YSU rolls out website to boost recruitment and branding

Youngstown State University has launched a redesigned website aimed enhancing the university’s branding and recruitment efforts.

The new website at www.ysu.edu, which serves as the university’s front door to hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, is the result of more than a year of planning, design, collaboration and feedback involving dozens of faculty, staff, students, high school students and parents across every college of YSU and the community, said Ross Morrone, director of Marketing.

“Working closely with the design firm NewCity Inc. from Blacksburg, Va., we have reinvented the website - from its appearance to its architecture and functions - with the focus on funneling visitors through the site based on analytic data pulled from our current site and from focus groups,” he said.

The new site, officially rolled out on Saturday, Oct. 22, will accomplish many goals.

“It allows us to collect robust data on visitors to the site, and create new pathways for visitors to find information,” Morrone said. “In collaboration with the new online Catalog rollout, the new site also provides visitors with a more comprehensive understanding of what YSU has to offer – academic programs, research and degree offerings.”

The new site also features enhanced social media, video, dynamic news and calendar capabilities, as well as an intuitive analytic platform that will provide more data about our website users that will lead to better recruitment and engagement opportunities with prospective students.

In a message to campus earlier this month, Morrone cautioned that “with a launch of this size, we will certainly run into issues and problems over the course of the next few weeks.”

Anyone experiencing any issues or problems should communicate them directly to Morrone at rlmorrone@ysu.edu.

“We thank everyone who has been part of this project, and we ask for continued patience during this rollout period,” he said. “We are confident that the new site will mark a new era in how we communicate with the world.”