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Managing a website for any business can be challenging. Add to this the numerous subsites and servers involved in a higher education website and you’ve made an already monumental task even more daunting. Sometimes it can help to know ahead of time what not to do in order to avoid headaches and more work down the road. That being said, here are 3 of the most common higher education website mistakes so you’ll know what to watch out for.

Stale or Outdated Content – Not only does your website need fresh content in order to rank better in the search engines, but it’s also critical to the overall success of your college or university. Think of your website as the virtual gate of your campus. It’s usually the first interaction prospective students will have with your brand. If the content is old or outdated, what kind of first impression do you think it will make?

Poor Design/User Experience – Trendy fonts and flashy intros may have been the hottest thing a few decades ago, but today’s website design is about usability and visitor experience. If your site is difficult to navigate or has features like slow-loading images, chances are you’re losing visitors as a result. Your website should reflect how modern your school truly is.

Minimal and/or Copycat Design – It’s great to aim for a clean-cut website design, but if you lean too far to the extreme you could end up with the opposite effect. Your web visitors are coming to your site to learn more about your school and what you have to offer. Make sure that your site contains every piece of information your prospects need to sway their decision. It’s also important to make your design unique. Cloning another school’s website isn’t just poor form, it could actually hurt your chances of attracting more student applicants.

Of course, there are many other reasons a higher education website may not be performing as well as it could. A good rule of thumb is to conduct an audit every so often (ideally once every 6 months) to see if there are areas of your site that could use some improvement. Remember that a website is like a living, breathing thing – it needs to change and evolve as it grows in order to be successful.

TAGGED: Tags: best practices, website design