SEMO launches new design for website

Visitors to the Southeast Missouri State University website will notice what school officials believe is a cleaner, simpler design.

Assistant director of web communications Brian Holdman said the new-look site, semo.edu, which launched at 4 p.m. Friday, has been in the works for about a year.

"We did a lot of stuff behind the scenes. We also had some groundwork we had to lay in order to implement the new design," Holdman said Sunday.

The design was created by web specialist Brian Rhodes, who works with Holdman in the Office of Web Communications.

"We ... launched the new design first, and over the next year, we'll focus on the content. We want to make sure the information out there is what students are really looking for," he said. Additionally, plans are to eliminate duplicate content on the site's 30,000 pages.

Input for the new design was gathered from students and departments across campus, Holdman said. To determine what pages are most popular, his department looked at data, brought those out to the home page and structured the menu so those pages are easier to find. The updated site also will be more mobile friendly.

"One thing we're really focusing on is photography on the site -- making sure we have really good, high-quality photos," Holdman said. "They can add a lot to the visitors' experience. Then we also wanted to make sure the site was mobile friendly. We have about 4 million visitors to the site each year. In the past couple of months, we've had 30 percent of those visitors on a mobile site."

"The same content you see on the desktop is the same content you'll see on the phone that you're using," he said.

There hasn't been much feedback yet, but Holdman said what he's seen on Twitter from students has been positive. He expects more reaction this week.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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