4 tips for spring cleaning your lab website
4 tips for spring cleaning your lab website
Is your website feeling a little meh? Use these quick tips to freshen up your content
Springtime is here! And you know what that means?
Time to add some fresh content to your lab and project websites! To make sure they look 💯💯💯 when viewed by students, funders, and colleagues this year. But how do you keep your website looking fresh when you have little time to spare?
Fear not, my friend! Here are 4 easy things you can do TODAY to get your website ready for a 2021 audience:
#1: Find some new images (15 min.)
One of the easiest ways to keep your site fresh is to swap out some images. Get the biggest bang-for your-buck by changing out the opening banner image, since that is the most prominent image on the site. Unsplash is ALWAYS adding new photos to their database, so find something new that visually captures your work and reflects the personality of your lab!
**Pro tip: When replacing banner images, make sure to find images that have a horizontal orientation. To ensure the image doesn’t interfere with the legibility of the text, find an image without a subject. For example, a landscape or an abstract pattern.
#2: Create a News post (30 min.)
Having a current news feed is one of the BEST ways to show your website visitors that your lab is busy getting sh&* done! Here are a few ideas for news posts for your feed:
Celebrate a win - We all love good news! Tell us about a new paper, a much-needed mental health break, or a great Zoom event you attended.
Talk about your team - Have you added a new student? Or graduated an old one? Has a current student mastered a new skill? Or presented an exciting idea at lab meeting? Tell us all about your team!
#3: Update your language (30 min.)
One of the easiest ways to update your website is to revisit the way you talk about your work. I am always AMAZED at how my language has changed over the course of a year. Take 30 minutes and read through your home page or the overview of your research. Does the language still fit the way you’re thinking or talking about your work? If not, update the text to better match your thinking!
**Pro tip: Focus on your intro paragraph (your lab bio). This is the most prominent text in the whole site, so make sure that it feels caught-up to the way you’re thinking about your work this year. Review this paragraph at lab meeting, so you can gather ideas for how to make this writing even better.
**And look for a future blog on copywriting for scientists!
#4: Revisit old projects (45 min.)
If you have project pages on your site, let’s make those feel current! Talk about a new finding or a new collaborator; add a link to a new paper; or upload images from your most recent field season.
**Pro tip: Make sure you document your projects in action! Hire a professional photographer to join you for a day, or rent a DSLR camera so that you can create your own beautiful images. And of course, you can always hire US to join you in the field!
Need more guidance?
Or looking to do a larger revamp of your website? Book a consult, so we can help you achieve the lab website of your wildest dreams!
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About the author
Impact Media Lab is a small-but-mighty creative team that helps scientists develop strategies for impact. We believe science can lead to seismic shifts in how we understand the world, but it takes great media (and rigorous strategy) to make it happen.