Randolph Community College

Randolph Community College (RCC) prides itself on not being the typical community college, offering a level of care and attention to its students that's unmatched, as well as a host of high-quality degree programs (including a nationally recognized photography department) and world-class facilities. The trouble was that the school's website—essentially just a message board retrofitted to serve all of RCC's web communication needs—didn't reflect the school's innovative approach or its commitment to offering its students the very best.

To create a site that matched their ambition, RCC turned to Beacon. The project called for an in-depth strategy phase and a full site redesign. Beacon's work redesigning RCC's overall site and creating a simpler, more intuitive navigation and user experience was so well received by RCC that they came back to Beacon for additional projects, including extensive content work. Not only did Beacon craft ten pages of original content for RCC, redefining the overall tone and voice of their messaging, RCC also utilized Beacon's in-depth content recommendations and guidance to rework a significant amount of content throughout their site.

The end result is a streamlined and inviting website that captures RCC's overriding philosophy of "radical hospitality," welcoming potential students and guiding them to the info they need.

Outcomes Achieved

• Redesigned RCC's website to move away from dated and overcrowded "message board" design, updating it with a clean and accessible visual style that utilizes white space, bold imagery, and purposeful blocks of color to better emphasize key messaging.
• Designed and developed content for a new homepage that incorporates key brand messaging, provides relevant stats on RCC's ranking as a top community college, and provides an easy pathway to essential landing pages including Academics and Admissions.
• Using Google Analytics and data from focus groups and surveys, redesigned site structure and navigation to emphasize pages and topics most relevant to students, and streamlined the site from thousands of pages to just several hundred.
• Performed a comprehensive content audit on the redesigned site, providing insights on how old content functioned in the new page designs, allowing for quick updates and improvements.
• Added an interest-based search function, providing a way for potential students to more organically explore the programs available at RCC.
• Developed new content, redefining the voice and tone of the site's messaging to better exemplify RCC's core values of "radical hospitality" and commitment to serving students.

Services: Strategy | Design | Development | Content