The Simpson College Web site is getting an overhaul.

“The entire site is being redesigned to make it easier to navigate and find things, as well as to update the look of the site,” Web Architect Missy DeYoung said.

DeYoung, with input from the Divisions of Marketing and Public Relations and the Web Advisory Committee, created the new design. It’s intended to improve both the appearance of the site as well as its usefulness.

To determine what functions to add to or update on Simpson’s Web site, the needs of a variety of people who use the site were considered.

“We’ve done testing with faculty, alumni, staff, and current and prospective students,” DeYoung said. “We will continue to do testing and surveys in the future to make sure that the site is both easy to use and fulfills our audience’s needs.”

One improvement is the implementation of an easy-to-use search function.

“The most visible feature change, besides the design and navigation, will be in the search function,” DeYoung said. “When you search for something on our site, you will get easily understandable returns on your search, which will help you locate things better than the current system.”

According to DeYoung, one of the most important changes is an invisible one.

“We’ve implemented a new content management system that is much easier to use for the folks that make updates to the various pages they maintain,” DeYoung said. “It is a big improvement on the old system, and will make it easier to keep information on the site current and fresh.”

The initial redesign has already been completed in the admissions and athletics portions of the Web site. The whole site is expected to have the new design and navigation techniques in place when students return from winter break.

Though the Web site will be updated at that time, it will never be finished.

“Web sites are not supposed to be static like print,” DeYoung said. “That’s the beauty of the Web. The new design will be more flexible, and allow us to add more features and functionality on a regular basis.”