Institutional Visibility in Virtual Space: A Comparative Study of Analysis of Website Communication Strategies of Malaysian Research Universities Websites

Web visibility is increasingly becoming an essential element of institutional promotion for top-ranked universities. A university's official website is a central medium to promote its reputation and image, as well as being a dedicated platform for publicizing university activities and achievements. Institutional websites serve to enhance institutional visibility locally as well as globally, in line with national efforts towards the internationalization of higher education, for example, the establishment of regional and global education hubs. Website communication in the form of high quality attractive, appealing webpages plays an important role as the first point of contact and main reference for the universities' audiences. This study examines three Malaysian research universities' strategic use of their respective institutional websites. The study examines the website communication strategy of each university via qualitative content analysis and online observation of their websites and offers a comprehensive analysis of web content, web design and other elements that contribute to the university's visibility via website communication at these institutions. Study findings suggest that content and usability in website design, as well as dialogic communication, are employed as web visibility strategies. Website communication emphasis of these three elements appears to be the main strategy of all three institutions under study, wherein the strategic use of communication is evident in each university's website.