going back for an MBA. They have totally different needs but both need guidance. It’s a long, expensive decision, and self-service—even when personalized—can make things harder. 

So, we commit to our brand: high connection, small classes. That means real human advisors, from start to finish. Depending on your degree, that same advisor may be with you throughout. Technically, we focus on making it easy to schedule with them. We also have structured email communication that tracks your progress and helps move you forward. It’s not complex personalization, but it’s high touch, and it works. 

Evo: How can business schools future-proof web infrastructure to adapt quickly to changing digital trends and overall user needs that are constantly evolving? 

JK: This might sound like real meat-and-potatoes advice, but future-proofing web infrastructure is about creating a standardized but flexible environment that can quickly adapt to change. That’s easy to say, but in practice requires a campus infrastructure team that thinks with an enterprise mindset. They need to deliver a platform that’s both powerful and easy to use, which isn’t always a simple balance to strike. 

At the University of Iowa, we’re really fortunate. We have an incredible central team that supports all the colleges and genuinely treats us as part of their extended team. It does an amazing job of making sure our evolving needs are not only heard but built into the broader system. When we need something like marketing tool integration, the central team works it into the infrastructure in a way that benefits everyone. Even if other colleges aren’t doing the same things, those capabilities are ready when they are. 

Evo: What governance models best support, consistency, compliance and content quality across distributed academic web content?  

JK: Governance might sound boring, but it’s essential for managing websites well. I’ve seen how tough it is, even in corporate environments, but it really does make a huge difference. 

From a marketing standpoint, it starts with a clearly defined brand. That brand guides everything across the site’s lifecycle. For larger projects, we review for voice and fit. But we couldn’t function without our distributed editors across the college—folks who aren’t on the marketing team but help keep content fresh. When we train them, not just technical training—we cover the brand’s look and feel, too. And we’re transparent that we’ll circle back for audits. If something doesn’t align, it gets adjusted to match the brand. That consistency helps the whole site feel cohesive, no matter who’s contributing. 

On the compliance side, our central CMS infrastructure handles that beautifully. Accessibility, mobile responsiveness, federal regulations—it’s baked in. Whether your organization has power users or beginners, the system is built to inherit those standards automatically. It’s that same central team I mentioned earlier. They’ve done a phenomenal job building a system where consistency and compliance are just built in, not bolted on. 

Evo: What digital engagement metrics provide the most meaningful insights into those prospective student behaviors, and how should they shape the strategic content planning? 

JK: The digital engagement metrics we track really depend on where a user is in their journey and what part of the site they’re on. Basic traffic metrics are always useful, but something like a homepage or landing page is the front door for early-stage prospects. For those, we focus on scroll behavior and consumption maps to see what’s being read. Over time, because many users return and interact differently, aggregate data can sometimes make these pages look under-consumed. So, we also watch SEO performance and user paths to see where visitors go next from landing pages. 

For long-form content marketing, it’s a totally different audience. These pieces are often for people in the early awareness phase, who maybe have just heard of an MBA. Traffic might be low, but what matters is search engine performance, scroll depth and conversion behaviors. Are they engaging with the content? Are they clicking through CTAs? 

And that leads to strategic content planning. Heat maps and behavior data show what’s resonating. If users slow down on salary data, we lean into that and create more content around it. The insights tell us what’s hitting home, and we double down on what works. 

Evo: Anything you’d like to add? 

JK: Nothing’s more important than truly understanding your audience and speaking to it in a way that resonates. Too often, organizations default to internal language on their websites, but you have to talk to the customer. In undergraduate admissions, that might be a high school student, but often it’s their parent, too. 

What high school students looking for in a college experience has evolved, and we need to reflect that in how we present ourselves. We can’t just talk business. We need to show how their degree can blend with other interests like the humanities to help them think about a future that’s more than just landing a job.