Best Practices for Department Websites

A Guide to Making Your Department Website More Effective

• Introduction

• Checklist: What to Do If You Don’t Have Time to Do Much

• Best Practices for Content

  • Keep Multiple Audiences in Mind
  • Keep Multiple Contexts in Mind
  • Have a Refresh Schedule
  • Avoid Repeating the Same Content in Different Places
  • Develop Boilerplate Content
  • Make Effective Use of Your News Feed and Events Calendar
  • Make Sure Your Faculty Knows How to Use the “Suggest a News Item” Form
  • Develop Quality Content about Each Major or Program
  • Write for On-Screen Reading
  • Write Useful Summaries
  • Avoid Acronyms and Abbreviations
  • Use Meaningful Styles
  • Use Quality Photography That Tells Your Story
  • Use Video and Audio Where Appropriate, But Also Provide Alternative Content

• Best Practices for Marketing

  • Know Your Goal and Measure It
  • Know What Makes Your Department Unique
  • Promote Your Website, On- and Off-line
  • Coordinate Off-line Ad Campaigns with Your Website
  • Use Clear Calls to Action
  • Use IUP’s YouTube Channel
  • Make Sure Your Website Is Ready Before Investing Time in Social Media
  • Follow Advertising Best Practices

• Site Architecture and Design Best Practices

  • Put Every Page on a Menu
  • Limit Menus to about Ten Items
  • Make Your Naming Conventions Consistent with the Rest of the Site
  • Make Your Navigation Conventions Consistent with the Rest of the Site
  • Avoid Workarounds for Content Organization
  • Consult the Web Team about Creating New Sections of Your Website
  • Use Your Highlights Collection to Feature Otherwise Hidden Content
  • Use Page Elements to Highlight Content
  • Choose What You Need Your Homepage to Do
  • Keep Important Content above the Fold

• Technical Best Practices

  • Use HTML Content
  • Don’t Open New Windows
  • Don’t Delete Content Blocks: Reuse Them
  • Use Quicklinks for CMS Content
  • Use Styles and Structural Elements According to Their Meaning
  • Don’t Use Tables for Layout
  • Use Internet Explorer

• Appendix: Ideas for Website Content

• Web Team
• Sutton Hall, Room 316
  1011 South Drive
  Indiana, PA 15705
• Phone: 724-357-3062
• Fax: 724-357-5512
• web-team@iup.edu

• Office Hours
• Monday through Friday
• 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
• 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.