Case Study: Rebuilding an Admissions Web Presence

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY RELATIONS - DIGITAL SERVICES
Dave Olsen, Professional Technologist

University Relations - Digital Services

dmolsen@mail.wvu.edu
CASE STUDY:
REBUILDING AN ADMISSIONS

WEB PRESENCE

A Stranger in a
Strange Land

A SKETCH OF THE TALK
• Our goals, timeline, & team

• Our process & results

• The project’s inﬂuence on
other channels

Implement New Brand
Get one of biggest properties
utilizing the new brand elements.
Goal #1

https://ﬂic.kr/p/bBFZHK

Focus on People
Err on the side of making it easier for
external audiences to take action
related to our content.
Goal #2

Go Live in ~5 Months
Project kick-oﬀ mid-March &
launch July 1
Goal #3

OUR TEAM
• Two reps from Admissions

• Two designers

• Two writers

• One developer

• One jack of all trades (me)

OUR PROCESS
Design isn’t Photoshop. Design is the
aggregate of all these diﬀerent things
we can do to make sure that our
intentions are communicated...

- Chris Cashdollar, @ccashdollar

OUR PROCESS
• Research & discovery

• Content & design

– Develop structure

– Migrate & develop content

– Wireframe & design

• Launch minimum viable product

Research & Discovery
Where can we ﬁnd insights
regarding what users need & want?
How does Admissions currently
conduct business?

Traditional Research
• 2014 E-Expectations Report from Noel-Levitz

• Understanding WVU’s Brand from the Inside from Widmeyer
Communications

• 2014 WVU Competitor Analysis from Widmeyer Communications

• 2013 Survey of Admitted Students from Eduventures

• A Holistic Approach to Recruitment Planning & Programming
from WVU VP of Enrollment

• 2013 Admitted Student Questionnaire Plus Highlights Report
from The College Board

• Analysis of Admissions Website from WVU Director of Market
Research

http://bit.ly/rebuild-admissions-ama
Content Audit

Content Audit
http://content-insight.com http://urlproﬁler.com

Competitive Analysis
What are our peer institutions
doing? How do they compare to
the research?

Customer Journey Map
What does the user want to
accomplish? At what stages of the
process? How do we communicate
with them?
http://bit.ly/customer-journey-map-sm

Research & Discovery
What were our results?

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WEB
• 96% of our admitted students in 2012 used our
websites.1

• 77% of college seniors rated college websites
the most inﬂuential resource in their search. 69%
of parents.2

• 67% of all students and parents say a college
website aﬀected their perception of an
institution.2
1 - 2013 Admitted Student Questionnaire Plus Highlights Report from The College Board

2 - 2014 E-Expectations Report from Noel-Levitz

admissions.wvu.edu
ADMISSIONS WEB PRESENCE

Adventure Orientation WVU Veterans
Financial Aid
One Global
Graduate
Visit WVU
Student Life
Virtual Tour
Retention
Registrar
About WVU
Housing
Orientation
Create Your Story
Project Me
Decide WVU Days
Dining Services
Undergraduate Scholarships
Welcome To TuitionMajors
Honors
Course Catalog
Course Listing
Apply WVU
Undergraduate Academic Aﬀairs
Go2
Student Insurance
Social Media Emails
Print Pieces In-person Events
admissions.wvu.edu

Create Your Story
Welcome To TuitionMajors
Apply WVUGo2
admissions.wvu.edu

THE CONTENT TO FOCUS ON
• Academics

• Cost & ﬁnancial aid

• Our location
To get on a student’s list of schools we must answer
these key points so they can compare & consider:

THE RESEARCH / ACADEMICS
• 72% of our admits ranked academic reputation
as “very important” when selecting a school.1

• While 75% of enrolling students rated us as
“very good” or “excellent” for academic
reputation only 43% of non-enrolling did.1

• Eduventures said only 24% of non-enrolling
students described WVU as having a good
academic reputation.2

2 - 2013 Survey of Admitted Students from Eduventures

• 82% of our admits ranked cost as “very
important” when selecting a school.1

• 68% of our enrolling students said aid or
cost was signiﬁcant when they chose
WVU. 75% for those who received aid.1
THE RESEARCH / COST

THE IMPORTANCE OF BOTH
Reﬂecting the audience’s preferences,
messaging is most convincing when it
exists in an academic context, an
economic context, or, ideally, both.
“Understanding WVU’s Brand from the Inside”
from Widmeyer Communications

86% of prospects ranked “provides
high-quality education at an aﬀordable
price” as “very important” versus 74%
ranking “cost” on its own as “very
important.”
“Understanding WVU’s Brand from the Inside”
from Widmeyer Communications
THE IMPORTANCE OF BOTH

OUR VALUE FORMULA
Academics / Cost = Value

• Enrolling and non-enrolling students
share the same perceptions about life on
campus. 89% and 82% respectively
agree it’s “fun.” 82% and 74% feel it’s a
“‘spirit’ school.”
2013 Admitted Student Questionnaire Plus Highlights Report from The College Board
THE RESEARCH / CAMPUS LIFE

OUR ANALYTICS
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Mar. 14 Oct. 14 Jan. 15
/apply-wvu /life /opportunities /visit

OUR CONTENT / ACADEMICS

OUR CONTENT / COST

• Expand & integrate core decision-related
content like majors & cost.

• Avoid dead ends for users. Be clear how
they can take action on their interest.

• Merge duplicative properties like
Welcome To, Go2, & Create Your Story.
WHAT WE NEEDED TO FIX

Setting Goals
Tied them to “real world” actions
like inquiries, app submissions,
deposits and enrollment.

OUR PROCESS
• Research & discovery

• Content & design
– Develop structure

– Migrate & develop content

– Wireframe & design

• Launch minimum viable product

https://ﬂic.kr/p/qdkFQq

Content & Design
Two paths that can be taken at the
same time yet inform one another. The
priority should always go to content.

OUR PROCESS
We’re not designing pages, we’re
designing systems of components.

- Stephen Hay, @stephenhay

CONTENT PRIORITY GUIDE
http://bit.ly/10zaQAZ
courtesy of Emily Gray, Sparkbox

GATHERCONTENT
http://gathercontent.com

WVU BRAND PATTERNS
http://patterns.wvu.edu http://bit.ly/pages-to-patterns-ama

THE BEFORE

THE AFTER

OUR RESULTS / ANALYTICS
First two weeks in October 2014 vs 2015

OUR RESULTS / APPLICATIONS
UP YTY

OUR RESULTS / ACADEMICS

• 21,000 uses of “major search”
since July 22.

• 3,500 unique keywords. Users
search for careers & majors.

• Top ﬁve keywords: Nursing,
Engineering, Business, Physical
Therapy**, and Biology.
OUR RESULTS / ACADEMICS

OUR RESULTS / COST

• Ohio Reciprocity on major pages.

• Tuition customized to major on each
major page.

• Want to add Academic Common
Market & unique scholarship
information to each major page.
INTEGRATING CONTENT

• Lack of a taskmaster

• Content gone bad: requirements,
international students, & keywords

• Underestimating upkeep time

• Lack of cross-dept. reporting

• Real user testing tough to get going
OUR MISSTEPS

• Content audits for print & email

• Sharing research knowledge

• Integrated meetings

• Buckets o’ content

• Multi-channel editorial calendar
GOING BEYOND DIGITAL

Rebuilding a Web Presence
The goals & process for rebuilding

West Virginia University’s admissions
web presence.
The What

Guidance for Your Eﬀorts
Hopefully the tools & techniques
we used can help you as you
tackle your rebuilds.
So What

Go Forth & Do Good
Now What
Do your own research

Be an advocate for users

Edit with a critical eye

Integrate your eﬀorts

THANK YOU & QUESTIONS
Dave Olsen, Professional Technologist

University Relations - Digital Services

dmolsen@mail.wvu.edu

Case Study: Rebuilding an Admissions Web Presence

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