Seattle University Website Redesign

Seattle University’s flagship website, www.seattleu.edu, is a vital component for the university’s engagement and enrollment efforts and a key platform for elevating the university’s brand, reputation and communication strategies. It is one of the most important tools in recruiting students, generating revenue, fundraising and telling external audiences who we are. Drawing more than two million visitors a year, SU’s website is for many the first experience and interaction with the university.

The Work So Far

During fall 2021, SU partnered with Eduvantis, a marketing strategy consulting firm that works with institutions of higher education, on an audit of the university’s website. Based on the report coming out of the audit, the university decided to move forward with a redesign. A working group involving members of Marketing Communications, ITS, Enrollment Services and the Provost’s Office was assembled for the redesign. Its members include:

• Scott McClellan – Vice President for University Affairs
• Melore Nielsen – Vice Provost for Enrollment Management
• Travis Nation – Chief Information Officer, Vice Provost for Information Technology
• Trish Henley – Associate Provost of Graduate, Online, and Professional Education
• K. Francesca Nisco – Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Brand Management
• Eli Voigt – Assistant Director of Digital Marketing
• Gaurav Mandan – Web Manager
• Victor Chimenti – Web Developer
• Rosie Sabaric – Marketing Operations and Projects Manager

Seattle University engaged in a competitive request for proposal (RFP) process for the redesign, development and deployment of the website on the existing TerminalFour content management system (CMS) platform. OHO Interactive, was chosen as the university’s partner.

Project Goals and Objectives

In partnership with OHO Interactive, the university will redesign its website to deliver a new and future-focused digital strategy and web presence that elevates the university and reflects best practices in design, content strategy, usability, accessibility, technical implementation and overall user experience.

The website redesign will be completed in two phases:

Phase 1, which launches Sept. 9, will create a streamlined and customized digital experience for prospective students, parents and our vast and diverse audience of visitors.

Phase 2 will be building an easy-to-use intranet for current faculty, staff and students in collaboration with several university divisions. 

Some high-level goals of the project include creating a site that:

• Highlights Seattle University’s brand strengths, qualities and values.
• Engages prospective undergraduate and graduate students and their families, without sacrificing the needs of secondary audiences, including students, alumni, current and prospective faculty and staff members, the media, donors, industry partners and the general public.
• Provides a dynamic academic program finder that enables users to easily browse and explore academic offerings.
• Organizes content in an efficient and logical manner for primary target audiences, while preserving deeper content structures to meet secondary audience needs.
• Incorporates search engine optimization (SEO) best practices to improve site visibility.
• Displays optimally across many screens and devices.
• Is robust, yet flexible enough to continue to grow and evolve with our web presence.
• Ensures accessibility so there are no barriers in interacting with the website for people with physical and situational disabilities.
• Reflects the vital, engaging and dynamic university community that we are.

Corresponding with the redesign work we will:

• Evaluate our current website governance and site management, site support, hosting and recommendations to support our new website strategy.
• Increase conversion rates for online applications and inquiries, increase engagement, decrease bounce rates and increase search rankings. (We can benchmark current performance metrics versus post-launch).

Updates on the project including working group members, the timeline and key milestones can be found at https://www.seattleu.edu/web-redesign. The site will be updated throughout the redesign process and periodic updates will be shared in SU Today.