Marketing & Communication

A website requires continuous curation to remain engaging and relevant to our primary audience—prospective undergraduates.

A website should be:

• Informative, accurate and up-to-date
• Accessible to all users
• User-friendly. navigation should facilitate relevant search results, and content should be arranged with clear headings, subheadings, and links.
• Interactive
• Engaging and relevant
• Responsive and device-agnostic

A website should NOT be:

• An archive
• Focused on internal processes
• dependent on attachments to convey information. Limit the use of PDF and Word documents.

External vs. Internal Communication

Our energy should be directed toward developing content that provides value to our public audience. Content related to internal procedures should be maintained off-line.

 External (public-facing) website

• Admissions (including financial aid) application procedures
• News and events
• Contact information
• Donor and alumni information
• Resources and services for new and incoming students: e.g. academic advising, career services, health services, housing, dining, etc.
• Campus safety and security information
• Employment opportunities: Job postings and high-level information about benefits of interest to applicants should be public.

 Internal communication and processes

The following content types should be housed internally or on an intranet.

• Internal communications and announcements
• HR and payroll information
• IT and technical support resources for faculty/staff
• Procurement and purchasing forms and documents
• Institutional policies and procedures
• Financial and budget information
• Facilities and maintenance resources
• Environmental Health and Safety
• Research and grant information (e.g. funding opportunities, grant applications, and compliance regulations)
• Institutional Research

Page titles

Titles should be clear, concise, and accurately reflect the content. Each page should have a unique title. Use simple language and avoid jargon.  

Page organization

Website visitors tend to skim pages until they find the information they need. Organize your page’s content to aid reading comprehension by ensuring important information is easy to find.

Important items first

• The most important information should always come first.
• Details that support the important information should come second.
• Background information should always go last.

Logical flow of content

Organize content so that users can easily find what they need.

Make use of headings and subheadings

Headings help break up long blocks of information and make pages easier to read and follow.

Use Related Content Appropriately

Related content should complement primary content by emphasizing its aspects, providing links to associated resources or forms, or adding visual interest through images or video.

Content

Ensure your website content is relevant, engaging, and has a clear message or call to action for your target audience. Use active voice and be concise.

Accuracy

Ensure all information is accurate. Updating any incorrect or outdated information as soon as possible is essential. 

Brevity

Keep your writing brief and to the point. Avoid unnecessary details.

Unique

To ensure consistent and up-to-date information, link to relevant pages rather than creating a duplicate page.

Spelling, Grammar, and Abbreviations

Make sure your grammar and spelling are perfect. Follow the AP Stylebook and the Editorial Style Guide from the university when using abbreviations.

Simple Sentences

Avoid needlessly complicated language, unnecessary words and sophisticated vocabulary as this can result in reduced comprehension. In other words, keep it simple. 

Short Paragraphs

Breaking a large text block into smaller paragraphs makes it easier to skim and understand. Each paragraph should describe one topic or idea. 

Lists

Lists with bullets or numbers are more straightforward to read and comprehend than paragraphs.

• When describing a series or a list of steps, it’s best to use a list.
• Use descriptive headings before each block of content. Headings help give structure to the text and make it easier to navigate.
• Make sure to use proper headings that follow the guidelines for page titles.

Styles and Appearance

When the style and functionality of a site is unform, it creates a more cohesive experience for the user. Excessive and individualized customization of the look and feel of a site can make it look disjointed and disorganized.

• Use italics to indicate book titles and magazine titles.
• Avoid using underlines because website users may mistake them for links.
• Use bold sparingly to emphasize points or bring attention to key phrases.
• Avoid multicolored text.
• Do not adjust font size manually.
• Avoid using ALL UPPERCASE, except for abbreviations or acronyms.
• Use H2s for primary headings, H3s for subheadings, and H4s for additional subsections. Avoid creating custom headings in the HTML code.
• Each page must have a banner. The website design may offer different banner options.
• Do not use code that could change, interrupt, or harm how the site looks, works, or is meant to work.