The University of Illinois Springfield Office of Web Services launched a new website design on the Drupal content management system, and migrated from WordPress a year ago June 1st. The goal of the update was to modernize the look and feel of the site, improve sharing capability of content and content architecture, audit content for accessibility and usability issues, resolve security related issues, and the improve site performance. All of these factors improve site rank on search engines, and boost our web presence.

The migration of 154 departments websites was completed in less than a year's timeframe. The site content was audited and updated using accessibility, usability and SEO best practices. The content was cut down from the original 12,000 pages to 3,000 pages, 1,536 articles, and 133 policies. On May 2, 2022 the final migration of the remaining content on the WordPress site over to the new Drupal was completed. 

Since this accomplishment, the site performance has drastically improved in the month of June, showing an average of 0.89% Bounce Rate and the Exit Rate at a low 21.68%.

The website Bounce Rates improved on an average by 98.53%, there was an increase in Pageviews by 49.23%, and the exit rate decreased by 51.47%.

All the analytics show the benefit of the website redesign and migration project to the university. With continued effort and support from the Office of Web Services and faculty and staff across campus, the uis.edu website will provide opportunities for growth, improved user experiences and communications, and higher conversions.

Check out the New UIS Website 2021-2022 for more information about the redesign and migration project.