On Jan. 15, Lewis & Clark’s brand-new homepage went live. The updates, aided by White Whale Web Services, the marketing firm RW Jones Agency and the Office of Communications, have brought together a modern user experience by creating an institutional homepage for the three campuses — the College of Arts and Sciences, the Law School and the Graduate School.
In an interview with The Mossy Log, Caitlin Peel, LC’s senior director of marketing, shared what the changes have brought to the LC community.
Peel, accompanied by the director of web development, Morgan Stone Grether, were the primary leads on the project. Vice President of Communications Lori Friedman and Associate Vice President of Communications Stacy Kim were involved in offering feedback. LC Art Director Mat Bowers gave insight into refining the look of the page, and Director of Marketing Devan Freeman took charge of the social media perspective.
Peel described the importance of the changes to the website, which arose from the lack of a centralized homepage shared across all three campuses.
“The original homepage when you went to lclark.edu was our undergraduate homepage. We never had an institutional voice or presence on a homepage before. We did actually, I believe 20 years ago. But as long as I’ve been around and for a long time, it’s just been that three schools have their own homepages, and we never had an institutional presence. So, we’ve been working as an office, but also across the institution, primarily led by President Robin Holmes-Sullivan’s goals and desires to strengthen our institutional reputation,” she said.
The updates to the website have improved functionality, allowing users to use the interconnected search bar for academic programs across the three campuses.
“One of the most exciting things was actually underneath that is our academic program finder. When you play with that box and you search within it, you’re able to type in ‘environmental,’ and you’ll see three schools. So, it has environmental studies and earth systems science at the undergraduate college. But then we also have the graduate eco certificate, and then the law school, environmental and animal law, all of those connections,” she said.
The webpage updates included integrated videography done by Videographer and Multimedia Designer Stephen Mercier alongside a student team of videographers.
“We really wanted to have something that had a big impact when you opened up the screen. So you have that b-roll video at the top. We have our impact statement right over it, and it just brought it into a more modern look too. We wanted it to feel a little bit more interesting when you go to the page of something that grabs prospective students and their family, who are our primary audience, because we want people to come to Lewis & Clark,” Peel said.
The updates go beyond functionality — Peel stated they intend to impact the college’s appeal to prospective students and give LC a competitive edge.
“But the new brand new homepage is the way we can actually show who Lewis & Clark is as a whole, expand on what makes us a differentiator of having these three schools and how that strengthens us in a competitive marketplace. We’re able to show the heft of what our institution is doing academically and socially, we’re able to show the beauty of campus, but also put it in a way that is relevant for all prospective students and their families, not just undergraduates, and then feeling like they didn’t have a place when they went to our homepage. Now it’s a way to show us as a whole,” Peel said.
Remaining updates to the three campuses websites will be rolled out within the next following months.
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