In an ideal world, GUHoyas.com...

[TrueHoyaBlue]

I certainly have some of my own ideas, but I'm curious about what features people would like to see in GuHoyas.com. I think they've done a better job lately of providing updated information across all sports, but i would love to see some design improvements, and maybe some team rosters with pictures and bios.

What else would people be looking for on the site that's not there now? Coach's corner? Feature stories? Interactive materials? Are there schools that have particularly good official webpages?

[nodak89]

One thing I think that they have done extremely well is the video highlights of home games. It is so exceedingly rare to see the Hoyas on TV now (especially on the lone prairie) that I always check those out. That's how I first found out about the return of the classic home gray uniforms.

I would love to see more game photos, preferably collected into a gallery. Kinda like this part of the U of No Dak site www.fightingsioux.com/sports/mhockey/photos.asp

Has there been a link to listen to an audio broadcast of the game? I think a weekly coach's report (could be an asst, wouldn't have to be JT3) might be interesting.

[jerseyhoya34]

More than anything, I would like to see GU move its Athletics site out-of-house. According to my research, it costs $25,000 per year to have a prominent website company layout and operate the website. This company does sites for Miami, among several other D1 schools, and sets up many of the wonderful features that have been mentioned above.

Now, this does cost money, but consider how much we pay someone in-house to put up GUHoyas, which is sub-par at best. If we use an outside contractor as I have mentioned, I suspect that the ease with which people could donate money through a well-planned and functional site would make the cost (which is almost negligible to begin with) well worth it.

I am not sure that this sort of reform can be addressed as a result of the recent personnel changes, which seem to be isolated to the basketball office, but it is something worth considering in the spirit of Hoya Perestroika.

[dairishhoya]

JerseyHoya34, the problem isn't where the site is housed ... its an understanding of what to do with the site and the need for a new graphic re-design (the site design is outdated and from a previous *failed* outside vendor relationship) and timely and engaging content (audio of games, video highlights, photos, profiles, e-mail, mobile and RSS updates).

Your research only touches the low-end costs -- you're most likely talking about OCSN with their three generic layouts -- and it ignores bandwidth and streaming costs and doesn't take into account the most important part of the site ... content, content, content. Outside vendors don't write or produce content for you without additional fees. There needs to be more of a commitment to the site and realization that this is one of the best ways to keep students, alumni, the media, fans and other supporters interested in the program.

Unfortunately, the folks running GUHoyas.com don't seem to fully understand the importance of the medium, how the site can generate revenue (t-shirts, etc) or retains/ develops a fan base. Maybe they should actually get a REAL web professional inside Sports Information.

[tboy]

i have discussed the problem as i see it before and at the risk of having this post elimanated i will not repeat my consternation with the present pr outlets( especially athletics) however this is something that needs to be addressed and is being discussed behind the scenes.

[DFW HOYA]

OCSN is a lot like Rivals.com--after a while, all the sites look alike and the templates don't lend themselves well to individualization. It also costs schools money, which they generally don't recover through e-commerce.

There are a number of schools which manage very good web pages on their own--here are four:

www.scarletknights.com
www.uconnhuskies.com
www.huskers.com/
www.smumustangs.com

[Deleted]

As I mentioned in a previous post that may have started this whole GUHoyas.com critique, the one I think is the best (at least of all those I checked out during our coaching search) was Princeton's. Looks great, easy to manage, lots of great features.

Maybe a redesigned GUHoyas could have a weekley player entry, have a III diary updated once a week, etc. Do this for every sport, and you've got a top web page.

goprincetontigers.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/prin-m-baskbl-body.html

For what its worth, Street & Smiths conducted a survey of all pro teams' web pages with the UMass School of Communication or Department of sport management, and listed the tops. You can see the list at...

www.umass.edu/sptmgt/sbj/index.html

Obviously I'm biased, but the Bills webpage at www.buffalobills.com is exceptionally good...as is the Cleveland Browns' page.

GO HOYAS!!!

[jerseyhoya34]

DFW said:

OCSN is a lot like Rivals.com--after a while, all the sites look alike and the templates don't lend themselves well to individualization. It also costs schools money, which they generally don't recover through e-commerce.

There are a number of schools which manage very good web pages on their own--here are four:

www.scarletknights.com
www.uconnhuskies.com
www.huskers.com/
www.smumustangs.com

You bring up some good points. On the issue of individualization, the question is whether this is truly important. In recent memory, individualization on GUHoyas is not discernible, as many of the things that they have done (i.e. game video and Q&A with coaches) are things that OCSN does in a way that allows better access to people with lower modem speeds. As for layout, I would agree with your point as to lack of individualization, but individualization is not high on my list of important criteria for the webpage.

As for the cost, the costs are different between a self-managed page and an out-of-house page. GU pays someone or a group of people to layout the webpage, ensure functionality, etc., so it is not like there isn't a cost somewhere because there is. The costs for the out-of-house page would be maximum of $25,000 according to my research. The question then becomes whether GU pays $25,000 for a person or group of people to handle the GUHoyas site. My guess is that they do. Then, you can wonder the following: Would you rather pay $25,000 to GU personnel with the current track record on GUHoyas.com or would you pay $25,000 to an outside organization to produce the results that others have seen in terms of website features, articles, video, Q&A sessions, chats, links to radio feeds for games, and the like.

Notwithstanding any non-calculable differential in fundraising from moving to an out-of-house site, I come down on the side of moving the Athletics site to OCSN or some comparable corporation.

Also, just because others manage good websites doesn't mean GU can or will. So far as I have been able to tell, the GUHoyas site is not managed well and does not offer as many features as other Athletics sites. I also don't get the sense that the Dept. takes pride in the site, and that comes across by the lack of up-to-date information on the site, which is legendary. If I thought GU could manage the site like some of the others that you mention, I would be more receptive to your argument.

[SaxaCD]

That video highlights thing is better than what I've seen on most other schools' pages. If other areas are brought up to that caliber, we'll have a first-class site up there.

[DFW HOYA]

Georgetown Athletics does not have a web developer on staff. It's a healthy topic for debate, but a larger question can also be asked: does Georgetown University have a web strategy?

Take a look at these five pages, all in georgetown.edu. What do they all have in common? Very little.

college.georgetown.edu/
msb.georgetown.edu
www.georgetown.edu/sfs/
www.law.georgetown.edu/
alumni.georgetown.edu

[Deleted]

DFW makes a great point. Its as if each part of the university (from departments to schools to sports) were 100% independent of one another. Makes me wonder if fixing GUHoyas would be more easily accomplished if the university as a whole got someone on board to fix these obvious web page woes. Remember, many, many, many kids now apply to college and grad school online (I did for all three - two grad schools), and making it as easy to manage and navigate as possible is a big part of the school putting its best foot forward. A bad web page system (as the university seems to have relative to other schools) might be viewed as representative of the entire school/athletic department/whatever.

Anyone know if there is any chatter as to not bringing someone aboard just to fix GUHoyas, but the entire georgetown.edu network?

GO HOYAS!!!

[jerseyhoya34]

DFW said:

Georgetown Athletics does not have a web developer on staff. It's a healthy topic for debate, but a larger question can also be asked: does Georgetown University have a web strategy?

Take a look at these five pages, all in georgetown.edu. What do they all have in common? Very little.

college.georgetown.edu/
msb.georgetown.edu
www.georgetown.edu/sfs/
www.law.georgetown.edu/
alumni.georgetown.edu

Fair enough. I am just saying that I believe that they pay someone, as part of a larger salary package, to be responsible for the website production. If they don't, another strike against them in my book.

I agree 100% about your web strategy comment. Some of the pages have improved by leaps and bounds in terms of content, but there is not a lot of cohesion or whatever. You are right to point out that the GUHoyas site should be taken in the larger GU context.

[DanMcQ]

In a somewhat-related vein, my wife and classmate is headed to GU tomorrow for a Landegger Program reunion and has an afternoon meeting with the Alumni Association web person to design our class web page. We'll see how that experience turns out...

[SFHoya99]

The athletic department should have a site with columns, commentary, history, links to radio, archives, and one that is full of open communication.

Oh, wait, that's THIS site.

Why don't they just hire DFW?

[CAHoya07]

i'm not so much disappointed with guhoyas.com's design as its content. during the basketball season, the "preview" usually consisted of a single sentence: Georgetown is playing St. John's at the MCI Center tonight at 7. That's just downright pathetic. I would go to hoyasaxa.com or the opposing team's official website for adequate pregame coverage. in addition, the game wrap up articles were too brief, and even when esherick got fired, the biggest news all year, all guhoyas had was a little blip titled "coaching change," and a link to degoia's letter. there has GOT to be an article on that one. although there were some nice pictures for home games, there were usually ZERO pictures from away games. the few pictures we do have should be grouped into a separate page so we can see them all more easily.

the highlights of the game video portion was pretty nice, but i would have liked to see some of the opponents' highlights too. when i'm watching that, sure i want to see our guys' best plays, but i also want some plays that show WHY we lost by 20 too.

finally, coverage for other sports just HAS to be better. i am a rower, so i'm obviously biased, but the men's lightweight crew team is ranked #5 in the nation, and there are barely ANY articles on the team over the course of the season. the varsity team doesn't even have a roster page, although somehow the freshmen do! it's just ridiculous.

i'd say the design could be a lot better too, but it's the content that's most important. there's a lot more i can say, especially links to radio broadcasts of hoya bball games, but i'll leave it at that. our sports program needs to SHAPE UP, and a division I-caliber website is necessary for this to take place.

[Big Dog]

Another excellent website:

www.gomarquette.com/

Having a link to live game audio really is an excellent idea.

[tboy]

hey SFHOYA99 they have to pay real us currency for someone to survive.

[nodak89]

Well, looky here...on the GUHoyas.com front page lacrosse story there is a link to "listen to the game live at

[CAHoya07]

haha, funny, why dont we do something like that, where we can listen to our games live? huh.