Friday, Aug. 24, the Elizabethtown College Athletic Communications Department launched the latest version of their website: www.Etownbluejays.com. Teamed with collegiate athletic web-based content management company SIDEARM Sports, Etown Athletics produced a new site that offers a fresh look, improved features and superior user-friendliness for all Blue Jay fans.
Since 2009, the College had been under a three-year contract with SIDEARM Sports. This collegiate web-based content management solutions company specializes in website development of collegiate athletic departments. The new website is a redesigned and improved version of the original Etownbluejays.com, which was launched in 2009 after Etown originally teamed with SIDEARM Sports. After the three-year deal, Etown was pleased with SIDEARM’s services and entered into a new four-year contract.
Under the new agreement, it was decided that SIDEARM Sports would redesign the website, improving upon user friendliness and giving version 2.0 a new look that would emphasize the success of student athletes. Matthew Heffelfinger, director of athletic communications at the College, requested that SIDEARM Sports improve usability for parents, alumni, fans, recruits and students by adding new features that were not previously available.
The newest version of the site enhanced the experience of website visitors. Perhaps the most significant improvement is that visitors will find all entertainment and information needs on just this one site instead of having to navigate away.
The new layout of the Athletic Department’s website includes embedded videos, stories, calendars, game results, statistics, schedules and more. Visitors can easily find what they are searching for. Rather than the previous use of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube through links, all Etown Athletics social media updates can now be followed directly from the site in Etownbluejays.com.
To accomplish the goal of highlighting student athletes’ success on and off the field, a story bank on the top of the main page rotates through a series of seven stories accompanied by photos. “On the old website you’d have two or three main stories on the main page and when you get into a Saturday with five or six events, student athletes’ stories were getting bumped off and changed quicker than they could even get home and read them,” Heffelfinger said. “We really wanted to change that.” Now, with seven stories on the main page and seven stories on each sport-specific page, there is a bigger emphasis on student athletes.
Athletes are also displayed in the athlete of the week section. New to the site, each week the accomplishments of one male and one female athlete are acknowledged. “I think we really do our student athletes justice by putting them out there and highlighting their accomplishments,” Heffelfinger said. Visitors to the site now have the opportunity to see themselves, their friends and their families on the website more frequently.
Along with entertainment features and ease of use, the website incorporates Etown Athletics’ new look. Etown’s athletic identity, unveiled during the 2010 Homecoming Weekend, is displayed on every page of the site and surrounds stories, calendars, game highlights and photos. The new athletic brand easily integrates a sense of Blue Jay pride into the website.
The process of developing this new site began back in April 2012. The first few steps of the process involved Heffelfinger researching other colleges’ athletic websites to get a feel for contemporary features and page set-ups that worked well. Heffelfinger also gained insight as to what the Etown athletic staff felt was necessary to include on the site. It was essential to ensure every visitors needs were met, but with an emphasis on student athletes and athletic recruitment, the website also needed to demonstrate to visitors everything Etown Athletics has to offer.
After months of research by Heffelfinger, SIDEARM Sports graphic designers executed Heffelfinger’s ideas into proofs for approval, which eventually led to the launch of Etownbluejays.com version 2.0.
Since the release on Aug. 24, there has been plenty of approval from fans, students and faculty. “I hear a lot of good compliments and that’s what we were looking for,” Heffelfinger said. “There may still be more changes coming in the next year or so, things I see that I may want to change, but overall I’m pleased and the consensus is that around the board.”
To view the new and improved online home of the Etown Blue Jays, visit Etownbluejays.com and stay up to date on all Etown sporting events.