2023 State of European Higher Education Websites

Monsido analyzed websites of the top universities in Europe to determine their UX, performance, and accessibility.

The following are the top performers in digital accessibility, quality assurance, response time, performance, and SEO.

Illustration of laptop, books, and accessibility badges

Top 5 Websites Overall

In the overall score category, we highlight the best European higher education websites in terms of SEO, response time, performance, and accessibility.

We scanned a sample of 500 pages from the main publicly facing websites of 105 European higher education websites in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands using Monsido’s Web Governance software during a two-week period in May 2023.

The champions with overall scores ranking in the top 5 for 2023 are listed below.
*overall ranking is based on the average (weighted) ranking across all categories.
Overall Ranking* University Name
1st ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
2nd University of Neuchâtel
3rd Design School Kolding
4th University of Stavanger
5th University of Basel

Top 5 Websites for Web Accessibility

In Europe, 24% of the population lives with some form of disability. Many of them depend on digital accessibility. Your website should be accessible to everyone, regardless of age, level of digital competency, or disability. This is especially important for students, employees, and their families.

We advise achieving an accessibility compliance score of at least 70% for organizations using the Monsido platform in order to demonstrate progress towards compliance.

The average accessibility score for the report was 70.61%, just above our recommended threshold.

The following 5 Universities scored highest for digital accessibility in 2023.

*Based on the number of WCAG 2.1 A & AA checks passed on the Monsido platform in a 500-page scan.
Ranking University Name Accessibility Compliance*
1st Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht 77.92%
2nd Chalmers University of Technology 77.19%
3rd University of Zurich 77.03%
4th Hogeschool Inholland 76.92%
5th NHL Stenden hogeschool 76.67%

Top 5 Websites for Content Quality Assurance

Monsido’s Content Quality Assurance module looks for misspellings, broken links, broken images, and readability issues. By working on quality assurance, you can decrease bounce rates, increase conversions, and improve your SEO, helping (future) students more easily find the information they need about their university or education program.

The benchmark average for quality assurance in this report was just 57.1%.

However, the university websites listed below deserve credit for making an outstanding effort to raise the bar for content quality assurance.

*Based on the number of pages without broken links, broken images, and misspellings.
Ranking University Name Content Quality Assurance*
1st Rijksuniversiteit Groningen 99.6%
2nd De Hanzehogeschool Groningen 99.2%
3rd NHL Stenden hogeschool 99%
4th Copenhagen University 98.4%
5th BI Norwegian Business School 98%

Top 5 Websites for SEO

On-page SEO continues to have a crucial impact on search engine rankings. Neglecting essential elements such as H1 tags, broken links, and excessive internal links can negatively affect both your rankings and the overall experience of your visitors.

The average SEO score was 81.04.

We praise the following universities for taking leadership positions in the SEO category:

*Based on the number of pages that are compliant with all Monsido SEO checks.
Ranking University Name SEO Compliance*
1st UMC Groningen 97.06
2nd Oslo & Akershus University College 95.63
3rd University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland 94.24
4th University of Lausanne 93.93
5th NHL Stenden hogeschool 93.59

Top 5 Websites for Response Time

Ensuring a fast-loading website is essential for SEO, as it is a ranking factor utilized by Google, and enhances user experience. With the help of Monsido's Heartbeat module, you can monitor your website's performance, ensuring a positive user experience and averting any potential visitor frustration.

The European higher education websites in this report had an average response time of 339.1 ms. Your score must be under 200 ms for you to be considered an excellent performer.

The following top five European high education institutions can be proud of their exceptional response time results, however:

*Average response time is based on average response time (ms) over a one week period in Monsido’s Heartbeat module.
Ranking University Name Average response time (ms)*
1st Lund University 32ms
2nd Vienna University of Technology 46ms
3rd Utrecht University 52ms
4th Twente University 61ms
5th Tilburg University 70ms

Top 5 Websites for Performance Score

Assessing the overall website performance score (ranging from 0 to 100) using Google LightHouse and Core Web Vitals offers a comprehensive understanding of how factors such as visitor location, network speed, and device impact your site's performance. It provides valuable insights into the overall performance of your website.

The average desktop performance rating for this benchmark report was just 52.09. At Monsido we suggest you aim for a score between 90 and 100.

Below is a list of the top five European higher education websites, based on their desktop performance score in this report.

Ranking University Name Performance score (0-100)
1st Innsbruck University 99
2nd Linköping University 96
3rd Örebro University 96
4th Umea University 94
5th University of Graz 92

All State of European Higher Education Websites We Tested in This Report

We looked at 105 European higher education websites in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands for 2.5 weeks at the end of May 2023.

If you can’t find your university name and are curious about what your website score will look like – scan your website here.

Are you on the list, and would you like to receive your in-depth results on all parts of your website?

Let's get in touch and discuss your results.

  • Innsbruck University
  • Linköping University
  • Örebro University
  • Umea University
  • University of Graz
  • TU Wien
  • University of Zurich
  • Vienna University of Technology
  • University of Vienna
  • Royal Institute of Technology
  • Uppsala University
  • Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education & Training
  • University of Lausanne
  • Graz University of Technology
  • Vetmeduni Vienna
  • The University of Oslo
  • Design School Kolding (Designskolen Kolding)
  • Oslo & Akershus University College
  • Medical University of Graz
  • Norges Idrettshøgskole
  • Karolinska Institute
  • Johannes Kepler University Linz
  • Havforskningsinstituttet
  • University of Natural Resources & Life Sciences, Vienna
  • Medical University of Vienna
  • Lund University
  • The Royal Danish Academy of Music
  • Copenhagen Business School
  • Copenhagen University
  • Swedish University of Agricultural Science
  • EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne)
  • Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
  • ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
  • University of St. Gallen
  • Medical University of Innsbruck
  • University of Applied Sciences & Arts Western Switzerland
  • Roskilde University
  • St. Gallen University of Teacher Education
  • University of Basel
  • University of Applied Sciences & Arts of Southern Switzerland
  • Gothenburg University
  • Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg
  • Bern University of Applied Sciences
  • University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway
  • University of Leoben
  • University of Klagenfurt
  • University of Bern
  • University of Fribourg
  • Stockholm University
  • Lucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts
  • Chalmers University of Technology
  • University of Applied Sciences in Special Needs Education
  • Western Norway University
  • BI Norwegian Business School
  • Aarhus University
  • IT University of Copenhagen
  • University of Neuchâtel
  • The University of Bergen
  • University of Southern Denmark
  • University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland
  • University of Geneva
  • University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland
  • Aalborg University
  • University of Stavanger
  • The Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Technische Universiteit Eindhoven
  • ArtEZ University of the Arts
  • Breda University of Applied Sciences
  • UMC Groningen
  • Amsterdam AMC
  • Hogeschool van Amsterdam
  • Radboud UMC
  • Fontys Hogeschool
  • Erasmus MC
  • Technische Universiteit Delft
  • Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • De Hanzehogeschool Groningen
  • Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmegen
  • Hogeschool Utrecht
  • Tilburg University
  • Maastricht UMC+
  • Hogeschool Inholland
  • Universiteit Twente
  • Politieacademie
  • Hogeschool Saxion
  • Wageningen University & Research
  • Amsterdam VUMC
  • Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht
  • Avans Hogeschool
  • Universiteit Utrecht
  • Universiteit van Amsterdam
  • LUMC
  • UMC Utrecht
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • Hogeschool Leiden
  • NHL Stenden hogeschool
  • Hogeschool Windesheim
  • Universiteit Leiden
  • Radboud Universiteit
  • Hogeschool Rotterdam
  • Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
  • Open Universiteit
  • De Haagse Hogeschool
  • Zuyd Hogeschool
  • Maastricht University

Not on the list at all? We work with 1000s of organizations across many different sectors. We’d love the opportunity to scan your website and see how Monsido could help your organisation. Book a demo with us!

See How Your Website Scored in Our Report

See your website's scan results and how your university performed in this report.

We can also scan your internal user portal if you need to understand its performance.

An illustration of graphs displaying analytics results inside the Monsido platform

How the Rankings Work

Monsido:

  • Scanned a sample of 500 pages from the main publicly facing websites of 105 European higher education websites in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland using Monsido’s Web Governance software during a two-week period in May 2023.
  • Ranked the 105 European higher education websites based on their scores in web accessibility, content quality assurance, SEO, and response time.
  • Calculated the overall champions based on the average (weighted) ranking in all categories, prioritizing web accessibility, then content quality assurance, response time, SEO, and performance.

Improve Your Accessibility Rankings

Benefits of Improving Accessibility:

Increased audience

By building an accessible website, you open yourself up to a much larger audience as 1/5 of the world’s population is living with a disability that could prevent them from using your site.

Improved SEO

Many web accessibility standards overlap with good SEO practices like ensuring descriptive alt and title attributes, checking for correct HTML, and offering a site map to users.

Enhanced user experience and quality assurance

Accessibility means creating a website which provides a good experience for everyone, so when you ensure a good experience for users with disabilities, you can rest assured that your overall website experience and quality will improve.

Strengthen brand image and reputation

Committing to accessibility is not just good for your users, but shows you take your social responsibility seriously and can benefit your brand. So make sure to promote your accessibility efforts.

Monsido Accessibility Handbook