Web Developer's Status Report. Laurie Laforest, Ph.D. Academic Technology 22 May 2009

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1 Web Developer's Status Report Laurie Laforest, Ph.D. Academic Technology 22 May 2009

2 Overview Move to Concordia template Staff training on Contribute software IITS Projects Google audit of sites in Concordia template Faculty web page support What are your web support needs?

3 1. Concordia Template» Advantages of the Concordia Template for Department Websites Creates a visually seamless web presence for Concordia, designed by the awardwinning designers of the main Concordia site Design and structure are informed by the latest research in usability and accessibility Removal of cross-browser issues Standards-based coding Pages are more visible to search engines

4 1. Concordia Template» Examples of Concordia Template Sites

5 1. Concordia Template» Examples of Concordia Template Sites

6 1. Concordia Template» Examples of Concordia Template Sites

7 1. Concordia Template» Status of the Move to the Concordia Template Sites in Concordia template Faculty of Arts and Science Arts and Science Learning Centre Chemistry and Biochemistry Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture (CISSC) Economics English Geography* Journalism Loyola International College Philosophy Physics Political Science Science College Simone de Beauvoir Institute Sociology & Anthropology Theological Studies* Sites in progress Applied Human Sciences Centre for Biological Applications of Mass Spectrometry (CBAMS) Centre for Broadcasting Studies (CCBS) Communication Studies* Exercise Science Psychology Sites yet to be moved Biology* Classics, Modern Languages and Linguistics (CMLL) Education* Études françaises* Hellenic Studies Unit History Liberal Arts College Mathematics and Statistics Religion School of Community and Public Affairs (SCPA) * Site not developed by Academic Technology

8 2. Staff Training» Contribute Training Sessions 13 staff members attended our Contribute workshops in March and May. Beginner workshop: - Thorough introduction to Contribute - Special features of the Concordia template (e.g., Shared Assets) Advanced workshop: - Advanced formatting and administration - Layout changes in the Concordia template - Writing for the Web - Writing to improve Google search standing "Missing manual" handouts are available on the Arts and Science website.

9 3. IITS Projects» Centralized Events Posting Trusted users from each department can enter events directly into the Concordia Daily Events Calendar. Events for each department will automatically display on the department's website. This will become available over the summer. CISSC and Philosophy will be the first two units to test this process. Arts and Science currently uses this on its website.

10 3. IITS Projects» New IITS Web Servers and Workflow IITS is replacing 'web1' and 'web2' with three servers. - easier user management - protection of live server Sites will be moved one at a time, new sites first. Training sessions will be held for Arts and Science staff members. design; add content test go live porticodev porticopreprod porticoprod chem-dev.concordia.ca chem-preprod.concordia.ca chem.concordia.ca

11 4. Google Audit» 11 How Effective Are Our Sites? The "Google Audit" project began with looking at how our "snippets" appeared on the Google search results page. Using data from Webalizer and Google Analytics, we can determine who is visiting our sites, what they want to see, and whether or not they are seeing it. The process is comprised of both simple and time-consuming elements. Ideally, we would: 1. Educate department stakeholders. 2. Analyze traffic. 3. Target content and/or special initiatives; increase popularity of site. 4. Train writers and update content. 5. Look at traffic again.

12 4. Google Audit» 12 How Google Sees Websites Ranking on Search Engine Results Page (proprietary combination) Assorted Factors Popularity Relevance age of site click-through rates Built into template: semantic markup descriptive URLs site map breadcrumb trail inbound links: PageRank votes internal links: page authority Build inbound links from quality sites: professional associations trade publications respected directories important blogs how well page matches search terms and intentions Work on: key words and phrases description, titles, link text landing pages; conversion pages

13 4. Google Audit» 13 Web Metrics Search engine referral tracking - Keywords and phrases - Search engine vs. direct traffic Visitor tracking - Geographic location - New vs. return visitors - Page views - Time on site Landing pages and exit pages Navigation paths Webalizer data for chem.concordia.ca

14 5. Faculty Web Page Support» 14 Faculty Web Page Support 1. Instructions are posted on the Arts and Science website for creating and uploading web pages to your individual Alcor space. 2. Database-driven faculty profile project: - No web knowledge necessary. - Automatically creates website or profile page in department website. - Data reuse What would you like to see?

15 6. Questions & Comments» 15 What Are Your Web Support Needs??