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This glossary explains the key terms in admissions marketing in plain language, from cost per admission and speed to lead to local SEO and GEO. It is written for institute owners, principals and admissions heads who want to understand what their marketing is actually doing.
Last reviewed October 2026. Written by the Leads Connects Media team.
Terms every admissions head should know
Terms follow the admission funnel, from the first click to the confirmed admission. Read them in order or jump to the one you need.
Student enquiry (lead)
A prospective student or parent who has shared contact details or messaged an institute to ask about a course.
Cost per enquiry (CPE)
The advertising spend divided by the number of enquiries received. It shows how efficiently ads generate enquiries, but not how many become admissions.
Cost per admission (CPA)
The advertising spend divided by the number of students who actually enrol. It is the most useful measure of whether marketing is working.
Enquiry-to-counselling rate
The share of enquiries that attend a counselling call, visit or demo. A low rate usually points to slow follow-up or weak lead quality.
Counselling-to-admission rate
The share of counselled students who enrol. It reflects fees, brand trust and the quality of the counselling conversation.
Admission funnel
The path from first seeing an institute to enrolling: ad or search, admission page, enquiry, follow-up, counselling and admission.
Admission landing page
A focused page built for one course or intake with one action, usually an enquiry or counselling booking.
Speed to lead
How quickly an institute responds after an enquiry. Faster, helpful replies keep students from choosing a competitor.
Click-to-WhatsApp ad
An ad on Meta platforms that opens a WhatsApp conversation with the institute instead of a web form.
CRM (customer relationship management)
Software that records every enquiry, assigns it to a counsellor, tracks its stage and sets reminders.
Lead scoring
A method of ranking enquiries by likelihood to enrol, so counsellors call the most promising students first.
Remarketing
Showing ads to people who visited a page or engaged with content but did not enquire.
Local SEO
Optimising an institute’s online presence, especially its Google Business Profile, to appear in Maps and local search results.
Google Business Profile
A free Google listing that shows an institute’s address, hours, photos, reviews and contact options in Search and Maps.
SEO (search engine optimisation)
Improving a website so it appears higher in unpaid search results for relevant searches.
GEO (generative engine optimisation)
Structuring content so generative AI tools can understand, trust and cite it when answering questions.
AIO (AI optimisation)
A broader term for making content and brand details clear and consistent so AI-powered search and assistants represent them accurately.
Intake season
The period when an institute accepts applications for a new batch, term or academic year, and when search demand peaks.
UTM parameters
Tags added to links so analytics can show which campaign, ad or channel produced an enquiry.
Conversion rate
The percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as submitting an enquiry form.
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Each service on this site applies the terms above to a different stage of the admission funnel.
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