Strategy Discussion Guide

The following questions serve as a discussion guide for units choosing between a unified website with subsite sections strategy and a separate websites strategy.

Review the Unified Versus Separate Website Strategy page and refer to it as necessary while answering the questions below.

The department website owner and/or college communicator should answer these questions to the best of their ability. The total number of “Yes” and “No” answers should provide an indicator of a suggested strategy choice to be considered and evaluated in the context provided on the strategy page.

1. Is the unit/department itself part of two or more colleges?
    
2. Is the unit/department brand so distinct from other academic department brands within the same college that it would need to be served by its own website with its own top-level brand header?
    
3. Are the unit/department audiences and their needs vastly different from those of other academic departments within the same college?
    

4. Are the unit/department’s informational needs so vastly different from other academic departments that it would need a large site map to accommodate a heavier volume of content?

   If yes, does the unit/department have the capacity to keep the website content consistently updated, clean and organized?

5. Does the unit/department have an SEO strategy that is distinct from other academic departments? Even if the keyword topics are different, are the unit’s audience goals different from the other academic departments?

   If yes, does the unit/department have the capacity to provide and deliver upon dedicated SEO strategy and the technical SEO work involved to drive outcomes?

6. Does the unit/department have digital marketing objectives that are vastly different from the college or other departments within the college?

   If so, in what ways?

7. Does the unit/department need to measure analytics and site performance differently than the affiliated college or other departments within the college?

   If so, in what ways?

8. Does the unit/department need to change its core site experience to be vastly different than that which other academic departments would need? Is there a need to greatly expand on its sitemap soon?

   If so, is there sufficient user experience research and/or empirical data backing up this plan?