Published March 9, 2026 | Categories: Beacon News , Higher Education , Web Development
2025 was an interesting year in Higher Ed, to say the least, with many institutions experiencing job and program cuts due to ongoing financial pressure. Declines in federal research funding and international enrollment, along with increased skepticism about the value of higher education, have forced many schools to make difficult budget decisions. These choices affect all departments, including admissions and marketing, which must now achieve more, with fewer resources, in a highly competitive market. As a result, major projects such as website redesigns are being delayed, leaving many universities with an outdated centerpiece of their marketing strategy – their website.
It’s no secret that maintaining an effective college website is an ongoing challenge. Higher Ed marketing teams often juggle multiple print, digital, and social media campaigns, among other duties, leaving little bandwidth for ongoing website updates to keep the marketing strategy coordinated, current, and competitive. This is concerning, since nearly every student visits an institution’s website at some point during the recruiting process to research and ultimately engage with the school. A recent SimpsonScarborough study points out that, “A significant portion of institutions lack strategic planning for their website within their overall institutional strategy. [Higher Ed] CMOs must advocate for the inclusion of the website in strategic planning and ensure adequate resources are allocated for its development and maintenance." Otherwise, an institution’s most important marketing tool (its website) loses effectiveness and can adversely affect recruiting.
What if there were a way to shift this paradigm and help marketing and admissions teams succeed even as resources tighten and expectations grow?
Historically, colleges and universities overhaul their websites about every 4-5 years through a single large project. RFPs are sent out. Budgets are determined. A partner is selected with a wide range of experts, and after a lot of work by all parties, the new website is launched in 12-16 months, and oftentimes, much later. Although the new site might be perfect on day one, the school is now locked in for another long cycle, with a sizeable investment in the rear-view mirror. They are also divorced from the design & development partner with the marketing, technical, and institutional knowledge gained during the project. From launch day forward, web technology continues to evolve. New features, marketing tactics, and consumer trends will be introduced and leveraged by your competitors, while your site ages, and your staff shifts back to other responsibilities.
This approach made some sense when websites played a less sophisticated role in the recruitment cycle, when interconnectivity with other marketing channels was minimal, and digital engagement metrics took a back seat to offline activity. However, the solution isn’t rocket science. In fact, a precedent has been established with the advent of managed services in other expanded business areas over the last couple of decades. Managed IT services were born as the cost and complexity of managing enterprise-grade, interconnected technology infrastructures increased, especially as new tools and software began emerging more frequently. Marketing & PR agencies grew for a similar reason, especially with the dawn of the internet, to centralize creative design, copywriting, ad placement, website development, search engine optimization, social media management, and email marketing campaigns.
There’s no question that technology and marketing are now deeply intertwined. Originally, websites were deemed “technical” and responsibility resided with university IT teams. Over time, responsibility shifted to the marketing team, as it should since a Higher Ed website’s primary purpose is to recruit new students. But success now hinges on a blend of technology and marketing, which requires an ever-broadening set of unique skills and continuous collaboration.
Waiting years between major redesigns is no longer a viable strategy. As websites evolve with richer visuals, stories, and interactive features, they need ongoing attention to stay fresh and appealing to prospective students. This is no easy task, as managing a website requires more than just knowledge of the higher ed industry and familiarity with the latest technology. It also requires talented resources, an ongoing commitment, and a reasonable annual budget.
This all begs one very simple question: Why hasn’t Higher Ed shifted to a “Managed Website Services” (MWS) approach? If the answer is “because that’s the way we’ve always done it,” then it might be time to evolve. What if this paradigm shift strengthened marketing and admissions teams as resources tighten, technology evolves, and expectations grow? It’s a no-brainer when you consider these factors with progress in mind.
Managed website service providers are essentially “technology architects.” With so many software tools, specialized applications, and varying hardware available, it is counter-productive to try to custom-create them in house. The important thing is for institutions to take advantage of today’s best technology through integrated and reliable solutions. For example, as AI becomes a standard tool for prospective students, schools need to rethink how their websites are discovered and used online. Traditional SEO and pay-per-click alone are no longer enough. Now, SEO must work alongside Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, to bring your institution to the forefront of searches. This means Higher Ed websites should be clear, well-organized, and easy to read so AI tools can share your information with students before they even visit your website.
Similarly, as guidelines and requirements emerged for cookie consent, accessibility, and personal data collection, choices had to be made around design, analytics, and third-party software (CMS, AI Search, CDN, hosting devices, etc.). As the pace of advancement continues to increase, colleges and universities typically don’t have the bandwidth to effectively evaluate all the potential solutions. Whereas, leaning on an experienced, unbiased partner for tried-and-true recommendations expedites innovation, mitigates risk, and increases confidence from university administration. Productivity increases significantly by selecting an experienced MWS architect versus a multitude of product vendors.
A cross-functional team of experts versed in strategy, design, development, and digital marketing is essential to professionally design, build, and support your website. This isn’t about just modifying content. It’s about ensuring ongoing 508 compliance (accessibility), cross-browser & cross-device compatibility, fast performance, secure hosting, and accurate metrics collection. It’s about being able to introduce innovative technology and features, adjust navigation, integrate with other third-party software, and quickly coordinate with changes in marketing messaging. It’s about always having help a phone call away. It’s about a dedicated team of technologists and marketers that are in lockstep with your school’s communication and marketing goals. That’s the ideal, right? However, for many institutions, retaining such a team in-house is nearly impossible to justify. Why take on full-time employees when you could have a diverse team of industry experts operate as an extension of your institution on an as-needed basis? Managed Website Services gives institutions the ability to access a wide variety of skillsets without the administrative overhead.
Now let’s talk about budget. With 300+ Higher Ed engagements under our belt, we can size up an RFP pretty quickly. Of course, price is driven by scope, but we see most website redesign projects priced in the low-to-mid six figure range (strategy, design, development, and launch phases). Under the current paradigm, colleges and universities typically treat this large expense as a separate project and pay via progress billing. But maybe there’s a better way?
With a Managed Website Services approach, institutions can bundle all the necessary services and costs of their website into a single line item and spread out the payments over an 18-month, 3-year, or 5-year period, interest free. This could include website redesign, website hosting, CMS licensing, ongoing support, ongoing website health management, digital marketing, and more. Therefore, institutions can get everything they need to compete today, with a predictable annual budget and a dedicated partner that already understands their marketing strategy and underlying technology stack. One contract. One partner. One fixed monthly price.
A paradigm shift from “website redesign projects” to proactive “managed website services” provides significant advantages for many higher education institutions and is certainly on the horizon as a common option. By relying on a single partner that is proficient in both technology and marketing, specifically for Higher Ed, it allows colleges and universities to focus on what they do best – building relationships with students to support recruiting and enrollment. It reduces the headaches of hiring and retaining a wide range of specialized resources. It ensures that marketing and technology are tightly connected, leveraging the latest products and tools. Content and imagery stay fresh, engaging, and up-to-speed with ever-changing SEO tactics. Important metrics are collected accurately to inform the institution’s strategy and future enhancements. But more importantly, all of this works together, as a finely tuned engine, to help schools stay competitive in attracting and enrolling new students. This is exactly why Beacon’s LuxEd Solution was created – to guarantee that your website is truly the high-performance centerpiece of your digital marketing strategy.
Managed services are nothing new for us at Beacon over our 28-year history. In addition to our work in Higher Ed, we also provide trusted, full-service managed IT services across thousands of active users and devices through our BITS Solution. Similarly, our SpotLight Solution for Multifamily Residential clients provides a suite of managed digital marketing services that is specifically designed to drive occupancy (750+ properties nationwide, $20M+ ad spend budget). Lastly, our SiteCare Solution delivers comprehensive managed hosting services for thousands of websites around the world.
Likewise, with this paradigm shift, we are seeing increasing interest in our LuxEd Solution which provides a full-service framework for our Higher Ed clients’ online ecosystems. It offers colleges and universities a dependable, budget-friendly, long-term website management solution that covers website redesigns, ongoing maintenance, hosting, CMS licensing, ongoing website health management, SEO, and a dedicated team of experts in higher education, marketing, and technology.
Beacon is uniquely positioned to help your institution navigate the changing technology landscape. As an independent, certified woman-owned company, we remain a client-first partner, focused solely on delivering professional services and expert guidance without outside investor influence. And because we act as technology architects, rather than one-size-fits-all providers, we continually assess, test, and apply the tools and products that best fit our clients' technical requirements and business objectives.
Maybe it’s time for your college or university to quit juggling multiple vendors and stop the finger pointing. Don’t settle for the slow fade of your website over several years while waiting for a full redesign. Beacon’s longevity is a testament to our commitment to align with client goals, solve today’s challenges, and prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities.
