UrFU Operates Some of the Best English Internet Pages Among Russian Universities, a Study Shows

15:47, July 22, 2020

A Russian International Affairs Council study ranks UrFU among the leaders in Russia, placing UrFU just below the Higher School of Economics (Moscow)

Ural Federal University ranked second in Russia in terms of the quality of English-language Internet resources, behind only the Higher School of Economics. These are the results of a new study by the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), which is a continuation of the basic report “Electronic Internationalization: English-language Internet Resources of Russian Universities”. The first report was released in 2015 and has been updated annually since then.

Commenting on the results of the study, Ural Federal University Rector Victor Koksharov notes that the main task of the university's foreign language websites is to organize effective communication with applicants, students, alumni, scientists, partners, the media and other foreign target groups.

“Our Internet portal urfu.ru is the main means of global communication and a resource where you can learn everything about the university, its successful graduates and the most current news and innovations in five languages: Russian, English, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese, - says Victor Koksharov. "At the same time, English remains the main language of global communication in education."

Today, the coverage of the international resources of UrFU exceeds 45 thousand visits per month. At the same time, the English-speaking segment accounts for up to 90% of visits. Since 2018, the traffic to the English-language website and social networks has increased by a total of 40 thousand visits. The geography of visitors is very wide. India is in the first place. Then, in descending order, there are Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, China, USA, Nigeria, Pakistan and Italy.

“We strive to improve all language segments to make it easier for applicants to learn about us,” emphasizes Victor Koksharov. - Our priority is to improve the site as a tool for developing the export of education, simplify the structure of information blocks while maintaining a focus on the recommendations of professionals, create a convenient mobile version of the UrFU portal, improve usability. We will also continue to develop our accounts on social networks - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, as well as regional ones - Weibo, Vk and Telegram. It is important to continuously improve the whole complex, consisting of the website, social networks, marketing and international promotion."

Based on the author's methodology, RIAC experts analyzed the English-language resources of 67 Russian universities. The research results are presented in the form of a rating of the English-language sites of Russian universities; the results of the analysis of typical problems are presented and recommendations for their solution are given. The role of accounts in social networks in the marketing activities of universities is also considered, the possibilities of implementing a content strategy in the content of accounts are analyzed.

Sergey Tushin, Deputy Vice-Rector of UrFU for International Relations, notes that the study is viewed at the university as a very good opportunity to see the main global trends in terms of content updating, the use of technological forms and promotion methods, and acquaintance with the experience of leading world universities in using such a tool.

“The development of the portal and work in social networks is an important mechanism for increasing the attractiveness of Russian higher education and promoting the university in the world educational markets,” says Sergey Tushin. - The report allows us to see the position of UrFU in comparison with other leading Russian universities, to highlight those areas that require additional attention from our side - about famous university graduates, job prospects, the possibilities of our library and educational programs, including in English, that us are being realized. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the authors of the study - this is a very important and useful work”.