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hw.ac.uk
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hw.ac.uk

14 technologies
VerifiedVisit1.1M/mo$1.2B4.7K14 Tech25 Leads
Deep Dive

Heriot-Watt: The 19th Century University Built for the 21st

How a Scottish institution scaled into a global education powerhouse with 1.1M monthly visitors.

While most universities are struggling to digitize, Heriot-Watt is quietly running a global tech stack that would make Silicon Valley startups jealous. Founded in 1821, this Edinburgh-based institution isn't just surviving the digital age—it's dominating it with a $1.2B revenue engine and a web presence that pulls in over a million visitors a month.

1.1M
monthly visits
$1.2B
annual revenue
4,729
employees
49%
organic traffic

"Heriot-Watt isn't just teaching the future; they're engineering the infrastructure to deliver it at scale."

Global by Design, Not by Accident

The data reveals a strategic masterstroke: Heriot-Watt has engineered a web presence where 49% of traffic comes organically and 41% is direct. This isn't the behavior of a passive institution—it's the signature of a brand that has transcended geography. With campuses in Edinburgh, Dubai, and Malaysia, they've built a digital-first identity that converts curiosity into enrollment without relying on paid acquisition. Their 'undefined' top countries (likely masking UK, UAE, and Malaysia) show a truly borderless audience.

The SEO Moat

Heriot-Watt commands 2.5 million backlinks and ranks for high-intent keywords like 'heriot watt university dubai' (3,700 monthly searches). But the real gold is in their long-tail dominance. They're not just winning on branded searches; they're capturing 'scholar' (1.2M monthly volume) and positioning themselves as the default choice for international students. This is textbook digital moat-building.

Their tech stack tells the same story of modernization. Built on jQuery, Bootstrap, and Ant Design, they've adopted a pragmatic, enterprise-grade architecture. The presence of Vite and PWA support suggests they're not just maintaining legacy systems—they're actively building for mobile-first, fast-loading experiences. This is a university that understands that student recruitment happens on phones, not desktops.

  • Revenue per employee: ~$252K (extremely high for education)
  • 2.5M backlinks = massive domain authority
  • 49% organic traffic = zero-cost customer acquisition
  • Global social presence (TikTok to YouTube) meets students where they are
Doesn't rely on traditional campus tours
Builds digital experiences that convert globally
Doesn't depend on paid advertising for visibility
Leverages 199 years of brand equity into modern SEO
Doesn't limit itself to local student pools
Operates like a tech company with a $1.2B revenue engine

The Blueprint for Educational Scale

Heriot-Watt proves that heritage institutions can out-innovate startups when they treat digital as core, not add-on.

What tech stack does Hw use?

18 detected
Programming Languages1
Privacy & Consent1
Performance1
Web Standards1
Build Tools1
CSS Frameworks1
JavaScript Libraries1
Tracking & Analytics4
G
Google Analytics
G
Google Tag Manager
G
Google APIs
G
Google Static

How much traffic does Hw get?

Traffic & Engagement

666.8K
Monthly Visits
-33.2%
6.1
Pages/Visit
10:19
Avg. Duration
38%
Bounce Rate
Monthly Traffic Trend-34%
1.0M
Oct 2025
Oct
998.1K
Nov 2025
Nov
666.8K
Dec 2025
Dec

Rankings

#68,730
Global Rank
#7,012
United Kingdom Rank
Education
Category

Backlinks & Authority

2.5M
Backlinks
21.5K
Ref. Domains
51
Authority Score
Low
Penalty Risk
Backlinks Trend+22%
2.1M
Jul 2025
Jul
2.2M
Aug 2025
Aug
2.4M
Sep 2025
Sep
2.5M
Oct 2025
Oct
2.5M
Nov 2025
Nov
2.5M
Dec 2025
Dec

Search Traffic

Organic
381.1K
Paid
4.3K

Top Organic Keywords

#1heriot watt university
18,100 vol10.6%
#1watt university edinburgh
12,100 vol7.1%
#1hw uni
8,100 vol4.8%
#1heriot watt uk
6,600 vol3.9%
#2scholar
201,000 vol3.8%

Where is Hw's audience located?

🇬🇧United Kingdom46.3%
🇦🇪United Arab Emirates15.8%
🇮🇳India6.5%
🇲🇾Malaysia5.7%
🇺🇸United States3.9%

Who competes with Hw?

Device Distribution

Desktop71.1%
Mobile28.9%

What keywords does Hw rank for?

5 keywords
1heriot watt university14.4K vol$0.92
2heriot-watt university7.8K vol
3heriot watt university dubai6.6K vol$0.49
4scholar1.2M vol$1.43
5heriot-watt university dubai3.7K vol

How is Hw's SEO?

Meta Tags

title29 chars

Home | Heriot-Watt University

description154 chars

Heriot-Watt is a specialist university in Edinburgh with a global presence. We create world renowned, innovative research and highly employable graduates.

og:title

Home

languageEN

Who works at Hw?

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What do customers think of Hw?

No Trustpilot reviews available for this company.

Frequently Asked Questions about Hw

What is Hw's Revenue?
Hw generates approximately $1.2B in annual revenue. With 4,729 employees, that's $252,000 per employee.
What does Hw do?
Heriot-Watt is a specialist university in Edinburgh with a global presence. We create world renowned, innovative research and highly employable graduates.
How fast is Hw growing?
Hw has declined by 33.2% in the last 6 months according to traffic data. employee count has changed by 4% year over year.
How do people interact with Hw?
When visiting Hw, visitors view an average of 6.1 pages per visit, and spend around 10:19 on the site, and the bounce rate is 37.8%.
How do people find Hw?
281.5K people (42%) visit Hw directly. 381.1K (57%) find them through organic search. 4.3K (1%) come through paid advertising.
Who uses Hw?
Hw's top market is United Kingdom with 308.8K visitors (46.3%). United Arab Emirates is 2nd with 105.1K (15.8%). India is 3rd with 43.2K (6.5%).
What technologies does Hw use?
Hw uses 14 technologies across their website including Fonts, Programming Languages, Privacy & Consent. Key technologies include Font Awesome, Google Fonts, PHP, OneTrust.
Who are Hw's competitors?
Hw's main competitors include Illustrative Mathematics, Vertex Education, Charter One, ExecuTrain of Kentucky, Horizon Academy. These companies operate in similar markets and compete for the same customer base.

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What are Hw's key pages?

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About hw.ac.uk

Heriot-Watt is a specialist university in Edinburgh with a global presence. We create world renowned, innovative research and highly employable graduates.

Company Overview

hw.ac.uk
Website
science_and_education
Industry
#41,200
Global Rank
1.1M
Monthly Visitors
14
Technologies
25+
Employees

Technology Stack

hw.ac.uk uses 14 technologies across their website including Font Awesome, Google Fonts, PHP, OneTrust, and more.

Fonts

Font Awesome, Google Fonts

Programming Languages

PHP

Privacy & Consent

OneTrust

Analytics & Marketing

Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics

Performance

Lazy Loading

Web Standards

PWA

Traffic & Audience

1.1M
Monthly Visits
37%
Bounce Rate
5.6
Pages/Visit
4:15
Avg. Duration

hw.ac.uk receives approximately 1.1M monthly visitors and ranks #41,200 globally. The website has a bounce rate of 37% with visitors viewing an average of 5.6 pages per visit. Users spend an average of 4:15 on the site.

The majority of hw.ac.uk's traffic comes from undefined, undefined, .

Frequently Asked Questions

What is hw.ac.uk?
Heriot-Watt is a specialist university in Edinburgh with a global presence. We create world renowned, innovative research and highly employable graduates.
What technologies does hw.ac.uk use?
hw.ac.uk uses 14 technologies including Font Awesome, Google Fonts, PHP, and 8 more. View the full tech stack analysis above.
How do I contact hw.ac.uk?
You can contact hw.ac.uk via email at [email protected] or through their contact page.
What are hw.ac.uk's social media accounts?
hw.ac.uk is active on tiktok, youtube, facebook, instagram. You can find links to all their social media profiles in the social section above.
Is hw.ac.uk hiring?
Check hw.ac.uk's careers page for current job openings and opportunities. The company has 25+ known employees.
How popular is hw.ac.uk?
hw.ac.uk receives approximately 1.1M monthly visitors and ranks #41,200 globally. Traffic is declining by 32.6% month-over-month.

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This page provides publicly available information about hw.ac.uk. Data is collected from various public sources and may not always be up to date. For the most accurate information, please visit hw.ac.uk directly at https://hw.ac.uk.