DISCOVERY
• Set budget
• Identify team
• Vendor assistance?
• Choose a project management system (Basecamp, etc.)
• Define areas of responsibilities
• Create initial timeline and milestones
DISCOVERY, cont.
Focus Groups:
• Campus leadership
• Faculty
• Freshmen
• Identify key influencers
• Create stakeholders (one-on-ones)
• Invite ongoing feedback
DESCRIBE YOUR AUDIENCE
“Jonathon”
•Commuter
•might live in dorm
•Business School
•Campus activities
“Juanita”
•1st generation student
•Commuter
•Uncertain of major
•Part-time job
Create User Personas
DESCRIBE YOUR AUDIENCE
“Andrew”
•Dorm
•Small town
•Music major
•Chicago art scene
“Jennifer”
•Transfer from U of I
•Moving back home
•Changing majors
•Community volunteer
User Personas, Cont.
DEVELOP
MESSAGES:
Voice + tone = style
“You-tility”
Answer key questions
Stories
What's it like there?
OUTCOMES
Request Info
Campus Visit
Apply
Accept
Attend
DECIDE ON A CMS
Cost
Ease of use (browser-based?)
Workflow flexibility
Template usage (variety)
Building new pages locally?
Ongoing tech support
DEFINITION
How do we measure success?
Define metrics goals
Define conversion goals
SEO strategy
Create user feedback system
DISSEMINATE
Communicate Progress:
Keep stakeholders involved (blog, newsletter)
Maintain buy-in
Ensure responsiveness to their goals
Small focus groups on site-in-progress
Refine/update launch schedule
DEPLOY
Content Audit – Check Pages For:
Consistent tone
User value (content relevance)
Confirm links
Who created page? Who updates page?
Search terms/keywords
DESTINATION
Always Be Testing
Weekly Google Analytics review (with monthly reports)
Maintain SEO tags/descriptions
Buy link-checking tool and use often
Regular updates (front and landing pages)
Add new pages
Review existing content for relevance
DETERMINATION
• Define your target audiences
• Site priorities and goals
• Internal and external challenges:
oStaffingoManagementoProcesses
oAudience ExpectationsoCompetition
• HF growth opportunities
• How do you measure success?