St. Mary’s Academy (SMA) reached out to AOR to help with a redesign of their website in order to position them as the modern and forward-thinking school they are. Positioning the website as both a recruiting tool to potential new parents and students as well as a resource to current parents and students. We needed to provide enough informative and valuable content without overwhelming the visitor with dense copy.
This website process started with a discovery phase where we learned everything we could about SMA. The discovery phase included a tour of the school any new parent would take before enrolling their student. This allowed us to learn what is unique to SMA and what allows them to stand out from other private Catholic and private schools in the area.
Once we secured a strong understanding of SMA’s value prop and key messages for each of their audiences (current parents and students and prospective parents and students), we started the design process with three unique homepage and secondary page concepts. These concepts presented our recommendations for site organization and functionality. After a homepage and secondary page concept were selected, copy for all pages was developed and the site was built out based off the approved site map.
The final website gives SMA a modern and elevated look while easily communicating to each audience through the organization of content and use of a primary and secondary navigation. The site features large photographs, which highlight SMA’s beautiful campus and student life—giving the user a glimpse into what it is like to be a student at SMA. The website was also built on the Content Management System, WordPress, allowing SMA staff to easily update content and photos as needed.