Malayala Manorama launches education portal ManoramaHorizon.com

The education website will enable students to search for various colleges and courses across India

Manorama Online, the new media division of the Kerala based Malayala Manorama, has launched an education portal named ManoramaHorizon.com.

ManoramaHorizon.com is based on the listing model and will allow educational institutes to enlist their names on the website and provide details about the courses they offer. Apart from listing of colleges, the website will also carry education related news and career guidance articles. Initially, the news content will be offered in Malayalam. It will also be available in English later on.

The media company already runs a section called 'Education & Jobs' on its website, Manoramaonline.com. Earlier, the section carried only news and articles related to education, but Manorama Online has integrated the section with ManoramaHorizon.com and enabled students to search for college and courses through the education section of Manoramaonline.com as well.

Interestingly, the name of the website and the constituents of the educational portal are rooted in the various education related initiatives of Malayala Manorama, which it has been running for many years.

It has been using the brand name Manorama Horizon to conduct education fairs and exhibitions across various cities in Kerala for the past five years.

C Mathew, deputy general manager, marketing, Malayala Manorama, tells afaqs!, "The idea of listing the colleges is based on an annual book of about 500 pages, called Directory of Higher Education, which lists various colleges in India." The group claims that it publishes about one lakh copies of the book annually. The news and guidance articles in the website have their origin in the daily newspaper Malayala Manorama, which publishes a full page on education related news, career opportunities and guidance columns.

About 4,700 colleges from all over India are already on ManoramaHorizon.com. "We are targeting to rope in 20,000 colleges in the next 12 months," says Mathew.

He adds, "Our team of about 40 people will travel across India to contact educational institutes and encourage them to enlist on the website."

On the revenue model, Mathew said that there will be a paid listing option, apart from the free listing. A college can opt for a basic paid listing option and pay Rs 500 to provide more details about the courses they offer.

Or pay Rs 5,000 for the feature listing, wherein the colleges can put up details such as student details, photographs and testimonials and upload the alumni directory as well. There are plans to allow colleges to create their own microsites on ManoramaHorizons.com in the next phase.

Besides paid listing, the media company has plans to earn some part of the revenue from online ads as well.

The website will be promoted through banner and search engine marketing (SEM) in the online space and through print ads in Malayala Manorama.