University websites built for complex programs and audiences

Your guide to making the right decision

What to consider before starting your project

University website design must make a complex academic offering easier to navigate. Visitors may move between programme pages, departments, admissions guidance and external application systems. Consistent templates and clear transitions help them understand where they are and what they need to do next.

We review the academic catalogue, content ownership and existing URL structure before planning new templates. A programme page should agree with the authoritative academic information and link to the correct application route. Accessibility checks, document handling and migration testing need to cover representative journeys across the university's web estate.

Design around your audience

This work serves prospective learners, academic departments, admissions offices and university publishers. Their questions vary by decision stage, location and the information they already have. We organize the content and next steps around those differences, so people can find the right route without being pushed into an unsuitable enquiry or application.

Understand your starting point

Our initial review aims to make academic catalog, departmental and admissions systems navigable. We examine an existing visitor journey with your team, including the information available, the point where a visitor takes action and the staff response. Recent questions and incomplete enquiries can help identify where a practical change is needed.

The review draws on program authority, accessible documents and redirect requirements. Your team confirms the academic and operational facts, while we identify the website, content or marketing changes within the proposed scope. Depending on the agreed scope, planning can include template acceptance tests for degree pages, faculty pages and application routes. Access requirements, dependencies and any further approvals are agreed before implementation.

Agree on scope, ownership and handover

The proposal should describe the agreed deliverables, review stages and handover. The agreed planning documents give both teams a shared basis for reviewing the work. We clarify the information and access needed from your team, who approves the work, and which ongoing updates are included or separately scoped.

One risk to address is migration launches that orphan academic pages. The scope should explain how this will be checked and who is responsible for corrections. Your team should also know which activities depend on its systems or approvals, and which outcomes a service provider can measure without promising results it cannot control.

How to measure progress

Useful measures include task success for prospective learners. We agree the definitions and available data before reporting progress. Activity measures such as impressions, visits and form submissions help explain the journey, but they need context from the institution before they can be treated as successful admissions or commercial outcomes.

Reporting should connect observed changes with a practical next decision. Compare equivalent periods and account for intake dates, course availability and changes in follow-up. Where the systems cannot reliably measure task success for prospective learners, the report should identify the gap and the next measurement step rather than present an unsupported conclusion.

What to ask a potential digital partner

1. Can you show relevant work or explain how you would evaluate this project before recommending an approach?
2. How will subject-matter and admissions staff review claims before publication?
3. What are the acceptance criteria, maintenance responsibilities and escalation routes?

Official resources and references

• Google Search Central: creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
• Google Search Central: organization structured data
• US Federal Trade Commission: COPPA guidance, including school contexts

Prepare for a useful project discussion

Bring your current website or campaign example, the main question you want to resolve and any relevant information about program authority, accessible documents and redirect requirements. A short, specific brief is enough to begin. Do not send student records, passwords or other sensitive information through a public enquiry form.

Before implementation, agree who reviews the planning documents and how changes will be approved. The handover should identify the owner, the approved version and the checks used to accept it. This keeps future corrections and routine updates manageable after the project is complete.