Here's an understatement: website redesigns are challenging. Completing a highly successful redesign can be a daunting process down an unpaved road filled with potholes. If you've been down that road you know the drill – they need to be strategic and tactical. This presentation was first given at the 2014 Ingeniux User Conference and covers the 9 stages of an effective site redesign. We cover the gamut from the design process (IA/UX) to establishing a strategic foundation, content strategy and content management, stakeholder engagement and leadership buy-in, governance and decision-making, technical considerations, analytics and measuring success, mobile and social waves upon us, and the next wave (accessibility) soon to come. http://www.theprimacy.com
4. #IGXUC14
Embarking on website redesign journey
Daunting process
Strategic and tactical
Sprints, in context of marathon
Cross functional teams with competing
agendas
#igxuc14 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 4
7. #IGXUC14
No other category of
website has a
greater range of
relevant target
audiences than a
college or university.
#igxuc14 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 7
Feel free to tweet this.
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See your life somewhere in here?
#igxuc14 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 9
Website not
meeting
expectations
Plan for overhaul
Attempt to
accomplish
internally
Meet with groups
around campus
No one can
agree on
anything
Consider hiring
outside firm
Fight for budget RFP process
Put on hold to
wait for new
incoming VP of
Marketing
New VP hired
VP puts project
on hold to
assess overall
needs
Budget
reallocated to
pressing need
Admission and
Alumni teams
scream for help
with the website
New VP secures
the budget
RFP process
Outside firm
hired
10. #IGXUC14
See your life somewhere in here?
#igxuc14 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 10
Website not
meeting
expectations
Plan for overhaul
Attempt to
accomplish
internally
Meet with groups
around campus
No one can
agree on
anything
Consider hiring
outside firm
Fight for budget RFP process
Put on hold to
wait for new
incoming VP of
Marketing
New VP hired
VP puts project
on hold to
assess overall
needs
Budget
reallocated to
pressing need
Admission and
Alumni teams
scream for help
with the website
New VP secures
the budget
RFP process
Outside firm
hired
And
suddenly a
year has
gone by!
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Foundation
for Website
Redesign
Where teams
should spend
MORE of their
time
Where
organizations
should spend
MORE of their
time
Where teams
spend MOST
of their time
Where
organizations
spend MOST
of their time
Communication
& Content
Strategy
Information
Architecture
Technology
Visual Design
12
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Digital Roadmap
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User Experience Quality and Focus
BrandCohesionandDifferentiation
Today
Phase I
Phase II
Phase III
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Content and Context Drives Desire…
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to spend more time figuring it outDesire
Time Willing to Spend
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The problem is there are no simple “right”
answers for most Web design questions (at
least not for the important ones).
What works is good, integrated design that
fills a need—carefully thought out, well
executed, and tested.
― Steve Krug, Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense
Approach to Web Usability
”
“
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Often, the structural “bones” are there…
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There’s only
so many ways
to name and
organize
these sections
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We’ve forgotten
about the reason
“they” are here.
#igxuc14 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 32
To consume, experience and
interact with… content!
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…and every page works against itself
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Navigation
Contextual
Links
Factoids
and
thematic
content
AKA: “I read
somewhere
about a 3-click
rule, so lets put
navigation
everywhere”
AKA: “We
have added
too many
things and now
the IA isn’t
intuitive”
AKA: “I know
you came
looking for
something
specific but
maybe click on
me instead”
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Project Kick
Off
Client
Provided Data
Stakeholder
Interviews,
Research
Digital Plan
and Scorecard
IA & SEO
Strategy
Wireframe
Development
Functional
Requirements
Visual Design
(Look and
Feel)
Visual Design
(Tier Page
System)
HTML Build,
QA
CMS Build
Application
Development
QA/Testing
Content
Migration
Launch
Process & Context
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High Level Timeline
43
Deliverable M 1 M 2 M 3 M 4 M 5 M 6 M 7 M 8 M 9 M 10 M 11 M 12
Project Planning
Technical
Requirements
wCMS
Recommendation
Research and
Discovery
Digital and Content
Strategy
Design
Content
Development
HTML Buildout
wCMS Buildout
Testing and Go-
Live
#igxuc14 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com
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And there’s this thing called: SEO
#igxuc14 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com 44
Page Element
Meta Titles
Meta Descriptions
Site Content
Navigation & URL Structure
Social Media
Sitemaps & Robot.txt
Headers (h1, h2,h3)
Images
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Decentralized
No single owner
Organic technology and
procedures
Distributed content ownership
Often the Wild West
Federated
Single owner backed by a ‘central
services’ team
Centralized technology, templates
and policies
Combine Dept. SMEs with
Content and Visibility Specialists
Builds on what’s working in
current state
Centralized
Single owner or cross functional
team owner
Centralized technology, templates
and policies
Centralized content ownership
Too controlling and bureaucratic
to enable participation/usage
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Move to a Modular Framework
52
Balance evergreen and fresh content.
#igxuc14 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com
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Shift to content “modules”
53
Utilize a balance of evergreen and fresh content to create
a modular site experience.
#igxuc14 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com
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Preserving the Home page from promotional
overload requires constant vigilance, since it
usually happens gradually, with the slow,
inexorable addition of just...one...more...thing.
― Steve Krug, Don‘t Make Me Think Revisited: A Common
Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition)
”
“
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Avoid iterating back to the starting point
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Starting
Point
Grand
Vision
9-12 months of
blood, sweat and tears
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SME and Storyteller
60
Storyteller
“Service Line Editor”
Marketing Team
Subject Matter Expert
Service Line
SME Name
Subject Matter Expert
Service Line
SME Name
Organization
Marketing
Web Content
Syndication, SEO, Social
Content Direction
Content Standards & Support
Content Development
#igxuc14 | @thePrimacy | @ZigZagJeff | thePrimacy.com
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Anticipating the
next wave
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1
Social
2
Mobile
3
Accessibilityhttp://www.theprimacy.com/blog/changes-in-web-accessibility/
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Activity-based Measures
Performance-
based
Activity-
based
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It’s not a page.
It’s not a website.
It is a digital platform.
It is the hub for all
communications.
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Business Objectives
1. Enrollment:
Increase conversion
and *qualified
enrollments
*%enrollments that fulfills financial
commitment
2. Awareness & Perception:
Enhance brand
awareness and
perception
3. Satisfaction:
Increase visitor
satisfaction
Success Definition
Increase in Task completion
rates by Audience (b)
Lift in Visitor Satisfaction
ratings by Audience (a)
Increase in Return Visit Share
Reduction in exit rates for key
content pages
Increase in Engagement rate (visit
depth and duration)
Increase in Enrollments (b)
Increase in %enrollments that
fulfill financial commitment (b)
Increase in Application submissions
online
Increase in Inquiries to main
recruiting number
Increase in visits to Prospective
Students content areas
Increase in Website Visits (b)
Increase in organic branded
search visits (b)
Increase in overall and
positive social mentions (b)
Increase in visits from target
geographies
Lift in NPS score
― (a) = attitudinal (e.g., social monitoring, consumer satisfaction/ visitor survey)
― (b) = behavioral (e.g., Google Analytics, Student database)
― (f) = financial (e.g., Organization)
Digital Scorecard
Data
Sources
‐ Google
Analytics
‐ Student
database
Current
Performance
xx,xxx
enroll
XX%
% app
Benchmark
xx,xxx
enroll
XX%
%app
2015 Target
+10%
+10%
‐ Google
Analytics
‐ Google
WMTs
‐ Social
Monitoring
4.4MM
monthly/ visits
xx,xxx
monthly/ organic
xx,xxx
monthly/ visits
xx,xxx
monthly/ organic
+15%
+10%
‐ Google
Analytics
‐ Visitor
Surveys
XX%
task rate
xx%
visitor sat
XX%
task rate
xx%
visitor sat
+10%
+10%
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93. #IGXUC14
more inquiries – up 13%
more applications – up 7%
more campus visits – up 57%
more deposits – up 42%
great feedback from focus groups
great feedback from parents
great feedback from campus
great feedback from awards shows
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