Stewarding a website means carefully and responsibly managing the site, keeping pages fresh, and making sure that a site continues to meet users’ needs. Stewardship is critical in ensuring content on wpi.edu is accurate and speaking to your target audience.
Designated CMS users for a department/program/office should be familiar with the following:
- The site’s main business objectives. What is the key purpose of the site? What key message(s) do we want the audience to walk away with?
- Target audience. Are you writing and presenting content in a way that appeals to your audience? What are the needs of your key audience, and are you meeting those needs?
- Key tasks and calls to action. What tasks are users coming to your site to perform? Are they looking for information? Applying to a program?
Other tips for keeping your website content fresh and up-to-date:
- Consider updating your imagery on a regular basis or rotating schedule (see Campus Photos).
- Don't be afraid to use widgets. Use a highlight box to feature an upcoming event, recent news story, video, faculty or student accomplishment, or other exciting happenings within your area. Have an important deadline you need to make sure your audience knows about? Put it in a timely box. Have content to share but not sure which widget would be best? Send a ticket to cmshelp@wpi.edu and our team can advise.
- Helpful hint: If you are highlighting content that is time sensitive (e.g. a deadline), put a note in your calendar to go back into the site the next day to remove it so your site does not appear outdated.
- Make sure all of your events and announcements are tagged to display on your page.
- WPI Today can be a source of other events, news, or stories outside of your area or discipline that may be of interest to your audience and highlighted on your site.
- Establish a schedule for reviewing your site, updating content (including removing outdated content), and making sure all links are working. For some sites, a six-month review of content is acceptable; for others, where content may change more regularly or is more time-sensitive, a more frequent content review may be necessary to avoid outdated web content.ow often your team will update pages and check to make sure links are working. Block off time in your Outlook calendar as a regular reminder.