Kesha Boyce Williams attended “Auditing for Results,” a presentation given by Jon Mikel-Bailey (Wood Street, Inc.) at EduWeb earlier this week. Kesha sent this report
What you should do: Examine your Web site – look at navigation, detail, general design, depth of information, clarity of information.
Why you should do it: If you don’t do it, the problems on site won’t be recognized. The audit proves the value of what you have been doing so far. and identifies what still needs to be done.
How often your should do it: At least yearly. Consider doing it monthly so you keep up with out of date info.
Key Questions:
1)Is the Web site content relevant to each audience?
2)How does my Web site content and functionality stack up to my competitors?
3) Can I get a sense of how often my competitor sites are updated compared to mine? And how many people they have behind the scenes? It is imperative that your institution understand how having limited staff impacts your web site. This is one way of getting that info.
Recommended: Focus groups – current students, prospective students (high school juniors) Online survey – posted for all Web site users on your Web site Usability testing – 508 Compliance, SEO Optimization.
Write a report at the end and share the findings with key decision makers. Report length depends on how indepth you go.
Fresh Eyes: An outside firm can do your audit and lend some fresh eyes to your site. They also can help find people for focus groups if you’re challenged.
BIG IDEA: Use your admissions staff to find out how much service your Web site is actually providing. It might be the equivalent of 1 or 2 customer service reps. That means you’re responsible for a lot of the success of recruitment.
Help them understand that spending more money on the Web site will end up customer service and so much more. This generation has high expectations for what they expect Web sites to be able to provide and do.