We're just about to embark on this here at Sheffield Hallam. We've taken the decision to sort out all the mess currently on the webserver
and move it to three separate servers with separate domains (Staff Intranet, Student Intranet and External website).
The external site (which I'm responsible for) already has a set of design and technical standards
(http://www.shu.ac.uk/services/marketing/webclinic/policy/index.html) these were approved by the Vice-Chancellor and have (after various
bits of grumbling) been taken up by most web publishers.
When we migrate to the new server the standards will become much more specific in terms of page layout and information content. My team will
re-brand pages for anyone who doesn't wish to do it themselves. The new standards will be approved again by the VC and any pages which don't
comply will not get on the new server (this will happen using either a content management system or a staging server sign off process).
Incidentally we have just finished a major piece of market research on potential students. They find the transition between 'corporate',
school and department websites on our current site confusing even though they are very 'similar' in terms of look and feel. They also have
wide experience of corporately branded websites like Amazon, MSN etc and expect the same level of branding (and customer service) on a
university site.
Two issues that have been repeated by other people are absolute musts before embarking on any work of this kind. Firstly you need to get
your plan approved at the very top, this has significantly reduced the level of resistance we have experienced so far. Secondly you need a
properly researched team - we have seven staff to look after the content of the external site (5 full time, two part-time data entry staff)
- because of this we can build and maintain vast areas of the site, this makes standardisation of branding much easier.
Will
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Will DG Cox - New Media Marketing Manager
Marketing and Development, Sheffield Hallam University
Tel 0114 225 3893 Fax 0114 225 2094 E-mail [log in to unmask]
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