The Bradley website will be getting a major update this summer, changing the visual presentation and content of the site.
“This is a project the Office of Marketing and Publications has been anxious to work on for quite some time,” Director of Web Marketing and Publication Jim Crone said. “We’ve been looking at peer institutions and using the research assets of the university to get a sense of the direction we need to go.”
Crone said the update is largely recruitment focused.
“Recruitment and increasing our student population back to class sizes we’ve seen in previous years is an emphasis,” Crone said. “We know that an institution’s website is the first encounter a prospective student might have with an institution, so we really want to put our best foot forward.”
Crone said one of the major changes the update will bring is improved responsiveness.
“By responsiveness, I mean that the site will be compatible with laptops, desktops and mobile devices,” Crone said. “The site will automatically reformat for your mobile device, and every piece of content available on the main site would be available in the mobile format.”
Associate Director of Web Marketing and Communication Ome Lopez said there has also been a visual update for the website.
“We also moved on from using just red,” Lopez said. “We’re still Bradley red, but we’ve added some complimentary colors to the site to improve the visual impact. Before the redesign, I did a lot of research, looking at top competitors and Webby Award winners, and modeled the changes after them.”
According to Janet Lange, although the website is primarily a marketing tool for the university, the content for faculty, staff and current students will expand with the update.
“We’ve already started beefing up the calendar aspect of the website this past winter,” Lange said. “It has become easier for students to submit their events, and there’s also been event search filters added.”
Crone said they have been cleaning up information on the site for the update.
“We’ve been making things easier to find and get to,” Crone said. “We’re removing information that’s no longer relevant. We’re also trying to change terminology so the site is more understandable, cutting away certain academic and administrative terms.”
Crone said after the update, the Office of Marketing and Publication will be working on creating a 3D-illustrative map of the campus.
“The map will have a variety of uses,” Crone said. “It can be used to plan out events or to give virtual tours of the campus. The police can even use it for security purposes.”
Crone said he hopes this update will create a platform for continual improvement of the website.
“Going forward, this will become a more regular process so we’re not making dramatic shifts every six years or something trying to catch up,” Crone said.
