The
colleges that are faring best in this new electronic information environment
are the ones that are monitoring and assessing how they are doing.
Four
sets of data, and an objective analysis, made up the web site audit. Focus
groups probed opinions of both current students and prospective students. In
addition, Linn-Benton staff members were interviewed for their opinions and
recommendations related to the web site. An online survey gave visitors to the
web site the opportunity to evaluate the site and share their suggestions. The
audit also incorporated web analytics, a statistical report detailing
information such as page use, and paths visitors take through the site.
The
final component of the audit was an objective analysis of the research data
combined with an evaluation of the web site. Recommendations for changes
accompany the findings about the web site.
Focus
Resources, Portland, designed the web site audit process, conducted the focus
groups, analyzed the research data, completed the evaluation of the web site
and provided the recommendations for changes. Alan Koch, the owner of Focus Resources, led the project.
(For biographical information, see Appendix A.)
Part I: Research and Data Analysis
Linn-Benton
Community College has been collecting data on a regular basis about traffic on
its web site. The college also collected online survey information during
winter term. This quantitative data was supplemented extensively with
qualitative data collected by Focus Resources between February and May 2004.
Two
focus groups were conducted to collect opinions about the Linn-Benton web site.
One focus group was conducted with high school students; most of them have
plans to go on to college. Another focus group was conducted with college
students on the Linn-Benton campus.
Staff
members in the student services and related areas of the college were also
interviewed. The staff provided information about the needs of incoming students
at the college. They also provided opinions about what they believe is working
well and what could be improved on the college’s current web site.
What
follows is a summary of the data and opinions collected. The appendices provide
complete details of the information gathered and used in this audit.
West Albany High School Focus Group
Fifteen
students at West Albany High School participated in a focus group on April 20,
2004, to share opinions about college web sites and to look closely at the web
site for Linn-Benton Community College. The focus group was conducted in a
computer lab at the high school so students were able to look at sample web
pages and individually navigate through the Linn-Benton web site. (For complete
notes, see Appendix B.)
The
group was made up of four boys and 11 girls. Three students were sophomores,
six were juniors and six were seniors. Ten of the students had definite plans
about going on to college, while some of them were still considering what to do
after graduating. Two students had specific plans to attend Linn-Benton.
Eleven
students had looked at several college web sites while considering their
options after high school. Those who had looked at the web sites said it is a
fast and easy way to see what is offered at colleges and to learn about
requirements. Some said it saves a student a trip to the college to get
information.
The
most important information on college web sites for this group pertained to
classes, programs, requirements for admission, financial aid and how to get
started. These areas were mentioned twice or more by the group. They like the
information to be straightforward and the web site to be easy to use. The web
site may also be the place where a student decides if the college is right for
her/him or not.
The
least important information on college web sites for this group was a lot of
pictures, college statistics and student stories. There was the general
feeling, too, that simple web sites are better than ones filled with fancy
graphics.
Students
looked at the homepages for three community colleges (Mt. Hood, Deanza, and
Portland) and Oregon State University, and they gave their reactions to the
designs and general organization of each one. The three community college
homepages were selected because they represent different approaches to design
and upper-level navigation. Oregon State University was used because it is the
local university that students know. Finally, the group was also shown the
homepage for Linn-Benton.
The
Mt. Hood Community College homepage appears to be designed for a younger
audience, yet most students in this focus group didn’t like it. Some
complained that it looked too crowded or had too much going on in it. They also
used the word “childish” to describe it. The links, they said,
looked confusing. The Deanza Community College homepage looked clearer to use.
They generally preferred the simpler design and plain look. Some, though, said
it was too plain. The main concern this group had about the Portland Community College
web site was that the text for the links didn’t make it apparent that
those were links. Also, to this group, the links didn’t look organized.
The
Oregon State University homepage, according to this group, had links that
looker clearer and made sense to them. They said the page looked visually more
appealing and organized, and they liked the campus photo at the top of the
page.
The
Linn-Benton Community College homepage generally had good organization and some
mentioned that they liked the pull-down menus attached to the links. One
mentioned it was good to have the telephone number and address prominently
placed on the homepage, though some felt the photo of the students didn’t
add much to the homepage.
In
the next phase of the focus group, the navigation testing, students were given
the task of finding specific information on the Linn-Benton web site. Some
students had a little difficulty finding the information about how to get
started at the college. Some went right to the tuition information, when asked
to do so, and others took some time to find it. Most could get to the degree
requirements for animal technology and information about men’s
basketball. In general, these students said the ease with which they found
information on the Linn-Benton web site was about in the middle or average
compared to other web sites.
When
these students were asked to make lists of the categories of information that
should be located on the homepage of college web sites, many of them said
courses, programs, admission requirements, financial aid, scholarships, news,
contact information and campus photos.
What
would they tell the creators of college web sites? They want web sites that are
organized, professional and simple. The sites should be easy to understand and
easy to navigate, the pages should load fast and the content should be to the
point.
Seven
people participated in a focus group at the college, May 13, 2004, to share
opinions about college web sites and to look closely at the Linn-Benton site.
The questions asked in this focus group were similar to the ones asked in the
focus group with high school students. The focus group was conducted in a
computer lab at the college. (For complete notes, see Appendix C.)
Six
of the participants were currently enrolled students and one person was a
recent Linn-Benton graduate now taking classes at Oregon State University. Most
students appeared to be over the age of 21. One man and six women participated
in the focus group.
Only
one person said the college web site was important in helping her to decide to
attend Linn-Benton, and that was because she was living in San Diego. The
others said the web site wasn’t important to them when they decided to
attend the college, in some cases because they started attending when the web
site was in early development. Now that they are attending the college, the web
site is important to them. They also said college web sites, in general, would
now be helpful to them in finding information, but they probably would not
strongly influence their decision to attend a college.
The
most important information on college web sites for this group included
classes, programs, important dates, instructor information, e-mail and contact
information and the library catalog. These students also use and value the
Student Information System. Least important to this group was the physical
appearance of the web site and fancy graphics. They generally were not
interested in student activities or extra-curricular information.
As
with the high school group, this group was shown homepages for three community
colleges (Mt. Hood, Deanza, Portland) and Oregon State University to get their
reactions to the page designs and their general organization. They also looked
at the Linn-Benton homepage.
Most people did not like the Mt. Hood
Community College homepage. They described it as cluttered, confused and
possibly difficult to navigate. Most people preferred the Deanza Community
College homepage because it was not cluttered, it was more basic and they liked
the drop-down menus. The Portland Community College homepage was described as
simple, clean and basic. They said the text did not look as though it linked to
additional information.
The
Oregon State homepage seemed appealing to the group because of the way the page
was organized and the way information was categorized. They also liked the
quick links and the search feature. A few people said the navigation from the
homepage was not always clear to them, but they figured it out after going to
the site more than once.
The
group generally liked the simplicity of the Linn-Benton homepage and the
drop-down menus. Some said, though, that the drop-downs are sometimes difficult
to click on. They praised the transparent photo of the buildings on the page
and the location of the address and phone number.
In
the next phase of the focus group, the navigation testing, participants were
given the task of finding specific information on the Linn-Benton web site. All
participants were able, with little difficulty, to get to registration
information and information about how to get started at the college. The group
also looked for animal technology degree requirements and men’s
basketball information, which also was not very difficult to find. The group
was much more at ease than the high school students in this navigation testing.
Most said finding things on the web site was generally easy for them.
What
information should be most prominent on the college’s homepage? They want
to see cost information, financial aid, registration details, class
information, programs, admissions, student information (and SIS), department
information, address and phone number, and news information. They also said
there should be a link to a section for new students.
If
these students were giving direction to web site creators, they would ask them
to keep things simple on web pages. Navigation is important to them, as is the
ability to get to content quickly.
During
winter term, visitors to the Linn-Benton web site were given the opportunity to
complete a survey online and share their opinions and suggestions about the web
site. Ninety people participated in the survey. Most of the responses were from
people who had familiarity with the college: current students (67 percent),
college employees (10 percent) and previously enrolled students (3 percent).
Only 11 percent might be considered unacquainted with the college or new to the
college: considering attending Linn Benton (9 percent) or members of the
community (2 percent).
In
addition to already having some connection with the college, most people had
visited the college’s web site often. Seventy-four percent had been to
the web site ten or more times; another 9 percent had been on the site five to
ten times before. (For complete results, see Appendix D.)
Survey
participants were asked for their opinions about the design of the site, the
quality of the information, how easy it was to use and the download speed of the
site. The college got a high rating for the download speed of the web pages.
Sixty-two percent said the speed was fast or very fast. Only 5 percent said the
speed was slow or extremely slow.
Most
people (53 percent) indicated the quality of the information on the web site
was either excellent or good. Twenty-eight percent said the quality of
information was average. Only 12 percent said information on the web pages was
below average or poor.
Almost
half of the respondents (49 percent) said the overall look or design of the
site is excellent or good and 29 percent said it is average. Fifteen percent
said the site design is below average or poor.
Finding
things on the web site, or navigation, was easy or somewhat easy for 51 percent
of this group. Nineteen percent said finding things on the site was about
average. Twenty-nine percent, however, said it was difficult or nearly
impossible to find things on the web site.
Three
open-ended questions were included in the survey. The first of those asked what
information the respondent came to the site to find. Responses varied greatly,
but there was some clustering in the information that was being sought. About
37 percent of the participants said they were seeking schedule information or
information about classes. Another 13 percent mentioned they were looking for
information related to registration. About 11 percent indicated they were after
information that might be loosely categorized as dates or calendar information.
Approximately 10 percent of the respondents wanted instructor or class
information, or course syllabi.
Did
the survey respondents find the information they were seeking? In most cases
(60 percent) they did find what they came to the site to find. However, 31
percent said they didn’t find what they were seeking.
When
asked what they liked the best about the web site, many (about 33 percent) said
they liked the simplicity of the site or how easy it was to use. Several survey
answers, provided by the respondents, (about 16 percent) were related to the
online registration process or other interactive web site features. Respondents
like those features. Approximately 9 percent of the responses said something
favorable about the look or design of the site.
How
could Linn-Benton improve its web site? Again, there were numerous and varied
responses to the question, but many (about 27 percent) made suggestions related
to organization of the site or navigation. There were also several people
(about 9 percent) who made suggestions to change the look or design of the
site. A few people mentioned the language used on the site or words used with
links could be clearer or less confusing.
Linn-Benton
regularly monitors the traffic on its web site using software called Web
Trends. Monitoring the traffic gives the college snapshots of where most of the
visitor traffic occurs on the web site, how long people spend on the site, the
pages they request most often and other valuable traffic details. For the
purpose of this audit, traffic for the week of January 24-31 was examined. (For
complete traffic details, see Appendix E.)
There
were approximately 2,900 visitors to the Linn-Benton web site each day. More
people visited the site on Thursday, but Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were
also high-traffic days. There is more traffic on the site on Sundays than on
Saturdays. Most people who visited spent about four minutes on the site and
they viewed just one web page. Specifically, 41 percent viewed just one web
page, 13 percent viewed two web pages and 7 percent viewed three web pages. The
percentages continued to decline as the number of pages viewed increased.
It’s
not surprising that the page most visitors (13 percent) viewed was the
college’s homepage. The next two most-visited pages were the pages leading
to faculty syllabi (/newsyllabi.html) and employment information
(/employment/). In each instance, 2.3 percent of the visitors looked at these
pages. The fact that this web traffic information was collected near the
beginning of the winter term might explain the high traffic to the syllabi web
page. The web page that leads to information about programs (/programs/) was
viewed by 1.3 percent of the visitors. A large number of pages that appeared in
the “top-viewed” list were related to admissions information.
The
most popular files downloaded from the web site are forms. The Foundation
Application for Scholarships and Awards (/foundation/application.pdf) was
downloaded 13 percent of the time, more than any of the other forms. Job
announcements were downloaded frequently, as was the application for employment
(/employment/application/lbcc_application.pdf), which was downloaded 5 percent
of the time. The course descriptions (/catalog/2003.101-132.pdf) were
downloaded more than 3 percent of the time and the application for admission
was download nearly 3 percent of the time
(/admissions/forms/applicationforadmission.pdf).
How
do most people get to the college’s web site? Most people went directly
to the homepage, but some got there using a search engine. Those people using a
search engine used Google most of the time (41 percent). Microsoft Network was
the next most popular means (29 percent) and then Yahoo (19 percent). The
number of people using other search engines drops significantly after that.
Most often people search to find the college’s web site by typing in the
phrase “Linn Benton Community College.”
Most
people were viewing the web site in Internet Explorer (92 percent) and working
in a Windows 2000 or Windows 98 environment (86 percent).
Ten
staff members were interviewed about how new students are served and what kind
of help and information they need when getting started at the college. They were also asked for their opinions
about how the college web site does or does not meet student needs.
The
group represented perspectives from several areas of the college: student
services, multimedia development, web management, college advancement,
counseling, career services, student activities, enrollment management,
outreach and financial aid. Those attending included Diane Watson, Joe
Sherlock, Kate Johnson, Marlene Propst, Lois DeGhetto, Carol Raymundo, Lynn
Bain, Carol Wenzel, Bruce Clemetsen and Christine Baker.
The
staff indicated that Linn-Benton serves a diverse group of students, much like
other community colleges. Ages vary greatly among the students. Some fit the
traditional mold of coming right out of high school and others are older and
returning to college. The number of students with disabilities has increased at
the college by 300 percent. Several people in the group mentioned that
Linn-Benton has a large number of students, approximately 3,000, in the Oregon
State University co-enrollment program.
The
group was asked about the kind of help and information new students request
most often. With the large number of students in the OSU co-enrollment program,
several people mentioned the students’ need for information about the
program, including information about which classes transfer to Oregon State
University.
Many
students have questions about the first steps or how to get started at
Linn-Benton. Some students may be confused by the terminology the college uses,
e.g., matriculation. Most students, 60 to 70 percent, need information about
financial aid as they get started at Linn-Benton. One person indicated that a
searchable scholarship database would be helpful to students.
The
group was next asked to identify the areas of the college web site that seem to
be working well. One of the first things mentioned is that the web site is
technically simple and pages load fast. The site doesn’t require
plug-ins, such as Flash, and it is accessible to people with disabilities. The
online student orientation works well. The online schedule of classes works
well and is easy to use. The site contains helpful maps and PDF versions of
college forms. Having access to instructor web sites is helpful to students,
and they appreciate access to syllabi online.
What
is not working well on the college’s web site? More than one person said
the site is intimidating or information is difficult to find. One person said
orientation is hard to find and another said that once you get to the
orientation, it is difficult to determine what student category you should
select. The word search on the site doesn’t work well, but a new one that
is planned may work better. Two people mentioned it is not easy for students to
find the forms on the web site.
Three
other areas may pose problems for students using the web site. Students may be
frustrated by not being able to find an instructor’s syllabus. Financial
aid information on the web site (e.g., estimate of awards) sometimes misleads
students. OSU co-enrollment students may not be able to find directions on the
site for what they need to do once they are about to move over to the
university.
Finally,
the group shared their ideas about how the web site could improve. They said
the site could be more appealing visually and the pages should be more
consistent in design. It was mentioned that both 1996 and 2000 page designs are
in use on the site.
Text
on the pages shouldn’t be too long. Guiding students on college
terminology would helpful, too. Students could also use simple information
about what they need to do to get started at Linn-Benton. It would be helpful
to have Frequently Asked Questions on the Financial Aid pages.
Some
departments should be able to contribute some of their own information to the
web site, to keep the burden of updating information from falling to a few people.
At the same time, some style standards should be set up to guide people on what
they can put on web pages.
In
making changes to the web site, the group does not want design changes to
detract from the accessibility of the site to people with disabilities.
Part II: Findings and
Recommendations
The
Findings and Recommendations are guided, for the most part, by the information
and research collected and described in the previous section. Understanding
what is working for Linn-Benton web site visitors, and what is not working for
them, is essential in building a plan for improvement. After all, if the web
site is not working well for the visitors and students, it is not working well
for Linn-Benton Community College.
In
addition, considering that web sites have now become the most important means
of getting information about colleges and universities, it is a good idea to
consider how the Linn-Benton site stacks up with other colleges and
universities. Today many students make quick judgments about the nature and
quality of a college based on what they see on their web sites. Like every
other college, Linn-Benton is being compared with other colleges and
universities in the online environment.
The
findings from the research are summarized here in sections. Each section also
lists recommendations for concrete changes the college can make to improve its
web site.
Homepage
The
Linn-Benton homepage has a clean look and looks organized. It makes good use of
white space and links clearly appear to be links. The address and telephone number appear in a prominent
location on the page. The contents of the homepage fit within one browser
window so scrolling isn’t necessary.
The
screened-back photo of the campus gives a nice reference to the location without
overemphasizing it. There is a location for news updates and current students
indicated they refer to that information.
In
focus groups, the homepage stacks up pretty well in benchmarking with other
community college web sites and with the site for Oregon State University.
Focus group participants like the clean, simple look of the homepage, which is
a priority for them. They also like the drop-down menus. They don’t like,
or see the value of, the student photos on the left.
The
homepage really seems to be meeting the needs of most visitors. It is difficult
to make recommendations for changes here. If the college is interested in an
entirely new or fresh design, it could develop one, but it is not needed.
Recommendations:
1) Move links for current students and prospective students to a location just
above the section links and below the college address. 2) Add space and periods
in references to time (e.g., 8 a.m.)
3) Consider replacing photos of students with a single photo of a
student linked to that person’s brief description of life at Linn-Benton.
This might contribute to a more-personal perspective of the college. 4) Modify
rollover menus so it is not as difficult to click on links.
The
feedback from focus groups, the online survey and staff recommendations
indicates there is an interest in updating or improving the overall design of
the web site, but, at the same, there isn’t tremendous dissatisfaction
with the current look. The design could be freshened up and design inconsistencies
corrected, but making any changes should take into consideration some cautions
shared by users.
If
the design changes, it should remain simple and clean in layout. The current
site is fast-loading, and users don’t want to lose that quality. The
alternative text version is an excellent feature for visitors to the site with
disabilities. The web site can take on a new look, but still maintain these
important aspects.
The
main issue with the design on the site is that there is more than one design
being used. The college should develop a new design and stick with it
throughout the site. For example, the library, bookstore, summer academies,
divisions, distance education and orientation each have their own look. They
shouldn’t. The design that is working the best on the site has the
college logo at the top in a banner, it has navigation bars in the sidebar on
the left, it has text links at the bottom, and it devotes most of the browser
real estate to the primary content or text for the page.
The
site is focused on presenting information about the college, which is fine. It
doesn’t, however, convey a strong marketing message about the college.
What are the marketing messages for the college, in print, for example? What
makes the college unique? The unique qualities of the college and the marketing
messages should be apparent in the design and copy on the web site.
Recommendations:
1) Design the pages with a consistent banner at the top and navigation elements
on the left. 2) Be more consistent in the use of color on the design elements.
3) Add some photos of students doing things related to their programs. 4) Build
into the design and copy on the web site the marketing messages and unique
personality of Linn-Benton.
The
organization of information on the web site, and the ability to easily find
things, could be improved. High school students in the focus group were
somewhat more challenged to find things on the web site than were the college
students who already had some knowledge of the college’s web site. In the
online survey of visitors to the web site, almost one third of the people who
were looking for information couldn’t find it. Staff also mentioned that
information might be difficult for students to find on the web site. Specifically,
forms are sometimes difficult to locate.
Several
things may contribute to this problem. First, new students who go from the
homepage to the “prospective
student” page find a web page that is attractive, but is nothing like
other web pages. A student has to wade through text and images to get to what
she/he needs. Second, some pages (e.g., current students) are just long lists
of links that may or may not lead to the information they are after. Third, the
forms can be accessed through a number of links, but the links vary in
placement and style. They may not always be clear to students.
There
is a tendency on some college web sites, and it happens in places on the
Linn-Benton site, to place a long list of links on a page (e.g., academic
regulations). The goal may have been to get students to information quickly,
but the effect has been to create a navigation challenge. Information on the
site should be grouped based on intuitive relationships and the site organized
accordingly.
The
college logo does not always appear at the top of each web page. It is a good
idea to have it there and make the logo the link back to the homepage. On some
pages (e.g., athletics department) the college logo does not link to the
homepage, but instead links back to the top-level page of the department.
Staff
mentioned that the search feature is sometimes not reliable, but they also
indicated that a new search engine might be installed for searches within the
site. Many web site visitors today, in their hurry to get to content, rely the
search feature. Keep in mind that the average visitor is on the site for only
four minutes.
The
link to the site map is a link to an alphabetical listing of pages. This
listing of pages may work okay for visitors, but it doesn’t actually
“map” the site.
Recommendations:
1) Be consistent in the arrangement of elements on each of the web pages so
links to information are easy to find and understand. 2) Where links are used
within the primary content of the page, be sure there is some notation or
reference to what the visitor will find if she/he clicks on the link. These are
called “annotated links.” 3) Change the “prospective
student” page to make it easier to find information and links. 4)
Consistently use the logo at the top of the page as a link back to the
homepage. 5) Replace the long list of links on pages such as “academic
regulations” with categories of information, which lead to subsequent
levels of pages rather than just one more level. 6) Establish a consistent look
and call to action for visitors who want to download forms. 7) Install a more
reliable search engine for the web site.
The
web site generally makes an effort to maintain a consistent look and style.
Color use is generally consistent as is font choice. Beyond that the
consistency begins to fall apart. In the discussion with staff, they mentioned
that the site has some web pages based on a 1996 design and some based on a
2000 design. Because of this, the visitor can often expect some surprise when
he/she goes from one page to another. As a result, the branding on the site and
the appeal in the look of the pages suffers.
For
example, the banner that usually appears at the top of each page sometimes has
the college logo and sometimes it so does not. Most often the links to the next
level pages appear in a sidebar on the left side of the web page. Sometimes
(e.g., orientation page) the links are on the right side of the page. It is
important to be consistent with the placement of the college logo and links.
Links are best placed on the left side of the web page and the college logo is
better at the top of a web page than at the bottom.
Placement
of information on the web pages is not consistent. For example, if office hours
of a department are to be included in the copy on a web page, it is preferable
to put them in the same place. The same goes for telephone numbers and e-mail
contact information. It is handy to put all of that type of information
together as the last paragraph of copy on a page.
Recommendations:
1) Develop a new web page design and stick with it on all the pages. 2) Make
page templates available to departments that are consistent in design and easy
for staff to use and update. 3) Keep logo and navigation elements in one place.
4) Establish a style guide for the placement of information and elements on a
page. 5) If possible, move to one system or method for staff to contribute
content to the web site.
Content
is important to people visiting the college’s web site. They want to be
able to find it easily, they want it to be concise and they want to understand
it. Most of the writing on the web site is straightforward and clear. The
online survey results give fairly high approval to the quality of information
on the site.
The
writing style on the site, however, is inconsistent. Writing shifts from third
person to first and second person, and sometimes within the same web page. The
ideal style is first and second person, using “you” and
“we.” The purpose of the style is to build a friendlier exchange
online, to establish a more conversational style. Third person writing, the
most common style on the Linn-Benton web site, tends to suggest an
“institution” dealing with a “student.” It’s
contrary to the unique, friendly quality of community colleges.
Some
of this “unfriendly” copy appears on the web site because it has
been copied from print material and moved over the web site. A mission
statement is okay on a web page, but it shouldn’t be the primary or first
content a visitor sees (e.g., athletics department). Mission statements should
be secondary or sidebar content for a web page.
Another
aspect to this style that is missing from the Linn-Benton web pages is
consistent and complete contact information. Ideally, anytime a visitor is
accessing department or program information, the page should include the
physical location of the office or department, the telephone number and an
e-mail address and link. This invites the visitor to get in touch with the
department and is the first step in establishing a relationship with her/him.
In general, the web site doesn’t encourage a lot of this contact.
The
contact page lists telephone numbers and an e-mail link for admissions. It
looks institutional. Could a visitor talk to a student and get a student
perspective on the college? Could the visitor schedule a tour? (Yes, but not on
this page.) The college could encourage a variety of contacts from prospective
students and maintain that contact information as part of its marketing effort.
Copy
on some pages is too long and requires excessive scrolling. Visitors want
concise information and are not likely to wade through sections paragraph after
paragraph. Break up copy into reasonable sections, or “content
chunks,” that fit on individual pages.
Recommendations:
1) Establish a web writing style guide to be used throughout the college. Make
first- and second-person writing your standard. (This can be part of the style
guide mentioned in “consistency and style” recommendations above.)
2) Break up the content on long pages so it falls into more concise chunks on
subsequent web pages. 3) Improve the “contact” page and give
visitors more opportunities to make contact with the college for a variety of
purposes (e.g., tours, student perspective). 4) Establish a standard for follow
up to e-mail inquiries coming into the college. Provide training for staff.
Linn-Benton Community College has actually been
doing a good job with
keeping information
updated and added to its web site and making it useful to current students and
prospective students. The site, however, could do more than be a reservoir of
content. It could more fully convey the unique image and quality of the college
and enhance its branding.
The
first step to improving the site calls for identifying the marketing messages
and the branding the college wants to achieve on its site. That will help guide
a redesign or new look for the web site. The next step, developing a new look
for the site, creates the opportunity for a fresh start where all web pages
have a consistent look and style.
Much
of the writing on the site needs to be updated and improved. While the
information may be accurate and useful, it is not written in a consistent style
that is friendly or personal. Some copy is too long and needs to be broken into
smaller sections, or chunks, and placed on separate web pages. This step can
happen in conjunction with the redesign, or it can follow it.
During
the development process, it may be helpful to test some of the design concepts
on high school and college student groups. It is a good way to assure the
developers about their direction. That feedback will continue to be important
to Linn-Benton, just as it would be for any community college, after the new
web site is up and running. The expectations of Internet users continue to
change over time and the medium continues to evolve. Keeping in touch helps
colleges keep on top.