Lee gets current with new website redesign
Sneak peek of the new website design (photo courtesy of Peri McIntosh).
At the end of November, or at the beginning of next month, the newly redesigned Lee University website will launch for prospective and current students, faculty and staff.
Director for Information Technology Systems Nate Tucker said that the website redesign is a project the university initiated to take the site to the 'next evolution.'
'While the site we have today meets many needs, we realize that it is not meeting the overall goal of the university as things change,' Tucker said. 'We want to provide a nicer 'storefront' on the web. [We want to] provide newer technology and a new look and feel ' and to have a much nicer, mobile friendly site. We're just creating a better user experience.'
Vice President for Information Services Jason VanHook said the university understands the importance of having a vibrant web presence.
'The purpose of the university's website has shifted significantly since its inception in 1992,' VanHook said. 'We have been behind the curve on this, but over the past few years, we have invested significant energy into rethinking our web strategy. This includes the main university website, Portico, Moodle and our social media presence. Expectations for mobility and integrated services have increased significantly, and we hope to continue to move in this direction.'
Tucker said that one important aspect of the redesign they have focused heavily on is the 'apply now' push to the site.
'As with any institution like Lee' where your website is your recruiting marketing tool'what we've done is take this site and make it just that,' Tucker said. 'Every page on the site, no matter where you are on the page, will have an 'apply now' button.'
Vice President of Enrollment Phil Cook said the university is excited about the launch of the new website, specifically in terms of recruitment.
'There are many reasons students select a university and the website is a critical aspect of the recruitment process,' Cook said. 'Having a web presence that communicates the Lee story of our institutional momentum, enrollment growth, campus transformation, world-class faculty and outstanding students is a key component of our continued enrollment success.'
Tucker said the new site will support the needs of the faculty, staff and students, but said the focus is mainly on having a strong online presence for prospective students.
'Students don't really go to the Lee website,' Tucker said. 'They do more internal things like using the mobile app or the Portico system'those are the things that meet the needs of the students.'
Part of the website design process was the redesign of Portico, Tucker said.
'We did [the redesign of Portico] knowing we were going to be revisiting or updating the website,' Tucker said. 'We made the change for the look and feel for Portico before the new website, primarily because you have a smaller window to change Portico, which is mainly during the summer time or on the December break, so we chose the summertime so our employees can enjoy Christmas break like anyone else.'
Tucker said that the website redesign is not about an improvement in features, but more of a 'restructuring of the current capabilities of the system.
'The new site will have much larger focus on imagery and it will'have a little more flexibility,' Tucker said.
Along with a larger focus on imagery and the push for 'apply now,' Tucker said another change that will be made is with navigation on the site.
'With the new site, the menu is at the top of the page and it is going to follow you as you scroll down,' Tucker said. 'If you put your mouse over it, it is going to provide a drop down menu for other links ' and we'll still have the quick links at the bottom of the page.'
The new website will also include a feature called responsive design, which will show the content in a manner that is suitable for whatever device the website is being displayed on.
'We use Google Analytics to know what are the heavy use areas of the site,' Tucker said. '[To know] what are people coming to the site with, whether it's a desktop or a laptop, tablet or mobile phone, what are their screen sizes, all of those things may not seem important, but when you are talking about content and looking at content on these devices, it is important.'
According to Google Analytics statistics from Oct. 1, 2013 to Sept. 30, 2014, the website has had 1.6 million sessions serving 454,000 users, which means there were almost 4 million page views in this last year.
'I can look at [Google Analytics] to see how to make strategic decisions about the website, so that's what we're doing,' Tucker said. 'We're using the numbers like this to back up the decisions that we make.'
Tucker said that they are in the process of the final 'transition of content' phase that should have the website ready by the end of November or early December.
'The new website, along with our robust social media influence, positions Lee very well for the future,' Cook said.
