New Page Request

The Web Management Team developed content standards for the CCBC website to ensure that CCBC has a strong, public presence on the Web. Our standards are based on well-established web usability guidelines and best practices in communications as well as thorough research into the needs of CCBC’s web audiences.

Before you write content for a new page, please keep in mind what is appropriate content for www.ccbcmd.edu—CCBC’s public facing website.

Content on the CCBC website should:

• Attract prospective students and engage them in the decision-making process
• Provide access to Web resources for current students
• Provide access to Web resources for other key audiences such as alumni, community businesses, donors and potential employees
• Elevate CCBC’s perception/brand/credibility
• Communicate the true breadth and depth of CCBC programs and outcomes

Content that is not appropriate is information intended only for faculty and staff or for a small group of students. Consider posting information for internal audiences on SharePoint, myCCBC, Blackboard or Softchalk.

Read more on CCBC's Web Content Standards »

We have developed templates to assist you in writing content for a new page. There are two templates—one for a landing page and one for a child page.

What’s the difference?

A landing page is a hub for related subject area information. These pages represent related content in broad categories. If it’s a new section you’re thinking about having added into the CCBC website, this is the template to fill out. Veterans Educational Benefits is one example of a landing page.

Landing page templates:

• Completed Sample »
• Word Template »

A child page provides focused programming detail beneath an area landing page. Using Veterans Educational Benefits as an example, the three pages listed below this page in the left navigation are the child pages—New VA Students, Transfer VA Students and Returning VA Students. You’ll fill out the child content template if you need to have a page added to an existing section of the website.

Child page templates:

• Completed Sample »
• Word Template »

Be sure to complete the entire content template. This includes the 'Web Marketing Data' at the bottom of both templates. We use this information to market the new program or service. Learn more about search engine optimization »

You’ll need to work with your department to write content for the new web page. Remember you are writing for the world. The content you write should not be intimidating in tone or rely heavily on academic jargon.

It is also important to write for an online audience. Make text easy to scan and navigate. Keep sentences, lists and paragraphs short and to the point. Use titles, links, headings and subheadings to make the content easier to find and scan. Read more on tips for writing for the web »

Other things to consider:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - think about keywords for the page.*
• Who will update the content on this page?*
• Who will approve the changes?*
• How often should you update the page? Make a plan to maintain the content»
• Who should students contact for more information?
• What should students do after leaving this page? (What are your calls to action?)
• Where should this page reside in the content tree?*
• Will you need an alias? (aka short URL.)*

*Include this information in the 'Web Marketing Data' section of the content template.

You’ve written the content and completed a content template, now what?

The content owner should email the completed template to the Web Content Managers, Melanie Hotaling and Vanessa Pratnicki

The Web Management Team reviews the template and upon approval we will add the request to our queue. Next, we'll design and develop a Sitecore page around the submitted template. This process can take two to six weeks to complete.

In addition to creating the page, we will add the keywords, link referrals and designate a workflow—contributor and owner roles who are responsible for maintaining this page.

If the content template is not approved, we will provide solutions for better outlets for the content.

The content contributor and owner of the page will receive a link to preview the page in Sitecore. This is a great opportunity to double check and possibly update the content that was submitted a few weeks ago.

If major edits are needed, the Web Management Team will make the adjustments and send the link again.

Once the content is ready for publishing, submit the page through the workflow approval process.

After all rounds of revisions are completed and the page is approved—in Sitecore by a Web Content Manager—it will be published for public view.

Once the page is published, we can work with other departments (web sections) to market this new page on other existing web pages.