Can we talk? Content management systems and personalization tools can turn your site into a conversation.

Web development teams sure can face an uphill struggle. The process of retooling an institution's Web site is a huge undertaking that can involve people from every nook and cranny on campus. You know the drill: You need the technological experts who understand servers, programming, and databases. Then you need input from the school's brand identity and marketing folks. The admissions and finandal aid groups need accurate information and a seamless online application. The faculty wants individual program and persona[ pages that can stand up to peer review. The alumni and development folks need the site to keep graduates and friends informed and engaged. The athletic director wants the latest scores and stats posted the moment the game has ended. The president wants it all, along with a personal message sharing the mission and vision of the school. (And you can guess how much the business officer is hoping to pay for the project.)

The good news is that all of these people, multiple departments, offices, and programs, want the school's Web site to be an effective communications tool for reaching diverse audiences. The bad news is that the Web teams are likely to be deluged with input from each of these campus groups. Never fear: There are two rules the site builders need to remember:

Rule #1--It is always about the user. Each person who comes to the site wants and expects it to work for him. He is not thinking about all of the other audiences the institution must consider in the site development process. He's thinking, "Where do I get the information that I need now?"

RuLe #2--Content is king. Content must be accurate, engaging, compelling, funny, interesting, informative, targeted, and fresh. Did you get those Last two? They are the keys to effective content: targeted and fresh.

RULE #1: THE USER'S NEEDS AND INTERESTS

Providing personalization and customization tools on your site can deliver that one-to-one experience that your prospective students, parents, guidance counselors, alumni, athletic team enthusiasts, and board are seeking (see box). When a site features these tools, it sends the following important messages to users:

* "We know you are coming to our site, and we want to deliver answers to your specific questions."

* "You have the power to make your experience on our site whatever you want it to be."

* "We want you to come back and use our site again."

The implications for a campus that chooses to integrate these tools into its Web site lead to ...

RULE #2: CONTENT IS KING

To deliver on the promise of personalization, an institution must anticipate the interests and questions its constituents will bring to the site. It must then create content to match those interests and answer those questions. And it must do it all over again, every day.

In 1996. Bill Gates Denned the essay, "Content Is King." "If people are to be expected to put up with turning on a computer to read a screen, they must be rewarded with deep and extremely up-to-date information [emphasis added] that they can explore at will," he wrote. "They need to have audio, and possibly video. They need an opportunity for personal involvement that goes far beyond that offered through the letters-to-the-editor pages of print magazines."

An effective content management system is the perfect companion tool to personalization. Content management systems allow an institution to maintain the visual and navigational integrity of their site, while providing the opportunity to add, edit, or delete content for non-technically skilled people from any office on campus, [Ed. note: Content management (and related) solutions include LiquidMatrix Corp. (www.liquidmatrix.com), Vignette (www.vignette.com), Luminis (www.campuspipeline.com), Campus Cruiser (www.campuscruiser.com), and Connexxia (www.connexxia.com), among others.]

THE 'CONVERSATION'

Another way to think about Web site content and personalization is to compare it to a conversation. Think about the last time that you had a substantial conversation with a person who was previously a stranger. Maybe you bumped into a woman while attempting to stow your suitcase in an overhead bin on an airplane. You apologize and she says, "No problem. Are you heading home or going to Denver on business?"

"Business," you respond. "I've never been there before."

For the duration of the flight, you and this woman talk about what you might do in Denver (visit the botanical gardens), which leads to a conversation about xeriscape gardening. This leads you into a chat about vegetable gardening and organic farms. She is a writer for a magazine and is looking for a source to talk about the resurgence of heirloom tomatoes. You suggest she contact the chair of the agriculture department at your institution, who recently received a grant from a food processing corporation.

The anatomy of this conversation is simple: One person offers information and the other either responds or introduces new information. As long as each party has related information to contribute, or is interested in learning more on the topic, the conversation continues. If it wanes, and the parties are still comfortable with one another and willing to talk, a new topic might be introduced.

Now think about how a conversation with a prospective student could happen on your Web site. A prospective student comes to your site to see if you have programs in agriculture. He takes a look through the academic section, clicks on the agriculture link and briefly scans the content. It seems like the program might warrant further review, but now he is wondering whether he can afford to attend your school.

He hops over to the prospective student section of your site to see if there is any information on tuition cost and financial aid. The section features a personalization tool and the student enters his name and e-mail address and indicates that he might want to transfer from his community college, enroll in the agricultural college, and play basketball. He is also interested in the campus radio station.

After submitting the form, the next page he sees highlights current news stories about agriculture students who just completed some research in Bolivia. The following story is about the school's basketball team. The page also features highlighted Links to a tool that allows him to calculate the number of credits he can transfer and a link to a live audio feed from the campus radio station. A few minutes later, he receives an e-mail from the transfer counselor inviting him to participate in an online chat session that night.

Like our first example, one party begins the conversation by asking questions through the personalization form, "Who are you? What do you want from college?" The conversation continues when the student responds. By integrating email and chat events, the institution draws the student into even more interactive conversations that engage him with your school.

To accomplish this, the Web team has implemented personalization and content management systems. They have trained staff and faculty across campus to input new stories and delete or edit older materials to keep the content fresh. The campus has developed a stronger culture of storytelling, as it becomes clear that telling the university's story can bring in more students that really fit the school's profile.

Wilkes University (PA) recently added a content management system to its Web site (www.wilkes.edu) as a part of a major redevelopment project. "It allows our faculty and staff--who may not be experts in technology--to do what they do best, which is to tell the stories of their own programs, activities, and accomplishments," says Vaughn Shinkus, director of Marketing Communications for the school.

What internal campus constituents want is usually not at odds with the needs of external markets. Effective and compelling storytelling can bring both groups to common ground. Providing site users with tools to ask questions and seek information--and providing the campus with tools to share its stories and interests--will lead to some very important conversations. With external constituents, particularly, conversations are a means to an end. Effective personalization and content management result in desired outcomes: more applications, higher conversion, better shaping, greater retention, alumni engagement (and contributions)--all at less cost.

Now, that's worth talking about!

Stephanie Geyer ([e-mail]) is an executive consultant for Noel-Levitz, an operating division of Sallie Moe.

Two Web Concepts You Need to Know Now

Customization--enables the user to change some aspects of the site's design or organization. For example, if you use www.msn.com as your home page, you can click on the "My MSN" link, select the specific content features you want to see, and adjust the organization and graphic presentation of these features.

Personalization--matches users' specific interests and goals with content and site functionality. For example, I visit a college Web site and indicate that I am interested in undergraduate business programs; that I might Like to continue playing my flute in the marching band, join some community service projects, and play rugby on the weekends. Upon sharing this information, the site adjusts the content accordingly. I might now see a Link to explore the rugby team, and a feature on the recent Habitat for Humanity project near campus; I might also receive an invitation via e-mail to participate in an online chat event with faculty and current students in the business school.