Web

Seawolf Living website on computer

Websites are where users go when they want to learn more about your brand and services that you offer such as discovering what you do, who you are, and to get questions answered. The most important digital aspect of marketing your brand is through the website content. 

Tips

Represent Your Brand

Website users should see your brand front and center when they visit your website. You should include logos, link to social media channels, and include visual efforts throughout the website.

Write for Web

Keep text simple and write content for the web so your audience can easily digest the information and also find the information needed. 

Include Your Call To Action

Websites are the ultimate informational hub for your overall brand. It is important to have clear and concise information and incorporate your mission or goal into your website. 

Include Media

It’s always good practice to use media that is eye-catching to get the information out to the visitors as swiftly as possible. We recommend using video, imagery, and features that are used throughout Drupal websites like accordions and different paragraph bundles. 

Make Sure All Features Are Accessible

No one wants to visit a website that is hard to navigate and that is not accessible for everyone. Be sure that your website is readable and aesthetically pleasing, and is also easy to find relevant information. The most common accessibility issues are:

  • Low contrast on text
  • Missing alt text on images
  • Missing link tex
  • Ambiguous link text
  • Mismatching link text 
  • Too many navigation links

Best Practices

Drive Traffic To Your Website

All digital marketing strategies should go hand in hand. Social media should drive users to visit your website any chance you get. Including your website url in your Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter bios are a great place to start in order to extend the reach of your website. Print or digital graphics should drive users to visit your website as much as possible too.  

Provide Useful, Easy to Find Information

All of the pages of a website should provide useful information to visitors. It is important to have accurately labeled landing pages to navigate from one section of the website to the next. The easier your information is to find, the longer users will stay on your website.

Website Audits

Have your team review your website at least once every six months to review all content, and test all links, and come up with new ideas for content. We recommend updating your homepage on a regular basis either during the website audit or having a separate calendar to make updates on a regular basis to keep content fresh.

FAQs

How do we get a website updated, a new website, or a new webpage?

If you are one of the brands we service, please submit a marketing request form.

EA Marketing Request Form

What are SSU’s web standards?

To learn more about the web office at Sonoma State University and FAQs, please visit the SSU IT web office website.

What is web accessibility?

Web accessibility is the practice of applying design principles to make websites, web applications, and web content accessible to persons with disabilities who may be using assistive technologies to access the site. 

It is the policy of the CSU system to make information technology resources, including websites, web applications, and web content, accessible to all CSU students, staff, faculty, and the general public regardless of disability.

For more information, please visit the SSU web accessibility website.

Where should I start with a website project?

Mapping out exactly what you would like shown from your navigation is one of the big steps. Meaning what are the main topics that you want your users to be able to access. These are typically large umbrella topics that cover a wide range of pages. 

Then come the subpages, these are designed for an opportunity for you to get down into the details. Maybe this is where you will house a schedule or a specific housing village. This is where you typically make it all about one topic, rather than an umbrella of topics. 

Want to discuss further? Fill out our Let's Chat form and one of our staff will be in touch to get more information.