Transforming NMITE’s website on a small budget, with new navigation, page templates, propositions and content, compliant with sector regulation and optimised for search.
The challenge
NMITE’s website was out of date. The designs looked tired, the navigation was confusing, and pages carried too much content, much of it inaccurate, with little scope to use video to tell its strongest stories.
It also fell short of the sector regulations on the information universities must provide to students, creating a real legal risk. And because pages weren’t optimised for search, rankings had always been low. Unsurprisingly, performance lagged: visitors viewed an average of 1.85 pages per session over 12 months, against a university average of 2.5.
As a small brand with low website traffic, NMITE needed to make the most of every opportunity to attract and keep visitors, so an overhaul was urgent.
What I did
With a small team and a small budget, a brand new website wasn’t an option. So I worked with our website agency to think creatively about how we could achieve what we needed, then devised and delivered an ambitious plan over an intensive four months.
- Structure and templates. I collaborated with internal teams and the agency to plan a new website navigation and page templates, making it easier for visitors to find what they need
- Brand and propositions. I developed the brand proposition and product and service propositions, giving every page a clear, consistent story
- Content. I rewrote the copy for every page, engaging product owners and team leads in the editorial process, and selected featured photography and video
- Build. I built all the pages and uploaded all the content myself
- Compliance. I wrote key policies, including the data privacy policy and website disclaimer, and made sure all required student information met sector regulations
- Launch. I managed publishing of the new website, snagging and resolving issues to ensure a smooth go-live
The results
A new website with clearer navigation, modern page designs and accurate, engaging content, all optimised for search and compliant with sector regulations. Agreed KPIs are now in place to manage and optimise its performance.
The images show the new website across desktop, tablet and mobile.
Your next steps
If you’d like help making your website work harder, say hello today.
