About

We believe in the power of the web.

Learning how to best leverage the web in a landscape that’s always evolving is serious work. Our modern web tools, services and platforms exist to help you create an impactful and beautiful online presence, and to help your program stand out and succeed.

Our web experiences are also rooted in university-wide goals set forth by Chancellor Cynthia Larive.


Why the web matters

Our websites play a big role in informing student decision making when they explore and select the best university for them.

Our websites also support our entire campus community in discovering and navigating university services and processes. In order to improve the effectiveness of our web landscape, we all need to take a programmatic approach.

A student working on their laptop.

Higher education website facts and figures

1st

College
websites

When prospective students research colleges, websites are the most influential source.

1st

Program
digital content

When students choose what program to apply to the program’s web content is the most influential source.

1st

Search engines /
Google

People seek information via search engines and it’s the top way students navigate college websites.

Finding
academics

48% of students thought a program wasn’t offered because they couldn’t find it online.

Sources: RNL 2023 High School e-expectations report, Nielsen Norman Group, University Websites, 2016

Our websites also matter because:

  • They are often the first point of contact that students and others have with UCSC, and form a first impression.
  • How we show up shapes important first impressions, drives ongoing engagement with UCSC.
  • The web is the one place where we have almost total control of how we show up.

What if…

We harnessed the power of our websites to convey what’s so amazing about UCSC and advance our goals?

We delivered on the promise from end-to-end and top-to-bottom, ensuring our sites were easy to find, use, and navigate however you got there and wherever you travel across our sites?

Our staff had the know-how, tools, and support to be successful in leveraging the most effective platform we have?

Overhead view of the UCSC Santa Cruz campus

How to get involved

Connect with community

The Web Users Group will be the main source for updates, news, training, and best practices.

Governance

How the Web Improvement Program is structured and the decision making process for accountability. 

Provide feedback

Feedback, comments, questions, suggestions, and feature requests are welcome and encouraged.


It’s a process, not a project

The web is always evolving. We should think of our web experiences in terms of ongoing improvement, not just a one time project. Our web experiences need to evolve as well.

In order to meet many of our goals, we should also think about the lifecycle of our web content and how it can best serve our users needs.

Last modified: Mar 14, 2024