Phase One of Marywood’s new website was launched at the beginning of the Fall 2022 semester. The marketing team plans to finish this phase of the website roll out by the end of this year and plans to proceed with Phase Two beginning in 2023 and Phase Three at a later date.

The new site was designed to present up-to-date information in a way that is clear, concise, and easy to find via search engines.

The former website was over 20 years old and contained some outdated and incorrect content, as well as an overwhelming amount of pages. Marywood’s Executive Director of Marketing James Brown explained that the previous website had close to 250,000 pages, whereas the new site has around 5,000.

“The old website got out of control,” said Brown.

Some goals for the new website were to become totally compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), to optimize Search Engine Optimization, and to clarify and condense information.

Marywood’s Digital Marketing Director Christa Vinciguerra took on a lead role in the creation of the new site and explained that a university’s website engages with prospective students and their families.

“It’s really important for the success of the university for us to be able to reach a national level; for people to be able to find Marywood University,” said Vinciguerra.

Feedback about the site has been, for the most part, fairly positive.

“From what we’ve heard from students on our end, we’ve heard good things,” said Vincigerra.

Some faculty members are pleased with the way that the site is laid out.

“I think that the new website looks great,” said Kiesha Vilchert, director of Student Equity, Inclusion and Programming. “The website is bright and dynamic while still maintaining that personable touch we all love about Marywood.”

Assistant Provost of Student Success Dr. Paul Ballard also expressed excitement.

“I am excited with the ability to keep the information fresh and serve our students well,” said Ballard.

Among the excitement, website users are discovering issues on the site.

“The new website has a few glitches, which are to be expected in a major overhaul of a complex system,” said English Professor and Faculty Senate President Dr. Bill Conlogue.

Some of the glitches include dead links, incomplete faculty pages, and text boxes under the “Undeclared” information page that includes placeholder text in Latin.

Website users can report any issues they find or request updates to information via an online form. Brown explained that reports are addressed via a prioritization system with legal issues being top priority, accreditation issues second, and any other content issues after that.

Brown’s team will be releasing an infographic within the next few weeks for faculty members to have a clearer understanding of how to request updates or changes to information on the website.

Vinciguerra explained that the site is not yet a finished product and improvements will be made on an ongoing basis.

“A website is always a work in progress because it is living and breathing 365 days a year, anything can happen at any time that we need to add or remove something,” said Vinciguerra.

The new site can be visited here: marywood.edu

Carter Cerretani contributed to this article.

Contact the writer: [email protected]