One year after the project kickoff the new Undergraduate Admissions Web site launches. Of course, we had a little fun (opens new window) the in process. I outlined a few key changes at the bottom of this post but wanted to go through some important changes in detail.

The old site lacked the "experience" factor. Not the hand-holding through the process experience, but the true Wayne State experience. It was dull, had scaled back images and was not inviting overall. We changed all of that with a warm, friendly and exciting new design. We used bold colors, people-focused photography and tilted elements to make certain areas stand out.

Navigation

The navigation was another huge change; we completely overhauled it taking it from the 25+ existing first level menu items to 4. We grouped everything into key areas an end-user would need: "Become a Student," "Explore," "Culture" and "Academic Life." Once a user chooses a path it allows us to get everything else out of the way and focus on what they need.

Content

Last but not least, every single page was examined and rewritten. This by far made the largest impact to our prospective students. The previous site was launched 3 years ago; in that time the content changed frequently but was never looked at as a whole. The new wording makes directions clear, shortens paragraphs and is focused on helping the prospective student.

Traffic

Overall the site as been doing great. Just in the past week we have seen page views up 27%, unique views up 13% and average time spent on the site up from 2:22 to 3:00. We will see shortly how conversions to the online application have been doing.

Key changes

• Overhauled navigation, simplified by task, not audience
• Completely rewritten pages, not just little tweaks
• Design that fits into our newest branding for consistency
• A greater emphasis on photos; larger more vibrant photos
• Larger emphasis on upcoming admissions events
• Consolidated multiple sites, apply.wayne, openhouse.wayne
• Moved the event RSVP's to the main events.wayne.edu (opens new window) RSVP system

View the new site at: http://admissions.wayne.edu/ (opens new window)