Say the quiet part out loud — what really drives a successful website project

St. John's University recently unveiled a website refresh, which better showcases its signature student experience in support of recruitment and retention objectives. But the shiny new website product would not succeed without prioritizing strong partnerships, hard conversations and commitment to cultural change — the unseen yet essential underpinnings of any successful marketing effort.

In this presentation, the SJU team that led the website refresh effort and their vendor partner, OHO Interactive, will explore how they have addressed these critical areas that lay the foundation for not just a great launch, but the ongoing success of a re-envisioned website. Topics to be discussed include:

• Defining your primary website purpose and audience.
• Managing internal cultural change and stakeholder outreach.
• Determining who really needs to be on your core website committee.
• Grounding decisions with research, then building alignment.
• Establishing a shared messaging framework to drive your content strategy.
• Pivoting your editorial focus toward strategic content development.
• Turning partners into champions.
• Maintaining cultural momentum post-launch.