Aha! :: Elliance Blog

Demand and Brand Marketing: Good Alone Better Together
Brand and Demand Marketing in Higher Education: Good Alone, Better Together

In higher education, a false dichotomy has existed between brand marketing and demand marketing. We strongly believe they need to be deployed in tandem. Brand marketing builds long-term reputation, awareness and emotional connection to build affinity for the brand with future students, parents and influencers. In contrast, demand marketing (or enrollment marketing) focuses on immediate […]

What Higher Ed Can Learn From Retail, B2B, Financial Services and Nonprofit Brands
What Higher Ed Marketers Can Learn From Retail, B2B, Financial Services and Nonprofit Brands

For the first half of our company’s journey, we learned marketing by solving hard problems across retail, B2B, financial services and nonprofits. Then we brought that hard won understanding to higher education. What emerged was a higher standard for colleges and universities where design, data, story and deep empathy for students come together to drive […]

Website Design Agency for STEM Colleges Universities and Schools Sample Designs
Website Design Agency for STEM Colleges, Universities and Schools

”The web is the great equalizer and new opportunity creator for all” was my response to our very first website client back in 1995. Thirty years later, the web has moved from the margins to heart of modern life. Now, it’s the digital soul of an institution. All roads lead to it. For us, a […]

Business School Website Design Agency Elevates B-Schools Samples
Business School Website Design Agency Elevates B-Schools

A piece of graffiti I saw at Cornell’s Johnson Business school’s bathroom stall read: “MBA = Mercedes Benz Ahead”. Others have translated this into creative ways like “Masters of Big Ambitions” and “Mapmaker of Bold Aspirations”. The truth is not that far. Effective business school websites amplify: Salary bumps, employment rates and notable employers Rankings, […]

Website Design Agency Reimagines NY Chiropractic College
Website Design Agency Reimagines NY Chiropractic College

NY Chiropractic College was a holistic health college offering programs in Chiropractic, Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, and Health Sciences and Education located in pristine Seneca Falls. Our engagement began by rebranding the college, and relaunching the enrollment campaigns. See the details of our brand work here. We proceeded to reimagine and redesign their website. NYCC […]

Agency Designs Website for a Hybrid 2-Year, 4-Year and Trade College
Website Design Agency for Hybrid 2-Year, 4-Year and Trade Colleges Redesigns SUNY Alfred State College Website

A college website is its digital soul, the heartbeat of its brand, and often the deciding factor for prospective students exploring their next step. SUNY Alfred State College, a hybrid 2-year, 4-year and trade college, approached us to redesign its website. Our recently launched website design exemplifies how a modern, student-centered digital experience can elevate […]

Higher Education Website Development Agency for Colleges and Universities Shares its Best Practices
Higher Education Website Development Agency for Colleges and Universities Shares its Best Practices

High-performing higher ed websites are built with a perfect harmony of code, content and design. As the digital soul of an university, a website is a strategic asset that grows enrollment, endowment and reputation. Our agency has worked with colleges navigating these waters, and we’ve developed a framework for aligning design, code, content, and strategy […]

Keeping Pace with Search Algorithms -- From SEO to Voice Search to AIO
Keeping Pace with Search Algorithms – From SEO to Voice Search to AIO

Search is no longer about just finding answers. It’s about understanding intent, anticipating context, and delivering relevant responses. Over the past three decades, algorithms have evolved from keyword counters to predictive engines and from token-based syntactic engines to meaning-based semantic engines. As search evolved from traditional search (SEO) to voice search (VO) to AI-optimized discovery […]

Nomenclature of Popular Higher Ed CMS Systems
Nomenclature of Popular Higher Ed CMS Systems

If you’ve ever switched from one higher ed CMS to another, you know that the hardest part isn’t just learning new buttons; it’s learning a new language. What one platform calls a “block,” another calls a “widget.” A “page” in one system might be a “node” or a “content type” in another. Whether you’re migrating […]

Bots and Brains: the art of writing SEO snippets
Bots and Brains: the art of writing SEO snippets

In the pre-digital world, marketing was the the art of conveying big ideas with small words, moving hearts and winning minds. In our digital world, marketing is both the art of persuading people and influencing bots so brands can show up on Google page one and become visible on AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini […]