Communications and marketing services for the web
The CSE Communications and Marketing team provides many services that can help you build and maintain your website as well as drive traffic to it.
This page does not encompass all of the services we provide—only web-related ones. To learn more about what our team can do for you, visit the Communications and Marketing Office webpage.
Accessibility
Accessibility is an important topic to consider when creating content for the web. The World Wide Web Consortium defines web accessibility as meaning that people with disabilities of any kind can perceive, understand, navigate, interact with, and contribute to the web. Learn more on the accessibility page.
The Communications and Marketing team can help you make your website and communications materials more accessible for all audiences. For more information, contact Rob McIntosh at rjmcinto@umn.edu.
Branding
Does your unit have a logo? Do you want one? If you have questions about how to create or incorporate logos and graphics, colors, styles, etc., on your website or off, the Communications and Marketing team can help. There are brand guidelines from the University level down, and we can decode them for you and help you establish a well-branded look on your website. For more information, contact Sara Specht at sspecht@umn.edu.
Content strategy, SEO, and analytics
Getting the right information to the right people is a crucial part of communications. The Communications and Marketing team can help you achieve this by implementing a content strategy to measure your communications’ effectiveness in connecting your business goals with your audience’s needs. This can include using analytics to see how your communications fit together and improving your website's search engine optimization (SEO). Learn more about these topics and how to get started on the content strategy services page.
Department emails and enewsletters
The Communications and Marketing team staff can consult with you on how to use email and e-newsletters to drive traffic to your website. We will work with you on the process, edit your email or enewsletter, do the layout in the Salesforce mass email system, load lists for sending, and provide analytics for future decision making. For more information, contact Rhonda Zurn at rzurn@umn.edu.
Digital advertising and marketing
If your department or center would like to use digital ads through platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google Ads, the Communications and Marketing staff can consult with you on the best ways to do so and help you get started. Learn more about Google Ads and social media ads.
If you'd like to schedule a consult about digital ads, contact Rob McIntosh at rjmcinto@umn.edu.
Digital and web design
There are so many options and tools for designing your Drupal website and digital communications, sometimes it can be overwhelming deciding how to present your content. If you’d like to talk through ideas, would like some recommendations or mock-ups, or might just want a second opinion on something you created, we’re here to help. Whether you’re looking for a webpage overhaul or an email banner, the Communications and Marketing team can support you. Contact Sara Specht at sspecht@umn.edu to get started.
Drupal editing/design implementation
In addition to design help, the Communications and Marketing team can also help you decide how to implement those designs in Drupal—for example, which widgets would work best or whether you should use a basic or advanced page. We can also meet with you to go over how to do different things in Drupal, such as adding categories or creating a news or events page. For more information about Drupal website editing, contact Rob McIntosh at rjmcinto@umn.edu.
Note: If you’re running into a bug in Drupal or you think something isn’t working properly, please contact the CSE Software and Web Development team at help@umn.edu.
Social media
The Marketing and Communications team can consult with you on ways in which you can incorporate social media into your strategic marketing and communications plans. We can help with audience identification, platform selection, how to plan and create content, best practices, how to measure effectiveness with analytics, publishing tools, and tips to boost post visibility. For more information, contact Kalie Pluchel at pluch002@umn.edu.
Writing for the web
The Communications and Marketing team staff can provide training and consultations regarding best practices on writing for the web to maximize usability, accessibility, and search engine optimization. For more information, contact Rhonda Zurn at rzurn@umn.edu. See best practices on the writing for the web page.