More than two-thirds of people say the most important characteristic of a website is ease of use, according to a survey conducted by Hubspot.

That survey might have been conducted in 2011, but the needs of the user has not changed, particularly now that most people access sites from tiny little mobile screens.

That’s why it’s so important to factor in UX design with your school’s website. UX design (or user experience design) is just a fancy way of saying that you’re doing all you can to make your website user-friendly for your audiences.

For your school, those audiences could include:

• Prospective and current students
• Recruiters
• Counselors
• Families of prospective/current students
• Donors/supports
• Alumni

A bad UX design could confuse your visitors, make it difficult for people to find what they’re looking for, and could prevent your school’s branding from making the positive impact you’d hoped for.

So, how do you avoid a bad user experience with your website design? Follow these 8 tips.

UX - Judging a Book by Its Cover: The Impact Your School’s Website's Design Has

Your intranet software does so much more than organize your school’s data, documents, and employees.

The intranet is the place where your staff will spend most of its day. The design, functionality, and versatility of your intranet can help ensure your team remains energized and on-point throughout their workday.

This is particularly true for schools with campuses in various geographic locations, as the intranet helps you share common educational objectives and communication needs in a secure system.

When designing or redesigning your school/university website, make sure you factor in how your intranet will coexist within this website and content management system (CMS). Some CMS platforms (including the most popular CMS on the planet) don’t work well to accommodate the specific needs your school has for its intranet.

The Power of Your Intranet: Make Your Staff’s Day-to-Day Life Easier & More Productive

There are a ton of reasons why universities should use a content management system for their website. But in the end, the most attractive – and useful – feature is the ability to manage and update your website whenever you want, without the need for a developer.

Even just a few years ago, the most complex and robust websites on the web weren’t handled by a CMS (content management system), because these CMS platforms couldn’t handle the job.

Boy has times changed. Technology has made it possible for any and every website to be built on a platform that makes it easy for the end-user (you) to take control of their site.

Even companies that build their names on security (Bank of America, NASA, BP) have turned to CMS platforms like DNN to meet their website needs. No matter how big, complex, or sensitive your website project is, there is a CMS platform that can handle the job.

But which one should you use for your university?

Building a University Website: Finding a Content Management Solution that Delivers on its Promises

Let’s just cut to the chase before we go any further: talking at length about SEO isn’t the most exciting thing to do … but it is important to making sure prospective students:

1. Find you online
2. Like what they see, enough to make a conversion

A 2014 study by Conductor determined that organic search is responsible for 64% of all web traffic. That’s compared to the paltry 2% from social, and 6% from paid search.

In other words, the better you are at organically ranking your school on results pages, the more traffic you’ll bring to your school website.

And that’s why talking about SEO and the university website is a conversation we have to have.

Put Your School on the Map: SEO and the University Website