A website redesign is a significant investment for any higher education institution, requiring strategic planning, collaboration, and expertise. Whether you're working with a website redesign vendor in Boston or beyond, understanding the process can help set expectations and ensure a smooth transition. From research and architecture to design and development, this guide will walk you through the website redesign process, outlining key steps to create a modern, user-friendly, and accessible website that meets your institution’s goals.
Discovery & research
The first phase of a higher education website redesign is discovery. This step is all about gathering insights and defining the strategy for your new website.
Goals
What do you hope to achieve with your new website? Whether it’s enhancing user experience, implementing new features, or improving SEO, setting clear objectives ensures that the redesign aligns with your institution’s needs. Identifying what is and isn’t working on your current site provides a solid foundation for improvement.
Audience
Understanding your audience is crucial. Who is visiting your website, and what are they looking for? Whether prospective students, faculty, or alumni, each user group has different goals. Creating user personas and journey maps can help guide the design and content strategy, ensuring a seamless experience for all visitors.
Peers and competitors
Analyzing peer institutions and competitors provides insights into top website redesign trends in higher ed. What are they doing well? What could be improved? Benchmarking against others helps identify opportunities to stand out.
Analytics
Data-driven decision-making is key. By reviewing site analytics, you can assess user behavior—what pages they visit, how long they stay, and where they drop off. This information informs design and functionality choices, ensuring an optimized website redesign tailored to user needs.
Content audit
Before restructuring your site, it's essential to evaluate existing content. A content audit helps determine what should be kept, revised, or removed, ensuring a streamlined and relevant site structure.
Architecture
Once the research phase is complete, the next step is building the foundation of the new website.
Sitemap
A sitemap outlines the structure of the redesigned website, defining page hierarchy and navigation. This step ensures an intuitive and logical site structure, essential for an ADA-compliant accessible website design.
Content strategy
With the sitemap established, attention shifts to content. What information needs to be on each page? What existing content can be repurposed, and what needs to be created from scratch? A strong content strategy supports SEO and user engagement.
Low-fidelity wireframes
Wireframes act as the blueprint for the website, mapping out page layouts and content hierarchy. These low-fidelity wireframes help visualize how information will be presented and ensure alignment before moving into design.
Functionality
This phase also involves identifying necessary integrations, such as CRM systems, accessibility tools, or interactive elements. Determining the content management system, such as WordPress or Drupal, and identifying development needs accordingly ensures a seamless user experience.
Design & development
With a solid foundation in place, the next step is bringing the website to life.
High-fidelity wireframes
Building upon the low-fidelity wireframes, high-fidelity wireframes incorporate design elements such as colors, typography, and branding. These mockups provide a visual representation of the final website, offering opportunities for feedback and iteration.
Development
This is where the website is coded and built. Whether opting for a custom Drupal website design or a custom WordPress website design, development involves translating design mockups into a fully functional website. Attention to WCAG-certified accessible website design ensures compliance with accessibility standards.
A successful higher education website redesign requires thoughtful planning, strategic execution, and collaboration with the right website design company in Boston or beyond. By following a structured website redesign process, institutions can create an intuitive, visually compelling, and accessible digital presence that meets the needs of their diverse audiences.
If you’re looking for a higher education website redesign company to guide you through this process, partnering with an experienced WordPress or Drupal website design and development vendor can help you achieve your goals effectively.
Ready to start your website redesign journey? Contact us today to learn about our approach, discuss your project, and explore how we can create a custom solution tailored to your institution’s needs.
