SxSW Branding - Reaching Audience

As a former Webmastering teacher, I have tried to keep a close eye on what is trending in the field of web design. In my various districts I have worked in, I usually have some responsibility toward the design and/or management of the website.

As a web designer, I like to discover the TSPRA Gold Star performers each year and I regularly check out other district websites to see how the "competition" is doing. So the sessions on branding and connecting to your audience are of interest to me because of the public relations component of our jobs in education.

In my opinion, most school district websites are not connected to their target audience in any way. The website is just a placeholder for sharing information and no one analyzes the data about what the audience is needing from the district in the form of information or the flow to find that info. If a district is able to afford it, they will hire a public relations staff who have the training to not only develop press releases but also manage a variety of social media outlets for sharing information.

In most districts though, the webmaster is usually a technical person (usually a person who is known as being able to use technology without committing physical violence against it). A template is chosen and this person adds information to it. That person usually has no training or experience with design, usability, responsive design, branding, or managing multiple mediums for information sharing. There is no analytic tool in place for seeing where the visitors go, how much time it takes for them to find information, or where the drop-off occurs. Usually the only analytic for the webpage is the one question in the biennial survey to parents asking them to rate the effectiveness (1-5) of the website. Can you tell I have strong feelings about this topic?!