Erinn Finley
Contributing Writer
[email protected]
Aiming to boost mobile users and aid recruitment Murray State plans to relaunch its website later this fall.
Charley Allen-Dunn, web and digital ad manager for branding, marketing and communication, is the lead on this project. Dunn said the website has not been redesigned since 2015. The old website was responsive, but not very mobile-friendly. She said the new website is being built with mobile devices in mind first, which should create a more mobile-friendly website.
The new website is also being designed to help with recruitment.
“Murray State University’s website is a crucial marketing tool,” Dunn said. “The new design must promote the competitive advantages of the University, be true to the University’s mission and maintain brand integrity.”
The website will improve recruitment by ranking Murray State webpages higher in browser searches. Dunn said 55% of Murray State’s website traffic currently comes from organic searches, which means the Murray State website shows up in search results. By placing the website in more searches, the staff hopes to increase the number of people that see the website through organic search.
Dunn said they are also trying to ensure the language on the website matches Murray State’s environment which means making the website more friendly and conversational.
Dunn said the new website will also meet American with Disabilities Act standards, which sets legal guidelines for web content accessibility that higher education institutions have to follow. The goal is to make website content and information accessible to every user.
“We want to make sure that we are doing everything possible to be compliant because of the legal issues, but also because it’s the right thing to do,” Dunn said.
Dunn said in the beginning stages of the project, they surveyed users of the website. Although people viewed the website favorably, they all reported a lack of organization and outdated content.
Dunn said as part of the new project, they will be auditing all of the website’s pages and removing outdated or irrelevant content. They have over 5,000 pages on the site to sort through in addition to all the PDF files on the server. They will also be training content managers on how to manage and review content more regularly.
Dunn said going forward staff will be auditing content at least once a year to remove unused content. They also will be incorporating the importance of keeping content updated in their content management system training.
Dunn said the new website will be cleaner and integrate Murray State’s colors more. The top navigation is also being designed to take up less space. Dunn said they have more tools to manage content and allow for better integration of photos, videos and testimonials.
Murray State staff worked with Beacon Technologies, a higher education digital marketing firm, on the website.
Dunn said during the first phase of the project, Beacon Technologies developed a strategic plan based on user feedback and quantitative data. Dunn worked with Emily White, Murray State’s former design specialist, on how they wanted the content to look while Beacon Technologies staff did the actual coding.
“Our staff, myself and Emily White, provided a lot of the inspiration for the look of the new site while Beacon made sure all code adhered to best practices and web accessibility guidelines,” Dunn said.
This website relaunch will affect almost everyone on campus. A couple of students offered their opinions on the upcoming changes.
Leah Harley, a senior psychology student, said she thinks the current website is easy to navigate on her computer and that the website is aesthetically pleasing. She also said it would be nice to have easier access to the website on mobile devices.
“I know I’m a college student and everything, but even I’m not on my laptop 24/7,” Harley said. “So pulling something up on my phone would be a lot easier.”
Harley said the mobile friendly website will be especially nice during meetings where she isn’t using her laptop, but still needs to use the website to look up information.
Hannah Dubois, a junior professional writing student, said she thinks it’s exciting that Murray State is updating their website. She said the mobile friendly website will definitely be useful for when parents need to make parking reservations and for people who want to find news.
“One thing I wish Murray would do is update their myGate site, particularly because as students we navigate that site more often than we do the website,” Dubois said. “And given all the resources that Murray has in the graphic design department and particularly seniors looking for senior projects and opportunities, I don’t know why they wouldn’t use those to update the myGate site. But I’m excited that they’re at least starting with the main site.”
Dunn said redesigns are inevitable. Changes in technology and best practices require updates to provide users with their expected experience.
“Our last redesign launched in 2015, what was cutting edge then is not good enough now,” Dunn said.
Dunn said a lot of work has already been done for the website update, but there is still more to do. There is not a specific launch date yet for the new site. Dunn said she believes it will be before winter break though..
The website domain name will remain murraystate.edu.
