Best Web Relaunch Ever examines a website relaunch for Northfield Mount Hermon School from strategy to post-launch metrics. The presentation is designed to give you advice and a sense for key milestones should you consider for your own web relaunch. Presented by Doug Gapinski, mStoner, at the CASE I conference in January 2010.
4. Lessons Learned by Project
Northfield Mount Hermon
Mercersburg Academy
Thursday, January 28, 2010
5. Lessons Learned by Phase
Timing: the pre-planning phase
Buy-in: the strategy phase
Creative: the media and messages phase
Tech: the implementation phase
Post launch: sustaining and measuring phases
Thursday, January 28, 2010
6. Good timing will
make your relaunch
efforts a bigger
success.
Timing: the pre-planning phase
Thursday, January 28, 2010
7. Timing: align relaunch with institutional goals
• institutional goals
• strategic plan
• mission and vision in context of 2010
• enrollment and fundraising goals
• cultural / leadership & key role changes
Thursday, January 28, 2010
8. Timing: know where you are
Data and
research
Brand
analysis
Marketing
platform
Public-facing
work
In an ideal world...
(including web relaunch)
Institutional
Strategy
Thursday, January 28, 2010
9. Timing: leveraging cultural shifts
New mission
Northfield Mount
Hermon engages the
intellect, compassion,
and talents of our
students, empowering
them to act with
humanity and purpose.
Branding
interviews
• academically rigorous
• supportive learning
• “casual” or informal
feel within segment
• service-oriented
Marketing
platform
Intelligence,
Compassion,
Purpose.
Timely cultural considerations
• new leadership in marketing and admissions
• sale of Northfield campus and impact on public and alumni perceptions
• vestigal stereotypes: Northfield as “artsy” and Mt. Hermon as “jocks”
• still working against “party-school” perception left over from the 70s
Thursday, January 28, 2010
10. Planning and
strategy aren’t just
collaboration,
they’re insurance.
Buy-in: the strategy phase
Thursday, January 28, 2010
11. Buy-in: select a vendor, if necessary
White WhalemStoner
Thursday, January 28, 2010
12. Buy-in: create a steering committee
NMH (an example structure for smaller institutions)
Theoretical (typically for larger institutions)
• Senior Leadership
• Marketing / Communications
• Admissions
• Advancement
• Alumni Relations
• Student Affairs
• Information Technology
• Academic Departments
• Students
• Faculty members
Thomas K. Sturtevant, Head of School
Claude Anderson, Dean of Enrollment
Heather Sullivan, Director of Communications and Marketing
Allyson Goodwin, Chief Advancement Officer
& inclusion of other admin where appropriate
Thursday, January 28, 2010
14. Buy-in: align with research & do your own
The top five characteristics
of importance to parents:
1) quality of teaching
2) personal attention
to students
3) academic reputation
4) value of education
(ROI)
5) and personal/ethical
development
Association of Independent
Schools of New England, 2008
[NMH responds to] students’
desire to set a meaningful life
course... the evolution of the
school’s academic,
extracurricular, and support
structures will offer students
the tools they require to
cultivate and live examined
lives.
Northfield Mount Hermon
Vision and Values Statement,
2006
Themes from qualitative
interviews:
• quality academics
delivered in a
holistic way
• “more like home”
than competitors
• a community that
welcomes and fosters
individualism
• value placed on service
Student, faculty, leadership
interviews, 2008
External research
Internal research
or current positioning
Intake / discovery /
focus groups
NMH
Thursday, January 28, 2010
33. Migration: assignments and schedule
Migration kickoff / migration assignments
Content migrated into content management
system and declared ready for review
Entire site reviewed, feedback and changes
due to migration lead by week’s end
Feedback and changes incorporated into site
Second round of review to confirm that all
changes have been made
Final testing, approval for go-live
WEEK 1
WEEKS 2, 3, 4
WEEK 5
WEEK 6
WEEK 7
WEEK 8
Heavy lifting
Editing
Review
Touch up, launch
Thursday, January 28, 2010
34. Build it like you’re
going to live in it.
(Because you are!)
Tech: the implementation phase
Thursday, January 28, 2010
35. Tech: choosing a content management system
How well does that platform you’re
looking at handle key features?
• Editing interface
• Navigation
generation
• Add-on flexibility
• Approval and
authorization
• Versioning
• Testing and error
reporting
• Timed release
and archiving
• RSS and native
content syndication
• Granular control
of pages
• Rich media options
Usability Workflow Content
Thursday, January 28, 2010
36. Tech: choosing a content management system
Package/Approach Pros Cons
Sitecore in Microsoft server environment • Strong vendor support
• Exceptional ease of use
• Extensibility – supports a wide variety
of languages, and can be customized
to meet stringent requirements.
• Inline edit capability
• Blackbaud product stack consistency
• Large development and enhancement
community
• Licensing costs
• Current PHP/MySQL web
applications must be rewritten
in .NET and the database ported to
SQL Server or a separate event/
scheduling application acquired.
• May require webmaster ramp-up
Drupal in LAMP server environment • Licensing costs
• Current PHP/MySQL web
applications can be re-used.
• Familiar development environment
• Large development and enhancement
community
• Lack of vendor support
• Inline edit capability not available
unless nicEdit or other add-in
WYSIWYG and AJAX are used.
Adding specificity to
cost vs. ease of use vs. support
Thursday, January 28, 2010
37. Tech: define scope and functionality
Examples:
• NMH book
• Flickr feed placement
• Curriculum Guide
• Web Calendar system
• Athletics section
• Blogs
A tech specs document explains
how page components will work
with an emphasis on function
rather than on code.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
38. Tech: define the mechanics of the launch
Phase 1
• Home page
• Gateways
• Pages accessible
from any top level
navigation
Phase 2
• All secondary pages
• Key tertiary pages
(admissions,
academics)
• Departments /
programs / schools
Phase 3
• The other 10,000+
pages in the site
Phased launch
Thursday, January 28, 2010
39. Like houses, the
best web sites are
constantly
maintained.
Post launch: sustaining a site
Thursday, January 28, 2010
40. Post launch: training
Workflow CMS
training
Content entry &
web writing
• web / IT team
• communications staff
• web / IT team
• communications staff
plus appropriate members of
• department staff
• college or school level faculty
• college relations
• advancement / development
Thursday, January 28, 2010
41. Post launch: work with a team
Heather Sullivan
Communications
Director
Jesse Bardo
Admission Counselor
Bruno Drupeyeron
Advancement
Services
Christopher Arnini
Web Manager
Rachel Hanley
Writer
Sharon Labella-Lindale
Assistant Director
Thursday, January 28, 2010