Pursuing Bigger Goals: Teams Optimize DU Website During Hackathon

The provost’s office teamed with the Division of Marketing and Communications (DMC) to host its first-ever web content hackathon at Gumberg Library!

Working on the only tool that communicates for us 24/7, the website—the primary engine for marketing, recruitment and other business functions—is visited by prospective students, families and community partners at nearly 220,000 new users on average per month. Our campuswide web community enthusiastically convened to optimize priority webpages for Google search, user experience and best practices.

For two days, nearly a dozen web editors from the schools of health sciences, music, education, law and liberal arts worked through industry-standard updates that will help ensure visitors find the information they seek quickly, efficiently and effectively.

“The hackathon was a great experience, sharing a room with web editors from different schools to learn best practices both from the hosting teams and our school-based peers,” said Hali Evans, director of undergraduate recruitment for liberal arts. “We enjoyed the deeper discussion on web strategy and got to brainstorm ways to create an engaging web experience for our target audience.”

During the hackathon, page and program names were adjusted to align with Google searching habits; keywords and metadata were added to increase pages’ visibility in search results; student-led content was added that speaks to the Duquesne experience and outcomes; and imagery was updated to align with the University’s current student body and vibrant campus community environment. Together, hackathon participants did their best work to meet the needs of prospective students as they search for information about Duquesne programs and visit the website to consider their future.

“We are so very grateful for DMC's partnership and the incredible work from the MarComm team. Their advanced, detailed planning and having the team in the room to process/publish in real time led to a successful day,” said Daria LaTorre, associate provost for academic initiatives. “The enthusiasm and camaraderie were palpable from the schools in attendance, especially when people began suggesting ideas for future hackathons. We look forward to bringing the team together again as we continue to evolve our web presence.”