Industry · Education
Websites and digital services for universities
A university website serves more audiences than almost any other: prospective students and their parents, international applicants, current students, staff, researchers, partners, employers and journalists. Most university sites grow by adding sections for each audience until nobody can find anything. A good university website is organised around what each audience needs to do — and is maintained by many editors without losing consistency.
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In short
In short
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Programme pages are the most important for recruitment; each needs curriculum, requirements, fees or how to find them, careers and a clear next step.
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International applicants need English — and often other languages — plus clear information about admission, visas and accommodation.
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A content structure with roles lets faculties and departments update their pages without breaking the whole site.
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Search, navigation and speed matter because the site is large and used mostly on phones by applicants.
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Student services — schedules, grades, library, applications — usually belong in dedicated systems linked from the site.
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Overview
Structure by audience and task
We start with the tasks: "find a bachelor's programme in economics taught in English", "check admission deadlines", "find a professor's contact", "download an academic calendar". The structure follows from these tasks, not from the university's internal organisation chart. See website structure planning.
Programme pages
Each programme page should answer:
- the degree, duration, language of instruction and format;
- curriculum by year, with key courses;
- admission requirements for local and international applicants;
- fees and scholarships, or where to find them;
- career outcomes and further study options;
- faculty and contact person;
- how and when to apply.
A programme finder with filters by level, field, language and format helps applicants navigate dozens of programmes.
International recruitment
Azerbaijani universities increasingly recruit international students and run programmes in English. International applicants need clear information about admission steps, documents, recognition of qualifications, visas, accommodation, living costs and life in Baku or another city — in English and possibly other languages. Each language version should be a complete version of the relevant pages, not a partial translation. See multilingual websites.
Content management with many editors
Faculties, departments, the press office and administration all publish content. The content management system should give each editor rights to their section, provide templates that keep pages consistent, and include a review step for important pages. Otherwise the site fills up with outdated pages, broken links and inconsistent design.
News, events and research
News and events show that the university is active; research pages and staff profiles support its academic reputation and help researchers be found. Structured data for events, articles and people helps search engines present this content.
Student and staff services
Schedules, grades, course registration, library access and internal documents usually live in dedicated systems. The website links to them clearly and uses single sign-on where possible. Where no system exists for a specific need, a small web application can fill the gap. See internal tools.
Redesigns
Many university sites have thousands of pages accumulated over years. A redesign starts with a content audit: what is used, what is outdated, what must be kept for legal or archival reasons, and how old URLs will be redirected. See website redesign.
What to measure
- Programme page views and applications started, by programme and country.
- Internal search queries without results.
- Most visited pages by audience, and outdated pages still receiving traffic.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How many languages should a university website have?
At least the languages of instruction and the languages of the main applicant markets. Key recruitment pages matter most; the full site does not need to be translated at once.
Can faculties have their own websites?
They can have sections with their own editors inside the main site. Separate sites for each faculty usually lead to inconsistency and split search visibility.
How do we keep a large site up to date?
Clear ownership of each section, review reminders for important pages and regular audits of outdated content.