CASE STUDY I:
CREATE A NEW INSTITUTIONAL WEBSITE

Play Video: WEB SITE STORY.
Produced by Flying Leap Media for NYIT.

SITUATION: For a polytechnic university with a medical school and global campuses, the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) website did not tell a good story. It was difficult to navigate, looked boxy and ordinary with uncompelling content, and did not play well on cell phones and tablets, the devices NYIT’s desired demographic used most. The site required a complete overhaul.   

OVERARCHING GOAL: Turn NYIT’s staid, inflexible website into an interactive, engaging, and easily navigable mobile-first website that showcased the “T” in NYIT’s name.  

TANGIBLE OBJECTIVES: To showcase the dynamic brand we had begun to build for NYIT with our print materials and take it to the next level digitally we focused on prospective students—which meant 16 to 25-year-olds, with their notoriously short attention spans. We let bold and often abstract images, animations, illustrations, and videos do the talking. We “embraced the square,” representing not only NYIT’s logo, but also digital pixels, mathematical symbols, building blocks, and of course, being a square or geek—NYIT’s favorite kind of student. Specifically, we set out to:

  • Improve navigation and search.

  • Make it easy to skim and scan information.

  • Highlight videos and visual content.

  • Encourage participation on social media.

  • Promote events and career opportunities.

  • Establish a plan for keeping content accurate and up-to-date.

Play Video: GAME CHANGING.
Produced by Moondog Productions for NYIT.

TACTICS: Working with an integrated in-house team of Communications and Marketing staff, select faculty, students, and other department administrators, as well as the external web design firm, Happy Cog, we set out to:

  • Streamline navigation, prioritizing admissions and academics information.

  • Focus on career outcomes and the dynamic qualities of the university.

  • Help students see themselves at NYIT through engaged storytelling and student and faculty profiles and videos.

  • Make NYIT’s resources easy to find.

  • Use infographics and animations to enliven storytelling.

Play Video: NYIT IN LESS THAN 2 MINUTES.
Produced by Sylvia Yang Animation for NYIT.

"Nancy has been instrumental in helping to change NYIT's recruitment strategy to engage a new generation of prospective students and to leverage current and emerging technologies. 


“Through her leadership, NYIT has [initiated] a highly targeted approach that uses social media and other digital platforms to build awareness of NYIT's academic programs, and to drive applicant behavior from initial awareness through to enrollment. “

Mark Hampton,
former Vice President for Enrollment and Enterprise Analytics
NEW YORK INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

web before after.jpg

RESULTS: Launched the considerably slimmer and easier to navigate new university website in Feb 2016, featuring roughly 1,500 pages of fresh content. 

  • Since launch, the new NYIT website has been awarded: Best in Class Interactive Media Award, two silver W3 awards, a gold Davey award, and a merit award from the SIAA.

  • Clearer navigation has led to 30% increase in traffic to targeted admissions, academics and degree pages.

  • Created unique blogs for faculty and deans to share unique information to discrete targeted audiences. (See Spotlight on Urban Design).

  • Created a News portal that aggregates all links to news, events, accomplishments, and blogs to help build reputation and launched a sortable one-stop-shop for all NYIT videos.

  • Referrals from Google and other search engines have increased over 186%.

  • improved online directory, and launched NYIT video aggregator.

  • Average time spent on site increased 62% from under 4 minutes per visit to over 6 minutes following an expansion of video offerings.

  • SEO improved dramatically, with 33% of visitors reaching the nyit.edu site through search engine.

execution line NYIT web.jpg