Client List & Portfolio
Client Background & Needs
Located on 50 acres of beautiful and historic landscape in Frederick, Maryland, Hood College is a private liberal arts college that focuses on preparing students to meet and surpass their personal and professional goals in the midst of the global challenges of the future. The College offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in 28 major fields of study, 14 master’s degrees and 5 post-baccalaureate certificate programs and certification programs in education. Knowing that its website is the primary and most important recruiting and information tool, Hood College sought an updated web presence that would reflect its commitment to its students and the global community, clearly illustrate its outstanding academic programs, showcase its beautiful campus, provide easier navigation and better access to all needed information as well as contain fresh content that communicated a cohesive message.
EMG Approach & Solution
In order to provide Hood College with a most effective and efficient website redesign, EMG kicked off its process with an extensive immersion period that included stakeholder and student focus groups, as well as an audit of Hood’s current site and all marketing materials. EMG organized and synthesized all of the data and content to create a strategic roadmap for the development of an easily navigable web presence rooted in solid design and usability with a clear and consistent message.
Hood College relies on its website to provide to its audiences a gateway for important functions – including applying for admission, paying tuition and fees, making donations, accessing faculty and student tools as well as library databases – and wanted to serve them with easily accessible information. EMG designed a “Start Page” for each of Hood College’s primary audiences which promptly guides them to their desired destinations. Current Students, Prospective Students, Alumni & Friends, Faculty & Staff and Parents & Family all have a customized Start Page with personalized quick links which can be accessed from the homepage. These Start Pages are meant to specifically target each audience, funneling them to pertinent and necessary information.
The new site is backed by a powerful Content Management System which allows staff to easily edit and update content without any required programming knowledge. This enables the website to constantly evolve and scale – an imperative in today’s ever-changing online landscape. EMG developed the website within Ektron CMS 400.net which allowed for customization of components to meet Hood’s specific needs. Custom components include an enhanced calendar of events and customized templates that allow for a comprehensive and searchable catalog of all courses.
The Tactics
- Audit of website and all marketing materials
- Conducted stakeholder and student focus groups
- Designed information architecture and creative for new site
- Redesigned online application to improve design, usability and completion rates
- Integrated Content Management System solution (Ektron) with custom components
- Conducted staff training for new Content Management System
- Developed and implemented a content migration plan
