If you’re planning to create your personal academic website, you might be looking at many other people’s websites for inspiration. You see that everyone has “About, Research, Contact” pages. But some people have outreach or teaching or media pages. Should you also include these pages or features?
You might be tempted to compile all these features and dump a bunch of info onto your website without thinking about why it is there. When you do this, your website becomes choppy, unclear, and not as effective as it could be. However, when you create a website strategy, it becomes clear what you need on your website and what you don’t.
In this post, you’ll learn
- What a website strategy is
- How to create your own website strategy
- How to use your website strategy to create content
What is a website strategy?
A website strategy is a plan for your website so that you can reach your goals in your personal or professional life. We want to make sure that your website is impact-driven. This means that the website is not just for show – it can create an impact in your life or others’.
A website strategy has 3 parts: purpose, users, and goals.
- Purpose: the reason you created your website.
- Users: the people who will visit your website.
- Goals: how you will measure success of your website.
How do I create a website strategy?
Use these questions to help you create your own website strategy:
- Purpose: Why did you create your website? How do you want your website to help you in your personal or professional life?
- Users: Who is visiting your website? Why are they there or what do they want to know?
- Goals: What does success look like? How will you measure the success of your website?
For example, if you are a graduate student, your website strategy might look like this:
- Purpose: to build my online presence and share my work so I can advance my career and get opportunities that align with me.
- Users: other graduate students, professors, or employers who want to see if I am a good fit for their project, initiative, or company.
- Goals: gaining 1 new connection per month or landing an interview.
Once you understand these three things, it will be easier to plan your website content. This includes the type of content, such as the text and images, and how the pages and sections are organized and flow together.
How do I brainstorm website content?
Once you have a website strategy, you can brainstorm website content. It’s important to brainstorm website content first, because it will guide the design of the website. If you start creating your website without brainstorming content beforehand, you will spend more time staring at a blank screen than you need to.
What type of website content do you need to include? It depends on your overall purpose and goals. Let’s expand on the previous example for different types of jobs:
- Research: Share your academic or industrial research. What did you do and learn from each project? What are the results of your work? Explain it in a way that shows your technical ability without overwhelming your audience with jargon.
- Teaching: Include information about your teaching experience. What did you teach, when did you teach, how many students did you have? Maybe you created resources for teaching, and you can share these as examples of your work.
- Science communication: Provide samples of your work, organized in a clear or purposeful way. What type of skills do you have? What are the analytics or results of your work?
Final Thoughts
Basically, you want to use your website to showcase your expertise and experience in the best way possible. Don’t make the mistake of copy/pasting your CV word for word on your website. Sure, it works if you’re in a pinch, but it’s lazy. This is your chance to be creative and show people what you’re really about. To get started with your personal academic website, download the Website Starter Kit.
Ready to set up your website now? Learn how you can set up and create your own engaging and effective personal academic website with Squarespace in my Website Setup Workshop.