3 Strategies to Prevent Your Higher Ed Website From Losing Effectiveness

Your higher ed website is a critical touchpoint for prospective students, parents, alumni, and other stakeholders. And if you’re researching your options for building or redesigning your site, you’ll undoubtedly put significant thought, effort, and financial resources into making the design, information architecture, and content strategy as effective as they can possibly be.

But how long will that effectiveness last? And once it’s launched, what do you need to do to keep your new website functioning at peak performance? 

The instant your website goes live is the very moment you should start actively maintaining it. Here’s what it takes to keep a higher ed website operating at its best so it can drive results in admissions and beyond.

1. Commit to Scrupulous Content and Design Governance 

Your website’s number one function is to connect your institution with prospective students and lead them through the decision funnel. That’s not its only objective, of course, but it is the most important. Therefore, your overarching web strategy should be squarely focused on meeting your primary end users’ needs.

That’s harder to accomplish than it sounds. Why? At many colleges and universities, the loudest voices are those of your internal stakeholders. Whether it’s a professor who wants to tout their latest peer-reviewed publication or a student group planning a 5k, everyone wants a piece of the website. And since so many offices and departments play a role in creating and updating content, it doesn’t take long for your tightly-designed, user-centered website strategy to spin out of control. 

Thankfully, there are several ways to manage this.

Point Stakeholders Back to Your Business Goals 

Ideally, you won’t kick off a new web development project without getting internal alignment around your website’s purpose and goals. After all, before you can design a right-fit solution that meets your needs, you first need to define what those needs are. 

Once you launch your website, those same goals should serve as the North Star that continues to guide every stakeholder’s decisions around content creation and design. So if you begin to notice that stakeholder preferences are taking precedence over user needs? Nip it in the bud by politely but firmly reminding colleagues of your previously agreed-upon objectives.

Fiercely Protect Your Homepage and Other Key Areas

Higher ed websites quickly lose effectiveness when prime real estate like the homepage becomes cluttered with too much information. And it’s easy to see why this happens. 

In any given week, the Career Center might ask you to promote an upcoming job fair or networking event. The Development Office might make a persuasive case to feature their campaign kick-off video in your hero area. And the Athletics Department might want news of their recent championship victory to take top billing. 

No matter how worthwhile an initiative, event, or accomplishment might be, you can’t include it all on your homepage. To maintain effectiveness — and drive leads and conversions — you must focus high-profile pages on meeting your primary audience’s needs. 

Train Stakeholders on the “How-to’s” of Content Creation

Employee attrition is another common reason websites lose effectiveness over time. The more content creators there are in departments across campus, the more likely it is that someone new will jump in to create content without knowing the rules of the game.

Additionally, even the most experienced content creators need a refresher course now and again. Offering regularly scheduled workshops and trainings is a smart way to keep everyone on the same page about what belongs — and what doesn’t belong — on your site.

Does governance sound like too much to handle on your own? You could consider setting up a post-launch service agreement for after your website launches. ImageX works with a number of higher ed institutions to keep content governance top of mind.

2.  Watch the Right Metrics to Catch Dips in Performance

In marketing, there’s no such thing as “set it and forget it.” And that’s particularly true when it comes to your website’s effectiveness. 

Tracking the right metrics on a weekly basis will help you quickly spot any red flags that indicate a problem. Pay special attention to: 

• Engagement Metrics. Visits, session duration, bounce rates, and page views all provide at-a-glance insight into how well your website is performing. If you start to see week-over-week or month-over-month declines, that’s a good sign it’s time to investigate further. 
• Content Performance. Are users reading the pages you want them to read? Are they interacting with the content that matters most? Is your content strategy leading them on the desired user journey? Delve into Google Analytics (GA4) and use Hotjar Heatmaps to assess whether or not your content is hitting the mark.
• SEO Performance. Monitoring Google search results, organic search traffic, keyword rankings, authority scores, and backlinks can provide insights into how well your organization is attracting potential students who are searching for schools like yours.
• Conversion Rates. Are prospective students taking desired actions such as requesting information? Registering for open houses and other events? Booking a consultation with an Admissions Counselor? Completing an application? Dips in conversion rates indicate there may be bottlenecks impeding students on their journey.
• Accessibility Metrics. Keeping your website accessible for users with cognitive and physical disabilities isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s required by law. A good web development partner will ensure any new website they build is accessible and inclusive from the ground up. But you’ll need to proactively keep it that way. Tools such as Siteimprove and axe by Deque can help.

Use Qualitative Research to Round Out Quantitative Data

The metrics outlined above provide you with empirical evidence of your website’s performance. But if you’re seeing a dip in effectiveness, knowing the “what” isn’t enough. You also need to know why it’s happening.

That’s where qualitative research comes in. 

The fastest way to get to the heart of your website’s performance issues is to ask actual users for feedback. This doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive, or time-consuming. It can be as simple as asking students to come for pizza and spend an hour or two reviewing the parts of your site that are problematic. (Want to dig deeper into qualitative research techniques? Check out this article.)

3. Carve Out a Few Hours Per Week for Ongoing Website Maintenance 

Launching your website feels like the end of a long journey. But in reality, it’s just the beginning. To keep it functioning as the powerful marketing tool you need it to be, it’s essential to commit to continuous improvement.  

The good news is this doesn’t need to consume all your time. Putting together a quarterly or annual maintenance plan — and devoting as few as two-three hours per week to carrying it out — can make all the difference.

Of course, even two to three hours per week is easier said than done. Often, the best way to ensure your website doesn’t lose effectiveness is to establish a long-term relationship with the agency partner who designs and develops it in the first place. We’d love to be that partner for you. Let’s talk.