School websites provide numerous services to students, parents, faculty and potential students. Such services have expanded from simple information about the school to virtual tours, online classrooms and access to library resources. Thoughtful website design maximizes the utility of your school's website for the school's entire community. There are no set rules for a site's design, but there are guidelines and concerns to address during the process.

List the different audiences for the site. Current students, prospective students, parents and faculty and staff will all have different reasons for using the site. List what each group will want from the site. Consider collecting links relevant to each group on a page dedicated to them.

Solicit input from students and faculty about they would like to see included. This is especially useful if revamping an older site because your audience can tell you what did and didn't work on the old site.

Incorporate the school colors into the design. You can use them to divide sections of the page, in the header or in buttons.

Remember that current students and faculty will visit the homepage often. Balance the aesthetics of the page against the speed of the download. The homepage may not be the best location for a slide show of the campus or Flash movie. Consider relegating those features to a prospective student page or "virtual tour."

Use the three-click rule. This rule states that users should be able to reach the page they want in approximately three clicks. Having to dig through many pages frustrates users and can prevent them from finding needed information.

Create a template and style sheet(s) for departments to use when creating their own web pages. Many schools have each department maintain its own pages, so it is important they match the style of the overall site.

Test the site. Get feedback from students and faculty on how easy the site is to navigate and how useful the information is. Be open to feedback even after the site's launch. Remember that, ultimately, your school site exists to meet the needs of its users.

Update the site frequently, and label any time-sensitive information, such as academic calendars, tuition charts and application deadlines, with the year(s) it applies to. Remove outdated information promptly. A labeling system will make it easier to quickly identify pages that need updating.