University Business December 2006 - (Page 72)

INTERNET TECHNOLOGY web content, you'll be able to assess the with one stone and couple your redesign Top 4 Website gaps between the current state of your with the implementation of a web content Redesign Mistakes website and the information architecture management system. Getting a site on that will best serve your users. a good CMS makes it easier to maintain T he typical web agency or web consul- and also enables it to seamlessly syndicate tant probably has more website rede- 6. Invite feedback, but refrain from doing content, says Riseling. Beyond the power signs under his or her belt than anybody a redesign by democracy or by committee. of syndicated content, a good CMS will in your institution. Michael Stoner, presi- Any change in the design of your institu- make your next redesign implementation dent of mStoner www.mstoner.com , and tion's website will get noticed. That's why a breeze by separating content from de- David Heidenreich, executive vice presi- it's so important to get as much buy-in as sign. Next time around, you will be able dent of strategy and marketing for Ripple you can before and during the process. to focus only on redesigning the templates Effects Interactive www.r-effects.com , Real transparency is key, says Ben Risel- used by the application to produce on the were asked to identify the most common ing, web operations manager at Duke. fly the thousand of pages composing your mistakes higher education institutions Was this audience group consulted? is the website. make when redesigning their web pres- question that he heard repeated the most. ence. Here are four of them. While communication and buy-in are 9 . Embrace incremental redesigns critical to the success of these projects, rather than redesigning every two or 1. Thinking of your project as a rede- redesigns by democracy or by committee three years . sign project when it's actually about should be avoided. They don't work most When it comes to redesign, bigger isn't redeveloping the site. Sometimes of the time. Our redesign blog was a cru- always better. Major overhauls often gen- what you need to do is to make your cial tool in showing our audience what erate a lot of resistance from constituents website look better, fresher, and more was in the works and establishing a con- and can even upset your most fervent au courant. But much more often you versation about the new site. You have to users. That's why some major names on need to rethink many aspects of your web be careful to set the tone of such a blog, the web, such as Amazon and eBay, don't presence. Stoner though. We made sure it was very clear redesign their websites anymore. They pre- 2. Missing the target. Higher ed web that we would listen to all ideas, but that fer to roll out any major changes slowly. marketers must avoid developing the the site was not being built by a democ- Small changes prevent these companies website for internal audiences faculty, racy, says Cameron-Norfleet. from disorienting or losing their custom- staff, etc. . A .edu website must abso- ers. Another benefit of the incremental lutely target prospective students and 7. Don't forget to test as you redesign. approach lies in the eyes of your budget those who influence their decisions, in- Make sure that the new design works by holder: Most of the time, small changes cluding parents and high school counsel- having a few members of your target au- can be implemented quickly by your team ors. Heidenreich diences test your ideas and layouts as soon and cost less. 3. Paying too much attention to the as possible. Test your paper or interactive look and feel and neglecting content. wireframes the documents showing the 10. Don't worry. Sure, people make a snap judgment about information skeleton of your pages be- If you're looking for more tips, you can a site based on its look and feel, so it fore picking the fonts or the photos. Try read all the information and advice gath- has to look great. But I'm continually to launch your redesigned home page in ered in preparation for this column at astounded by all the time people spend private or public beta first. About six www.collegewebeditor.com/redesign. focusing on color, neglecting content weeks before launch, we posted a `sneak completely. Ensuring that key messages preview' section on the university's web- Some Recent Redesigns appear across many pages on the site is a site to inform and solicit feedback. And, to Check Out hard, but essential, component of a great a month before launch, we opened up the website. Stoner staging site to all faculty, staff, and stu- Cornell University N.Y. , dents for testing and further feedback, www.cornell.edu 4. Packing up after the launch. Estab- says Dame. Duke University N.C. , lishing a new site design is the founda- www.duke.edu tion for your web marketing strategy, but 8. Get a CMS when you redesign. Humboldt State University Calif. , it's only the first step. It's important to www.humboldt.edu If you plan to fix your website informa- continue to feed the site with new con- Virginia Tech, tion architecture, navigation, design, and tent and features that align with your www.vt.edu content, you might want to kill two birds marketing strategies. Heidenreich 72 | December 2006 universitybusiness.com IntTech1206.indd 72 11/17/06 4:01:55 PM http://www.mstoner.com http://www.r-effects.com http://www.collegewebeditor.com/redesign http://www.cornell.edu http://www.duke.edu http://www.humboldt.edu http://www.vt.edu http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business December 2006

Table of Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Future Shock
Admissions
Financial Aid
On the Hill
EDUCAUSE 2006 Highlights
Technology Spending Survey '07
101 Smart Revenue Generators (and Money-Saving Ideas)
Parking: A Lot To Look At
Engaging Alumni Online
One River, Not Two Streams
Internet Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business December 2006