In 2022, NC State University experienced a crisis when several students tragically died by suicide. As part of the university’s response, leadership sought to completely revamp their Counseling Center website to more quickly address student needs and get them the mental health care they need. NC State turned to Gowan Communications Group to guide the revamp. We had successfully helped NC State on several other web content strategy projects before.
We provided content strategy, information architecture, and writing and editing services to meet their needs.
Summary
- We implemented a user-centered content strategy.
- By focusing on the primary audience, we created a site structure and content voice and style that helped students get the help they needed.
- The updated site improved how students accessed and understood care. It also helped the Counseling Center team streamline operations.
The Challenge
The existing site offered a lot of content, but it was organized more to match the needs of the Counseling Center team than students. The site had been redesigned in 2015, but content had been added organically, without thought about how the audience would access it. As a result, the site had put up several barriers to students quickly accessing care and understanding what services were available to them.
Research and Strategy
We began the project with student interviews, followed by stakeholder interviews. These interviews helped us understand the needs of the primary audience as well as the goals of the organization.
Additionally, we reviewed the current site analytics to understand how actual use matched with goals. We also performed a competitive analysis to find opportunities to incorporate effective implementations and learn what didn’t work well.
We found the site needed to:
- Rethink site organization and use of calls-to-action to help people get to the most wanted content quickly.
- Create content that addresses the needs of two types of visitors: those new to the Center and those who know what they need.
- Update the content tone to talk to students, not at them – make it more conversational.
- Add more images throughout.
- Make it easy to find phone numbers to call when in crisis.
- Add/expand profiles for each counselor, including a photo, expertise, and some information to help students feel like they may be a good match.
- Establish a review cycle to keep information on site accurate and up to date.
- Increase links from other NC State sites.
Implementation
Based on the findings from research, we created a new site structure to improve access to the most wanted content, while maintaining what is working.
We performed a content inventory that found all the existing content and connections on the site. We then mapped that content against the new site map to produce a content matrix, which identified new content that needed to be created to meet the site’s goals.
Working with the site’s existing content types, we partnered with the Counseling Center team to write new content and edit existing content to match the new voice and style. We focused on keeping content brief and easy to understand and added clear calls to action throughout the site.
Impact
As part of NC State’s overall initiative to improve student access to mental health, the Counseling Center website became a valuable resource for students seeking help.
With a new structure that better mapped to student needs and revised content that made it easier for them to understand the available services, the updated site helped them quickly access care.
A website can’t solve the mental health challenges that affect students, but it can make getting the help they need easier. Gowan was honored to be part of the solution for NC State students.