We’ve all been there. We’ve taken time out of a busy day and loaded up a healthcare website to find some crucial bit of information we needed. Something small, something commonplace, something any sane person would put up front and center because, surely, thousands of others have needed this same tiny-but-oh-so-significant tidbit. And yet, thirty minutes, two fits of uncontrollable rage, and one existential crisis later, we’re still wandering through a digital hellscape, our spirit broken, our faith in humanity shattered. Or is that just us?
The point being: ease of use matters. Your healthcare website serves as a crucial touchpoint for patients, potential patients, staff, and jobseekers. Designing such a website demands a user-centric approach to ensure easy navigation, accessibility, and engagement—and prevent mental breakdowns. In this blog, we’ll discuss key strategies for creating a healthcare website that prioritizes the needs of different user groups while maintaining an exceptional user experience (UX).
Healthcare Website Design Needs to Accommodate Existing Patients, Potential Patients, Staff Members, and Career Seekers
Effective website design begins with understanding your target audience. In the healthcare sector, your user groups typically include existing patients, potential patients, staff members, and career seekers. Each group has distinct needs and expectations that should influence your design decisions. This means:
Each group should have its own distinct page on the website.
How to navigate to these pages from the landing page should be clear and simple.
Each distinct page should be designed with the user’s most pressing needs in mind.
Catering to Existing Patients
What does UX design for a specific audience look like? Consider existing patients. What will they need to do on your website most? Manage appointments? Yup. Access medical records? Probably a close second. Receive important updates? Sure. Pathways to these and any other primary user needs should be easy to see and use.
Also important is creating a user-friendly patient portal that allows secure communication with healthcare providers for prescription refills, appointment scheduling, etc. And don’t forget a full-featured mobile experience, as many patients may access the site on their smartphones.
Attracting Potential Patients
For most healthcare websites, potential patients will stand as the primary audience. This means that the landing page should cater primarily to their needs. (But remember, your other audiences should have zero trouble finding their own pages. The importance of this cannot be overstated!)
Potential patients are likely to visit your website to gather information about services, physicians, and facilities. Use clear and engaging content to showcase your expertise, patient testimonials, and success stories. Incorporate a user-friendly search function to help users find relevant services quickly.
Factoring in Staff in Your Design
Your website should also serve your staff and potential employees. Create a dedicated section that provides resources for staff members, including policies, training materials, and internal news. For career seekers, an easily accessible and comprehensive job portal can streamline the application process. An internal portal or intranet enhances communication and collaboration among staff members. Include features such as discussion boards, document sharing, and event calendars. This fosters a sense of community and keeps your staff informed and engaged.
Building a Robust Career Portal for Job Seekers
Jobseekers interested in joining your healthcare institution deserve a seamless experience when browsing job listings, submitting applications, and managing their profiles. Integrate filters to help them narrow down job opportunities and provide clear instructions for the application process.
Prioritizing User-Friendly Navigation and Design
We’ve mentioned ease of use several times in this blog. But what does that look like? Simplicity is key:
Start by organizing information in ways that will feel instantly familiar to the user. How? By tapping into their previous website experiences and expectations. Most websites have a navigation bar at or near the top of the page where it can’t be missed. And most websites have links for customer service and jobseekers near the bottom of the landing page. There’s no need to remake the wheel here.
Beyond logical placement of key features, you want to minimize the number of clicks needed to access critical content. Portals like those for existing patients and staff should feature prominently on the navigation bar and lead to their advertised destinations with one click.
A combination of a consistent color scheme, typography, icons, and other imagery will make navigation intuitive.
Making Information Accessible for All Users
Web accessibility is crucial in healthcare design to cater to users with disabilities. Ensure compliance with accessibility standards (such as WCAG) to provide an inclusive experience for all users. Incorporate features like alt text for images, keyboard navigation, and proper heading structure.
Designing a healthcare website with a user-centric approach involves understanding and catering to the unique needs of various user groups. By creating tailored experiences for existing patients, potential patients, staff members, and jobseekers, you can enhance engagement, accessibility, and satisfaction across the board. And by sparing them a trip to the center of a digital labyrinth from which they can never escape, you might just keep their fragile faith in humanity intact for one more day.
Questions for our webheads? Schedule a time to chat with one of them using the calendar below.
Fitting firmly in the esoteric category of design discussions, the difference between user interface (UI) and user experience (UX), is, in practice, something most people encounter daily. So, what is the difference between these two concepts, and how might we come across it in the real world?
User Experience and User Interface in Everyday Life
Let’s start with a common scenario: grocery shopping. You pull up to the store, park your car, and walk inside through the sliding doors. Once you grab your cart, you notice the produce to your left. You begin picking out the freshest cucumbers and ripest bananas. What are you planning on whipping together with these diametrically taste-opposed items? Only God knows, but at this moment, they both sound delicious.
You stroll through each of the remaining aisles, filling your buggy, until you eventually arrive back at the front of the store at self-checkout. Preferring the self-checkout, you scan each item and place it in the bag. Using the touchscreen, you choose to pay with a card. As is done, you enter your pin on the touchpad, take your receipt, and exit the building with your groceries.
So, what part of this scenario involves UI? Just the very last part.
What part of this scenario involves UX? Literally, all of it.
User Experience: How You Feel About a Product
From grabbing your parking spot, to walking through the produce, to using the self-checkout, all of these interactions contribute to how you feel about that store. And all of them have been intentionally designed to influence that feeling. In web, it is the goal of a UX designer to look at an entire process, identify the pain points, and use data to come up with solutions to alleviate them. UX is a study in human psychology and how we interact with a company and its products.
User Interface: How You Interact With a Screen
UI, however, is much more specific. It may be controlled by a touch screen, like the self-checkout kiosk or by a number pad like the credit card reader, but it must happen on a screen. It is the smaller, visually interactive element of the larger UX process. A UI designer’s job is to have a firm understanding of visual design principles so that a user’s interaction with a screen is as easy and thoughtless as possible.
Mad Genius Understands Users
While these two disciplines may require different areas of knowledge or understanding, they are inextricably linked. You cannot have a successful user experience when a difficult user interface is involved. Here at Mad Genius, we specialize in providing user interfaces that are beautiful, functional, and, most importantly, easy to use. Check out some of our favorite examples over on our work page, or give us a call, so we can build you an interface of your own.
We get it. Once upon a time, that budget website made perfect sense. You know the one we’re referring to: Papyrus font for days, the unpopulated blog page, that one typo you always planned to fix but never got around to. In a legal firm’s evolution, there’s a time and place for the starter website that gets the job done (if just).
But that’s not your firm anymore. Whether you’re redesigning your site for the first or the tenth time, you know how important an attractive, user-friendly website is for the success and growth of your practice. It enhances your online presence, improves user experiences, and attracts potential clients. And let’s be honest, those potential clients generate their first impression of your firm based upon the quality of your website, which means choosing the right agency to handle your redesign project is a must.
Mad Genius is here to help with that. In this blog, we will explore five key factors to consider when selecting an agency for your legal website redesign.
1. Cost-Benefit Analysis: What Goes Into the Cost of a Website Redesign?
Bad news: it’s not 2009 anymore. Comic Sans isn’t going to cut it, nor will farming out your website design to your niece. No, not that one. Becky’s daughter. The one with questionable hair and three-quarters of a bachelor’s degree in art history. Yeah, her. If you want to increase lead generation, improve conversion rates, and enhance your brand reputation (and you should want that), you’ll need to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of what you want, what you can afford, and set some realistic expectations.
A modern, thoughtfully designed website helps your firm appear more professional. Even if your firm has won 100 percent of its cases, a website with long loading times that looks like it was designed in Microsoft paint will turn potential clients away before they even read your credentials. Discussing the following elements with potential agencies will help your firm workout the kind of cost-benefits analysis that gets you the most web mojo for your money:
Complexity of design and functionality
Number of pages
Integration of content management systems
Search engine optimization (SEO) requirements
Ongoing maintenance and support
2. Evaluating Expertise: Skills Your Agency Should Have (That Becky’s Daughter Does Not)
Becky’s daughter might have the lowest fees in the game, and she might really want the job so she can afford her next tattoo. But, if you want your website to pop off the page, flow intuitively, and make a convincing case for potential clients to use your services, you’ll need a skilled agency that understands the many moving parts that create a successful site. Be on the lookout for agencies with a strong portfolio that highlights their expertise in:
3. Research: Examples of Successful Legal Website Redesigns and What Makes Them Work
Websites are like cats. There’s more than one way to design them. (Have you seen the cat tattooed on Becky’s daughter’s arm? Let’s just say nature has never seen its likeness. Just as her tattoo artist should have done some research into cats and their proportions…) You should research existing legal websites. What do you see? What do you like? What don’t you like?
Reviewing examples of successful website designs can provide insights into the different approaches that work and which ones you prefer. When designing your website, you want to make a good impression on potential clients, so which law firm websites make a good impression on you? Especially look for websites that demonstrate:
A clear brand identity
Intuitive navigation
Compelling content
Strong calls-to-action (CTAs)
Effective lead generation techniques
4. Navigating the Process: What to Expect When You’re Redesigning
Redesigning a website takes time. There’s a process, and maybe you don’t mind that part of Becky’s daughter’s process is a trip out to California for Coachella right in the middle of your redesign. Either way, we encourage clear and frequent communication with your agency about their workflow, project timelines, and milestones, ensuring clear expectations from both parties. Typically, the redesign process will include:
5. Typical Steps in the Website Redesign Journey With an Agency
Ready to take the plunge and commit to a website redesign? What can you expect when partnering with an agency? (We’re assuming we’ve dissuaded you from choosing Becky’s daughter, so we’ll lay off her for now. For the record: we love cat tattoos. And questionable hair.) There are several common steps throughout the journey, and understanding these steps will help you actively participate in the process and provide valuable input. These include:
An initial consultation to discuss goals and objectives
A discovery phase to gather information about your brand, target audience, and competition
Wire-framing and design iterations
Development
Content creation and migration
Quality assurance testing
The website launch and post-launch support
Redesigning your legal firm website can significantly impact your online presence and business success. It’s a big deal, too big a deal for Papyrus (and no, we don’t care that James Cameron used it) and Becky’s daughter. By considering the factors discussed in this blog, such as the cost-benefit analysis, elements affecting costs, expertise evaluation, successful redesign examples, and the website redesign process with an agency, you can make an informed decision and select the right partner for your website redesign project.
College websites are difficult to make, but with proper planning and strategy, you can build a great one. The trouble is, these types of websites have to perform many tasks for several types of users. How can you please as many people as possible? Carefully.
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User Focus
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Easy Navigation
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Fresh Content
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Responsive Design
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Accessibility
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Searchability
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Consistent Branding
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Avoiding These
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Great College Websites Are User-Focused
With enterprise-level websites like those with .edu on the end, many cooks end up in the kitchen. For the most part, each particular cook is mostly thinking about their own particular sauce. A faculty member may want to see one thing and a dean may want to see another. If you don’t pay attention to the students’ sauce? Well, in the great words of Gucci Mane, “If you don’t got the sauce then you lost.”
To find out how to make your website focused on the user, start doing some research. Who are the “power users” of your website? What do they use the website for? How could you make their experience even better in the next redesign?
To answer these questions, we have a list of common power users for college websites below.
Prospective Students
About Prospective Students
Prospective students are the most important audience for a college website. Full stop. They are the ones who will be making the decision about whether to attend a college, so it is critical to make sure that the website provides them with the information they need to make an informed decision. Prospective students may be high school students, current college students, or adults who are looking to change careers.
What Prospective Students Want
Prospective students are often the number one focus for college websites, as recruiting success is paramount. Elements they want to see on a college website include:
Clear and accessible information about academic programs, admission requirements, and application procedures
Financial aid information, so they can know how they can afford to attend the college
Virtual tours and multimedia content showcasing campus facilities, student life, and the overall campus experience
Student testimonials and success stories to help prospective students envision themselves at the college
Current Students
About Current Students
Current students of a college are individuals who are presently enrolled in the college. They may be full-time students, part-time students, or graduate students. Current students may also be undergraduates, graduate students, or professional students. Keep the demographics of your current students in mind when creating your content.
What Current Students Want
Current students are interested in finding the following on a college website:
Quick access to student portals
Academic information about courses, majors, minors, and requirements
Student life information about clubs, activities, and events
Financial aid information on scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study
Resources such as tutoring, counseling, and health care
Technology resources like computer labs and printers
Contact information for the college’s offices and departments
Comprehensive academic calendar with key dates, deadlines, and events
Events calendar to keep students informed about lectures, workshops, social events, and clubs
Emergency and school closure information
Faculty & Staff
About Faculty & Staff
The faculty and staff of a college or university include professors, lecturers, instructors, administrators, professionals such as librarians, counselors, and financial aid officers, and support staff.
What Faculty & Staff Want
Faculty and staff of your college visit your website to find:
Faculty and staff directory with contact information and expertise areas
Tools such as course management systems
Secure portals or intranet with email access, human resources information, and professional development opportunities
Policies and procedures related to hiring, promotion, and tenure
Information on college resources such as libraries, computer labs, and research facilities
News and updates such as new hires, awards, and publications
Alumni
About Alumni
Former students of a college or university are an important part of the college community. They can provide guidance and support to current students, and they can help to promote the college to prospective students. They can also be a valuable resource for networking and development.
What Alumni Want
Alumni want to stay connected to their alma mater, and they can do that if the website includes information about:
Attending reunions
Donating to the college to support academic programs, student scholarships, and campus facilities
Channels to stay connected such as newsletters, alumni associations, and mentorship programs
Networking opportunities and career services
Alumni success stories with information on their contributions to various fields
Parents & Families
About Parents & Families
Parents and families are a significant part of the college process, and they want to see information that will help them make the best decision for their child.
What Parents & Families Want
The goal is to provide parents and families with the information they need to make an informed decision about whether to send their child to the college. By providing clear, concise, and up-to-date information, a college website can help to ensure that parents and families can make the best decision for their child’s future. Some of the things that parents and families want to see on a college website include:
Academic information to see what they have to offer and how their child’s interests align with the programs offered
Student life information to get a feel for what it would be like for their child to live and learn on campus
Tuition, financial aid, and payment options to address their financial concerns
Safety, housing, and support services available to students
Frequently asked questions, important contacts, and resources to help them stay involved and informed
Community Members & the General Public
About Community Members & the General Public
Community members and the public are also interested in learning more about the college, but they may be looking for different information than prospective students and parents.
What Community Members & the General Public Want
Members of the public may want to see specific information that is relevant to their interests. This may include:
Community impact, such as economic impact and volunteer programs
Event calendars and activities such as concerts, plays, lectures, and other events that are open to the public
Facility information for the library, gym, theater, and other facilities open to the public and how they can use them
Historical information for people who are keen to learn more about how the college has shaped the community
Public access to campus maps and visitor information
Opportunities for continuing education, professional development, or community involvement
Great College Websites Are Easy-to-Navigate
Navigation Labels
Use clear and concise labeling so that users can quickly identify where they would like to go. For example, if your college marching band has a unique name that doesn’t “scream” marching band, just use “Marching Band” in the navigation so that prospective students won’t have to know it beforehand.
Logical Structure
Organize navigation items in a logical hierarchical structure. Group related pages or sections together, and use submenus or dropdowns when necessary to provide deeper levels of navigation. At the same time, minimize the number of clicks that a person needs to use to reach the information they need. If it makes sense to do so, avoid an additional level of navigation.
Use Breadcrumbs & Visual Hierarchy
Another way to make websites easier to read that are often three or four levels deep is to use breadcrumbs. These provide users with a trail of links to show their current location and enable easy navigation back to higher-level pages. In addition to breadcrumbs, add visual cues to establish hierarchy. You can differentiate second and third level items through font weight, size, color, and icons.
Great College Websites Have Updated Content
Nothing destroys a college’s reputation with a prospective student or employee more than outdated or incorrect information.
A college website should aim to provide comprehensive and relevant information to prospective students, current students, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders. While the specific information may vary based on the institution’s size, location, and offerings, here are some essential elements that should be included on a college website:
About the Institution:
Mission and vision statements
History and background of the college/university
Accreditation and academic affiliations
Leadership and administration details
Campus facilities and resources
Academic Programs:
List of undergraduate and graduate programs offered
Descriptions of each program, including majors, minors, and concentrations
Faculty profiles and their areas of expertise
Academic departments and schools
Admissions Information:
Admission requirements for different programs and degrees
Application procedures and deadlines
Information for prospective students (e.g., campus tours, virtual visits, open houses)
Scholarships, financial aid, and tuition costs
Student Life:
Student organizations and clubs
Athletics and intramural sports
Housing and residential life
Campus events and activities
Health and counseling services
Career services and internships
Academic Support:
Library resources and services
Academic advising and support centers
Research opportunities
Study abroad programs
Internship and co-op programs
Faculty and Staff Directory:
Contact information for faculty and staff members
Faculty profiles, including their qualifications and research interests
Campus Facilities and Resources:
Campus maps and directions
Information about libraries, laboratories, and research facilities
Computing and technology resources
Dining options and meal plans
Campus safety and security information
News and Events:
Latest news and announcements
Events calendar, including academic and social events
Publications and newsletters
Alumni and Giving:
Alumni engagement programs
Alumni success stories
Ways to give back to the institution through donations and fundraising
Contact Information:
General contact details (phone number, email address)
Specific contact information for different departments, offices, and services
Great College Websites Have Responsive Design
A responsive design is crucial for a college website due to the widespread use of various devices with different screen sizes, such as desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. Here are some reasons why responsive design is important for a college website:
Enhanced User Experience: A responsive design ensures that the website looks and functions well on all devices, providing an optimal user experience. Users can access the website and navigate its content without any usability issues, regardless of the device they are using.
Mobile Usage Trends: Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, are increasingly used for browsing the internet. By adopting a responsive design, the college website can cater to the growing number of mobile users and deliver a seamless experience.
SEO Benefits: Search engines favor mobile-friendly websites in their search results. A responsive design improves the website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs), positively impacting its organic traffic and online presence.
Cost and Maintenance Efficiency: Maintaining a single responsive website is more efficient than creating and maintaining separate desktop and mobile versions. It reduces development and maintenance expenses, as changes or updates can be implemented across all devices simultaneously.
To ensure effective implementation of responsive design elements, consider the following best practices:
Mobile-First Approach: Begin the design process by prioritizing the mobile experience. Start with the smallest screen size and then progressively enhance the design for larger screens. This approach ensures that the website is optimized for mobile users.
Fluid Grid Layouts: Use a fluid grid system to create flexible and proportionate layouts that adjust seamlessly across different screen sizes. This allows the website’s content to adapt and maintain its integrity while accommodating various devices.
Flexible Images and Media: Optimize images and media files to be flexible and responsive. Use CSS techniques, such as max-width: 100%, to ensure that images and media scale proportionately based on the device’s screen size.
Breakpoints: Define breakpoints in the design where the layout adjusts based on different screen sizes. These breakpoints help ensure that the content is presented in the most optimal and readable format for each device.
Readability and Interaction: Ensure that text, buttons, and interactive elements are appropriately sized and spaced for easy readability and interaction on smaller screens. Consider touch-friendly design elements, such as larger buttons, to accommodate mobile users.
Performance Optimization: Pay attention to performance optimization for faster loading times on mobile devices. Compress images, minify CSS and JavaScript files, and leverage caching techniques to improve website performance.
Testing across Devices: Thoroughly test the website on various devices and screen sizes to ensure a consistent and satisfactory user experience. Test navigation, readability, interactions, and functionality across different devices to identify and resolve any issues.
By adhering to these responsive design best practices, a college website can provide a seamless and user-friendly experience across a wide range of devices, accommodating the needs and preferences of its diverse audience.
Great College Websites Are Accessible
Website accessibility allows individuals with disabilities to access your website’s content and functionalities. Millions of people in the United States use a screen reader to read websites that they cannot properly see, and closed captions benefit people who are hearing impaired as well as those who aren’t. We will go into more detail about why web accessibility is important for college websites and how to achieve it for yours.
Why Accessibility Is Important for College Websites
It is crucial for a college website to be accessible to ensure that all individuals, including those with disabilities, can access and interact with the website’s content and functionalities. Here’s why accessibility is important for a college website, along with best practices to follow:
Inclusivity and Equal Opportunity: Web accessibility promotes inclusivity by ensuring that people with disabilities have equal access to information and services provided by the college website. It supports the principle of equal opportunity for all individuals, including students, faculty, staff, and visitors.
Legal and Regulatory Compliance: Many countries, including the United States (under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act) and the European Union (under the Web Accessibility Directive), have laws and regulations that mandate web accessibility for public sector organizations, including colleges and universities. Compliance with these laws is essential to avoid legal consequences.
Positive Reputation and Brand Image: Demonstrating a commitment to accessibility enhances the reputation and brand image of the college or university. It showcases an institution’s dedication to diversity, inclusivity, and providing equal access to education and services.
Improved User Experience: Web accessibility benefits all users, not just those with disabilities. By following accessibility best practices, the website becomes more user-friendly, intuitive, and easier to navigate. It can enhance the overall user experience for everyone, regardless of their abilities.
Here are some best practices to follow to achieve web accessibility for a college website:
Compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): Follow the internationally recognized WCAG guidelines, which provide a comprehensive set of accessibility standards. Aim for compliance with at least WCAG 2.1 AA level.
Alternative Text for Images: Provide descriptive alternative text (alt text) for images, allowing screen readers to convey the image content to users with visual impairments.
Proper Heading Structure: Use proper heading structure (h1, h2, etc.) to create a logical and hierarchical organization of content. Headings help users navigate and understand the website’s structure, particularly for users relying on assistive technologies.
Keyboard Accessibility: Ensure that all functionalities and interactive elements can be accessed and operated using a keyboard alone, without relying on a mouse or other pointing devices. This is crucial for individuals with motor disabilities or who cannot use a mouse.
Color Contrast: Maintain sufficient color contrast between text and background elements to ensure readability for users with visual impairments. Use tools or online color contrast checkers to evaluate and adjust the contrast ratios.
Captions and Transcripts: Provide captions or transcripts for multimedia content, such as videos and audio files, to make them accessible to individuals with hearing impairments or those who cannot access audio.
Forms and Inputs: Design forms and input fields to be accessible, including proper labeling, clear instructions, and error messages. Ensure that form controls can be easily navigated and completed using assistive technologies.
Consistent Navigation and Structure: Maintain a consistent and predictable navigation structure throughout the website. Clearly indicate the user’s current location and provide a skip navigation option for screen reader users.
User Testing and Feedback: Conduct user testing with individuals with disabilities to gather feedback and identify areas for improvement. Incorporate accessibility considerations throughout the design and development process.
Accessibility Statement: Include an accessibility statement on the website, outlining the institution’s commitment to accessibility, providing contact information for accessibility concerns, and sharing information about available accommodations.
By implementing these best practices, a college website can significantly improve its accessibility and ensure that individuals with disabilities can access and engage with its content, services, and resources.
Great College Websites Are Searchable
Imagine that you need or want to do something on a college website. If you can’t navigate to the correct page, your next best bet is to use the college’s search bar feature. If you can’t find it after that, you may consider giving up. That’s the precise moment we want to avoid.
Why Search Is Critical for College Websites
Quick and Efficient Information Retrieval
A searchable website allows users to find specific information quickly and efficiently. Users can enter relevant keywords or phrases in the search bar to retrieve relevant content, saving time and effort compared to navigating through menus or browsing multiple pages.
Enhanced User Experience
A search feature improves the overall user experience by providing a convenient way to locate desired information. Users who have a specific query or are looking for specific resources can easily find what they require, increasing satisfaction and reducing frustration.
Accommodation of Diverse User Needs
Different users have different information needs and preferences. A search function caters to those who prefer searching to browsing, empowering them to access the information they need in their preferred manner.
Handling Large and Complex Websites
College websites often have vast amounts of information, including numerous pages, documents, and resources. A search feature becomes essential for navigating such large and complex websites effectively.
Important Search Features
Prominent Search Bar & Search Results
Position the search bar prominently, preferably at the top of the website, where it is easily visible and accessible on every page. Use a magnifying glass icon or other recognizable symbol to indicate its purpose. The display of the search results should display in a clear, organized manner. The search results may include the page title, a snippet, and some relevant metadata for users to contextualize the results and evaluate the relevance of each search result.
Smart Search
Instead of a simple keyword search bar, use an intelligent search functionality that utilizes technologies like natural language processing. Or, consider using semantic search to enhance the accuracy and relevance of search results.
Speed and Reliability
Fast and Reliable Search Results: Optimize the search feature to deliver quick and accurate search results. Use efficient search algorithms, caching mechanisms, and server-side optimizations to ensure fast response times, even with large amounts of content.
Autosuggest
Autocomplete and Suggestions: Implement autocomplete and suggestions in the search bar to assist users in formulating their queries. This feature can help users by suggesting popular or relevant search terms as they type, improving search accuracy and efficiency.
Filters
Use advanced filters and sorting options that allow users to refine and narrow down their searches. Users should be able to filter results based on categories, dates, file types, and other relevant attributes.
Analytics
Properly track your site search in Google Analytics 4 and monitor its usage. You’ll be able to gain insights into your site’s user behavior, popular search terms, and areas where users may be struggling to find the information they need. This data can help identify areas for improvement and optimize the search experience.
Great College Websites Have Consistent Branding
Keeping your brand standards consistent across your website is a part of maintaining and strengthening your college’s brand equity.
Why College Website Branding is Important
Brand Recognition and Recall: Consistent branding elements such as logos, color schemes, typography, and visual styles help create a cohesive and memorable identity for the college. This promotes brand recognition and recall among website visitors, making it easier for them to associate the website with the institution.
Professionalism and Credibility: Consistency in branding instills a sense of professionalism and credibility. When the website reflects a unified brand image, it conveys a message of reliability and trustworthiness to prospective students, parents, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders.
Cohesive User Experience: Consistent branding across different pages and sections of the website ensures a cohesive user experience. It provides users with visual cues that they are still within the same institutional context, reducing confusion and enhancing usability.
Strengthened Institutional Identity: By maintaining consistent branding, the college website reinforces the institution’s identity and values. It helps align the website’s visual presentation with the overall brand strategy, fostering a sense of pride and unity among stakeholders.
Website Branding Best Practices
To maintain a consistent brand identity throughout your website, you must establish brand guidelines and then adhere to them. Below is a list of best practices that, if followed, will help maintain your branding:
Logos
Use your official logo prominently and consistently throughout the website in the correct format, resolution, and color scheme as outlined in your brand guidelines.
Colors
Apply the institution’s designated color scheme consistently across the website. Use the official colors for headings, backgrounds, buttons, links, and other design elements. Avoid introducing additional colors that deviate from the brand palette.
Typography & Fonts
Define a set of typography guidelines to maintain consistency in font styles and sizes. Use specific fonts recommended in the brand guidelines for headings, body text, and other text elements. Consistency in typography contributes to a cohesive visual identity.
Visual Style & Imagery
Establish a consistent visual style for images, illustrations, and graphics used on the website. Use similar filters, image treatments, or graphic elements to maintain a unified visual language. Ensure that the chosen visual style aligns with the overall brand identity.
Design Templates
Create design templates or components that follow the brand guidelines. These templates can be reused across different sections or pages of the website to ensure consistent layouts, styles, and visual elements.
Coordination With Other Channels
Align the website’s branding with other marketing and communication channels used by the college, such as social media profiles, print materials, and campus signage. Consistency across various channels reinforces the overall brand identity.
Regular Audits & Updates
Conduct periodic audits of the website to ensure that all pages and sections adhere to the brand guidelines. Update any outdated or inconsistent branding elements promptly.
Training
Provide training and clear communication to website administrators, content creators, and other relevant stakeholders about the importance of consistent branding. Educate them on how to implement and maintain brand guidelines on the website.
Great College Websites Don’t Need
What makes a website, specifically a college site, truly annoying? If you are a prospective student, and you happen upon these, it can make a terrible first impression. Below is a list of things to avoid on your college website at all costs, or be prepared to suffer a worsening bounce rate.
Stock Photos
They have their time and place, definitely, but stock photos for a university website are a no-go. People can sniff inauthenticity from a mile away, and then they won’t trust anything else on your website. Prospective students want to see the real college, real campuses, real students, and real experiences they can look forward to at your school. Build up a library of images for your website and other marketing materials with professional photography.
Excessive Pop-Ups
Have you ever loaded a webpage and seen the information you need on the screen, only for it to be covered by pop-up after never-ending pop-up? Pop-ups can take a perfectly easy-to-navigate, pleasurable browsing experience into something that makes you want to throw your mouse across the room. Yes, we probably need to accept your cookies for legal reasons, but after that, beware. Emergency alerts are for emergencies. The following frequently used pop-ups are not emergencies:
Signing up for your newsletter
Chatbots that open automatically and block the screen
Graphics to promote a new feature of your website
Excessive Jargon and Acronyms
If someone doesn’t already go to your school, and you use a lot of your own acronyms and internal jargon, they will have no idea what you’re talking about. Say, for example, you work for Minnesota State, and your mascot is the Screaming Eagles. If you brand your freshmen orientation as “Fledgling Freshmen” or “Eager Eaglets,” you still need to have the words “freshmen orientation” somewhere in or near the title so that people don’t get confused. Take it easy on parents who have to take off from work and watch their children leave the nest.
Complex CAPTCHAs
When users are trying to log in to parts of your website or submit forms, use simpler and more user-friendly CAPTCHAs and other security features. Did you know that 19 percent of American adults quit during a transaction because of a difficult CAPTCHA? These features can cause serious and consequential user experience problems.
Unoptimized PDFs
Have you ever needed to fill out a form, but the form is just a flat PDF that looks like it was photocopied, scanned, printed out, and photocopied again? We are over twenty years into the new century, so it’s beyond time to post professional, interactive PDFs that people can save and fill out on any device.
Our advice is to avoid PDFs entirely by transferring PDF content into your website pages and using styled web forms, but if you must, you can use Adobe Acrobat Pro to create accessible PDFs and then test them.
Talk to a College Website Specialist If you have looming questions about making a website for your college, join us for a free 30-minute Q&A with a college website specialist.
This is a blog for job seekers. It comes from a place of love. We want to help you.
We’ve been hiring a bit lately. And you know what we’ve learned? Finding passionate people in the digital media space is easy. Finding talented people? Less so.
More and more, we’re seeing resumes submitted by eager people touting their love for the digital landscape, or something tangential to it. Unfortunately, many of them lack the basic skills required to be successful in the industry.
Three Reasons Why Applicants Are Not Cutting the Mustard
There are a number of reasons for this lack of skill set. Boiling them all down to a single primary cause is too reductionist. But three reasons seem fair—let’s roll with that. This is, in our not-so-humble opinion, the recipe for the current talent drought in digital media:
One Part Definitional Obscurity Honestly, what does “digital media” even mean anymore? The definition of the term has been lost in the forest with so many trees in the way.
Two Parts Theory Over Practice It is easy to explain the concepts of branding, marketing, and advertising in theory. Concepts are simple. Practically marrying these concepts together to achieve high-level performance is a different thing altogether. And it requires a special flavor of mindset.
Five Parts Letting Passions Take the Wheel We see a lot of resumes. These days, being ardent, fervent, spirited (or any other synonym for passionate) about digital media has become the most touted explanation in the “reasons you should hire me” section of a good many resumes.
Mix these ingredients together, and you’re likely to end up exactly where you started—without a job. Probably without ever even getting an interview.
Must-Have Technical Skills for Digital Media Jobs
So, how can you get your foot in the door? You need understanding, practical know-how, and talent. All of these things can come from experience. Experience can come from actually doing the job, or training to do the job, either through a formal education, an internship, or both.
If you’re looking to get your foot in the digital media door, then you’ll need technical skills in order to be seriously considered. You will need to know how to…
Use attribution models. Obviously.
Reach audiences in different media platforms.
Build media campaigns with business goals in sight.
Make all types of media campaigns work synergistically.
Leverage the tech platforms where media campaigns are built.
Read your media campaign data so that it can improve over time.
Communicate the “why” behind a media campaign that underperforms.
Gather insights from your campaigns that inform other content and placements.
Utilize Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager (and/or other tag management tools).
Passion is important, but it’s not enough to get a job. We want our doctors to love what they do, but we want them to know what they’re doing more, right?
Taking the steps to become technically proficient is much more important at the resume-writing stage. Once you get an interview, highlight your skills by talking about how passionate you are about X, Y, and Z. If you’re truly in love with digital media, the interviewer will know.
This advice goes for any job in any industry: Get the skills, grow your abilities, and feed the passion. Success will almost assuredly follow.
Need Some Direction?
If you have the passion but don’t know where to start, reach out to us. We would love to point you in the right direction to help you acquire the skills you need to master your digital media craft.
Are You Interested in a Digital Media Position at Mad Genius and Already Have the Aforementioned Skill Set?
Bless the world wide web for the massive amount of information we are able to access each day. We are grateful for being able to reach everything from daily news updates to every funny cat video in existence. At Mad Genius, we believe that the internet should be accessible for everyone to utilize. To that end, we are mindful of ADA on every website we build.
If you have questions about your website and ADA compliance, Mad Genius has answered some common questions we receive about creating and maintaining accessible websites.
What is ADA?
ADA stands for the Americans with Disabilities Act. It sets regulations for web content to be available to those with disabilities. These disabilities may include deafness, blindness, and/or anything else that requires a user to navigate by voice, screen readers, or other assistive technologies.
Why Should We Pursue ADA Compliance?
The first, most obvious reason is that the web should be freely available and accessible to all. It’s the right thing to do.
In addition, the total number of ADA lawsuits has been growing in recent years. These lawsuits can cost a minimum of thousands of dollars, and really have no maximum cap. If the accessible-to-all carrot doesn’t motivate you, the potential-lawsuit stick should.
How Do We Improve Accessibility on Our Website?
Great question! This can be done in several different ways. At Mad Genius, we focus on being “ADA mindful” with every website we build. There is a difference, however, in being ADA mindful and being ADA compliant.
ADA Mindfulness
Being ADA mindful is when we ask, “How can we make this content accessible to those with disabilities?” This mindset guides us to structure our designs and coding in a way that makes utilization of the website easier for everyone. There are things, however, that are just too time consuming to include as a standard in every project. This is where we journey into ADA compliance.
ADA Compliance and WCAG
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 is the international industry standard for website accessibility. These guidelines are formalized under United States federal law as our accessibility standard. There are three levels of conformance to WCAG: A, AA, and AAA.
Level A
Level A includes basic functionality and doesn’t offer many of the extra features needed for accessibility purposes.
This includes features stuff like:
Alt text on images
Replacing <b> and <i> tags with <strong> and <em>
Video/audio content that includes captions/transcripts
Level AA
The next level up is AA. This includes everything in level A, plus a more in-depth list of features, design elements, and coding structures. When pursuing ADA compliance, the most common level clients attempt to achieve is AA. This is the level that most businesses are legally required to accomplish (and the above lawsuits often reference).
This includes features such as:
Specific contrast ratios between colors (4.5:1)
The ability to resize text on pages up to 200%
Users are given suggestions on how to solve input errors in forms
Underlined text that is not a link is removed
Level AAA
The final and by far most extensive level of compliance is AAA. This includes everything in levels A and AA, and touches every aspect of the website. By far the most extensive of the three, this is a very high and difficult to achieve level of compliance.
This level includes highly advanced accessibility features such as:
Prerecorded sign language for videos
An increased 7:1 contrast ratio for all colors
Fully accessible by keyboard only with no exceptions
No interruptions
No content flashes more than three times per second
Pronunciation explanations for difficult words
A 9-year-old reading level
Intense, right?
Many of our clients are focusing on making their websites ADA compliant. Many businesses are actually required to reach level AA, and have asked about what that means. Beyond the above, reaching level AA compliance is an honorable goal that can make your website accessible to many who otherwise would be unable to utilize it (read: it’s just the right thing to do).
What ADA Compliance Level Should I Aim For?
Our answer to this questions is almost always, “it depends.” The requirements can vary based on your specific business and customer base, so we recommend consulting your choice of legal advisor(s) to assist with this decision.
The Process
So, you’ve thought long and hard, consulted with your trusted legal counsel, and know which option is for you. Great! This is where the rubber meets the road.
Building a New Website
Building a new website is, in many ways, a much simpler method of achieving ADA compliance. If you don’t have a website or want to outshine your competition with our “genius touch,” this is the option for you.
Rather than renovating existing code to achieve certain goals, we have the ability to design a completely custom site with ADA compliance in mind to ensure the most efficient user experience possible.
Ongoing Monitoring
Should you choose to pursue a level of ADA compliance (such as AA), the process will be an ongoing one. ADA compliance requires that all content is ADA compliant. While we can initially build the website and check the necessary boxes, a monitoring service is necessary to ensure all new content and features are ADA compliant. Mad Genius can help you implement and utilize a monitoring service that will produce reports and direct you when changes need to be made.
The House That Mad Built
When Mad Genius designs and develops a website, we compare it to a house. With a custom built home the layout, features, and interior design possibilities are endless—you can build exactly what you want and need without any obstructions!
With ADA the same rules apply; building a website from scratch allows you to achieve goals that would be impossible or time consuming when “renovating.”
Upgrading an Existing Website
The first step to upgrade your site’s ADA compliance is a meeting with us. We’ll conduct a review of your current website. After we have a baseline, we can discuss what it would take to improve the site, and we will put forward several options to move forward.
Renovating existing websites can be the most cost effective option at times, but not always! Sometimes renovations result in higher costs than just building a new website completely. We have good news though: we can help you figure out which option fits your needs and budget.
Let’s Get Started!
Let’s talk about your website’s accessibility needs. Get in touch with our team by calling us at (601) 605-6234 or sending us a message.
Don’t panic, but one of life’s great certainties, change, is coming to Google Chrome. It’s also arriving sooner than you think. Google is making some important security changes in 2017 in order to keep user data safe. The good news is that these changes will make the web safer for everyone, and the less people getting their sensitive data stolen, the better.
Mad Genius, a Certified Google Partner, stays ahead of these changes. We will explain what these updates are and the steps you can take to make sure your business is not affected.
NEW SECURITY CHANGES AT GOOGLE
Google’s Internet browser, Chrome, will begin marking websites using HTTP as non-secure on January 1, 2017. This applies to users browsing using Chrome as their internet browser.
Right now HTTP is not a secure format for transferring sensitive data. Attackers are able to steal information by exploiting these security vulnerabilities. Marking HTTP sites as non-secure will let users know that any information they submit to a marked site is no longer private. This includes email addresses, passwords, physical addresses, search terms, credit card information, and more.
The security solution is to migrate sites from an HTTP address to an HTTPS address.
HTTPS IS NOW THE NEW SECURITY STANDARD
Google outlines what HTTPS is and how it secures the web in their Transparency Report.
HTTPS is a mechanism that allows your browser or app to securely connect with a website. HTTPS is one of the measures to help keep your browsing safe and secure, which is important when you are doing things like logging into your bank’s website or submitting your credit card information to an online store. HTTPS relies on encryption—SSL or TLS—to secure the connection. These web connections protect against eavesdroppers, man-in-the-middle attacks, and hijackers who attempt to spoof a trusted website. In other words, it thwarts interception of your information and ensures the integrity of information that you send and receive.
What is HTTPS?
HTTP—hypertext transfer protocol—is the technical means by which our browsers connect to websites. HTTPS (the “S” is for Secure) is an encrypted HTTP connection, making it more secure. You can tell if your connection to a website is secure if you see HTTPS rather than HTTP in the URL. Most browsers also have an icon that indicates a secure connection—for example, Chrome displays a green lock.
Why should I use HTTPS?
You should protect your website with HTTPS, even if it doesn’t handle sensitive communications. HTTPS protects the integrity of your website and the privacy and security of your users. Also, powerful new web platform features are restricted to sites offering HTTPS.
HOW YOUR WEBSITE WILL BE AFFECTED
Google Chrome is the most popular web browser in use today. More than half of Internet users access websites via Google Chrome. Therefore, this will affect a large percentage of your site’s users.
If you have an HTTP website:
If a user accesses your website through Chrome, and your website has not moved from HTTP to HTTPS, it will be clearly marked as non-secure in the address bar.
If you already have an HTTPS website:
Sites hosted on HTTPS experience a number of benefits. HTTPS websites have three layers of protection: Encryption, Data Integrity, and Authentication. Users visiting your site can expect a secure online experience when entering their data. Additionally, your pages will load faster and Google’s indexing system gives your site a small ranking boost.
HOW TO PREPARE
Migrating your site to HTTPS requires purchasing and installing an SSL or TLS certificate. An SSL or TLS certificate is an electronic document that verifies your business identity and allows a web server to establish a secure encryption with a visitor’s web browser.
If your site uses another host, the instructions for migration vary depending on your service. Google offers a site migration guide that should help.
Mad Genius offers HTTPS migration services. We’ll be over with a moving truck, body builders, and enough bubble wrap to handle your fragile files. Reach out to us.
If you use a computer in your line of work, there’s a good chance that you keep many files that are important to carrying out your daily charge: documents, images, code, media, and maybe even a cat photo or three. If something goes wrong, you could lose all these things.
How can you ensure your digital stuff is going to be there when you need it? Implement a behind-the-scenes, continuous backup strategy.
Back up to an external hard drive
For starters, you can plug in an external hard drive and have your computer automatically back up to it. If you are on a Mac, you can use the built-in Time Machine which, in addition to backing up, will give you a nice history of your stuff. So you can go back a few days or a few weeks to recover individual files as they existed at that time.
But what if your desk spontaneously combusts or gets sucked through a portal into another dimension? Or, you know, normal things like theft or fire occur? You will have lost your computer and your backup. No fun.
Back up to a web service in the cloud
In addition to your onsite backup, you need to have an offsite backup. Services like Backblaze are great for this. They’ll run quietly in the background, continuously making backups over the Internet. These services typically have server space in multiple data centers with their own backups in place. This drastically increases your chances of data recovery in the event of even a major national disaster (yes, the zombies might get you, but at least you’ll have your data).
Sync important files between desktop and mobile devices
Now that you have backups in case of emergency, what about those non-emergency situations when you are away from your main computer and need some of your stuff? For quick access to oft-used files, you can’t beat Dropbox. It creates this magical shared folder that will appear on all of your devices. It’s worth grabbing the pro account and getting 1TB of storage. Stop worrying about whether you will have the right files with you and never EVER email a file to yourself again.
Protect your digital assets—both business and personal
While our work stuff is important, I would be remiss to overlook our personal data. We keep so much of our lives in digital form—our photos, thoughts, plans, and more. It’s just as worthwhile to back up these things. Cloud storage is relatively cheap these days, so it shouldn’t hit your wallet too hard. Back up all the things.
These three methods together—local backup drive, continuous over-the-air backup, and file sharing—virtually guarantee that if your computer flakes out, you accidentally delete something, or your cat decides that you no longer require your computer, you won’t get left in the cold. Nothing is 100% perfect, mind you, but not backing up anything is just plain dangerous. If you find setting up a redundant backup strategy like the one we’ve outlined here to be a daunting endeavor, that’s okay. Implement just one of the backup methods for now and you’ll be better off than with no backup at all.
One way we play it safe at Mad Genius when developing websites is by using Git, a version control system that can live in the cloud. Git not only gives us an extra backup, but a paper trail of revisions all throughout the development process. In the interactive department we backup our websites using Git.
Look, I like you. I don’t want to see you suffer from data loss. Friends don’t let friends lose data. So go ahead and do a favor for your future self and back up your stuff. Then have a cookie (if your browser allows cookies), because you deserve it.
