Stephanie Geyer, Vice President, Digital Marketing and Creative Services at Ruffalo Noel Levitz, is one of the 12 presenters of the 2018 Higher Ed WEBSITES Conference.
In this 4-question interview, Stephanie tells us about the best website advice ever, the most challenging part of the job of a higher ed web pro, a great web tool and shares a top 3 of favorite higher ed websites.
1) What is the best advice you’ve ever been given about higher ed websites?
In my early years developing the digital marketing unit for Ruffalo Noel Levitz, I had the good fortune to partner with Antoine Valot, a gifted user interface and information architecture specialist.
He told a story about working on an interface for an app to be used by milkmen and that the product engineers had planned to have the delivery truck drivers use a stylus to update and complete delivery. Antoine went on a run with a driver (and even delivered some milk himself) and discovered that these guys are regularly handing ice cold bottles of milk. Asking them to hold a tiny stylus to complete their work was doomed for failure and so he went on to design an interface that they could operate with the knuckle of a finger which was much more feasible.
As Antoine told me this story I saw a paper tacked to the cube wall above his monitor that read, in big type: “IT IS ALL ABOUT THE USER!” And in smaller type it said, “And you are not the user.”
This is a tough concept in higher education, because truly the employees considering a site redevelopment effort are users, but it begs the question, “Who is the PRIMARY user.” Focus on THIS user first as the leading lens for key decisions and you’re on the right path.
2) How do you cope with the most challenging part of your job?
I think that the biggest challenge in a major web dev project is fatigue. These gigs are usually spanning months or even years and sometimes there are staffing changes. The key to managing this is to regularly refresh/remind the team about the primary objectives and timeline along the way. At launch, be sure to take time to enumerate and celebrate the specific accomplishments and team members and then work quickly to gather preliminary results/analytics to begin checking performance against goals.
3) What is your favorite tool?
BrightEdge, a proprietary monster of an SEO research and analysis tool. My current role doesn’t allow me to get in the weeds on web dev projects, but I do a lot of pre-development research and planning to support them. Understanding what the current website is offering up to Google in the way of keywords is an essential step in crafting an overarching content strategy and helps get ahead of competitors who may already work intentionally on SEO.
4) What are your top 3 favorite higher ed websites?
- California University of Pennsylvania
This is a site dev project that my whole team supported under Matt Herzberger’s leadership. A big “do over” gig that required a lot of collaboration with a wide range of folks on campus and integration between the RNL team and our partners at OmniUpdate.
- Sterling College
Our team helped with the IA, coordinated closely with the designer and worked hard on the academic program and top page content with some solid SEO work thrown in for good measure. I love this site because I love this school. The smallest in the nation, just 7 programs. Full of amazing faculty, staff and delightful students (but not too many of them) in an idyllic setting. If I could be an undergrad again I would do it here. Awesome partner who easily vacillates between excellent strategic planning and taking time to set up a goat cam because she knows her market.
- ???.edu
This may seem like a cop out, but it’s whatever is up next on our new web project roster. One of the best parts of my job is having the opportunity to immerse myself (and my team) in the school we’re serving. I love the process of falling in love with each one and finding the right ways to celebrate their strengths while connecting with their markets. I’ve worked in higher education since 1991. It’s not where my career started (a local TV news station) and not where I thought I would be (big NYC ad agency) but it’s where I’ve had the opportunity to dig in, grow and, hopefully, make a difference.
A conference focusing on higher ed WEBSITES?
The 2018 Higher Ed WEBSITES Conference (now available on-demand!) is a must for higher ed web professionals and teams looking for inspiration, ideas and best practices to kick off their summer projects.
Read below what a few of your higher ed colleagues who attended the 1st edition of the Higher Ed WEBSITES Conference say about the experience.
Tags: HEW18, Higher Ed News