Beyond the brochure: Making college websites work for the modern student

During a time when digital experiences shape student engagement and decision-making, a college's website serves as its most powerful recruitment and retention tool. Montgomery County Community College embarked on a transformative website audit and refresh project to enhance transparency, highlight in-demand careers and ensure content accuracy across all pages. As all of you web professionals know, this was no easy feat.

This endeavor started as a request from leadership and quickly snowballed into a complex initiative focusing on key enhancements, including a refreshed homepage, improved information architecture, incorporating AI-driven chatbot functionality and seamless integration of career and salary data within program pages. The improvements to the site architecture included a push to streamline the navigation to meet the needs and browsing habits of our modern students.

Prior to the website refresh, Montco implemented a sustainable content strategy to keep web information accurate and up to date beyond 2024. This involved a comprehensive audit of existing content, the addition of new content editors and the creation of a structured calendar to track updates throughout the academic year. Additionally, program coordinators were empowered to take ownership of their respective program pages, ensuring subject matter expertise was at the forefront of content updates.

This presentation will provide tips and tricks on how Montco enhanced their digital presence while fostering a culture of shared responsibility of website content with key stakeholders in the institution. You will learn practical strategies for conducting a website audit, implementing an effective governance model and leveraging technology to improve student engagement and maintain an accessible, accurate and modern web presence.