Revolutionising University Websites With Divi
Having an online presence is paramount for any organisation, including universities. However, creating and maintaining a website can be a daunting task, especially for institutions with limited budgets, scarce technical expertise, and time constraints. These can hinder the ability to create a professional and engaging online presence.
Enter Divi – a game-changing website builder that levels the playing field by offering a user-friendly platform that requires minimal technical know-how. Divi empowers university departments to easily build stunning websites without the need for extensive coding or design experience and at a very affordable price. I’ve worked with Divi for over 5 years now and have made websites for clients in different industries, most notably higher education institutions. From full-on websites to landing pages for campaigns, I’m going to share with you today how universities can revolutionise their websites using Divi.
What is Divi?
Divi, developed by Elegant Themes, has quickly risen to prominence as one of the most popular WordPress themes and visual page builders on the market. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, coupled with a plethora of pre-designed layouts and customisation options, makes it a go-to choice for individuals and organisations alike.
Benefits of Using Divi
Now, I already mentioned some of the key benefits that Divi offers but let’s go through them in a little more detail.
Easy-to-Use Interface
One of the standout features of Divi is its user-friendly interface. The visual builder allows users to simply drag and drop elements onto the page, eliminating the need to write a single line of code. This intuitive approach means that even those with little to no web development experience can create polished and visually appealing websites in a matter of hours, rather than weeks or months.
Pre-Made Templates
For universities looking to streamline the website development process, Divi offers a wide selection of pre-made templates. These professionally designed layouts cover a range of styles and functionalities, from academic departments, research groups and course catalogues to event calendars and alumni networks. With just a few clicks, universities can customise these templates to suit their unique needs and branding.
Seamless Integration with WordPress
As a WordPress theme and plugin, Divi seamlessly integrates with the world’s most popular content management system. This integration not only provides universities with access to a robust ecosystem of plugins and extensions but also ensures ongoing support and updates from the WordPress community.
Cost-Effectiveness
Perhaps most importantly for university departments operating on tight budgets, Divi offers exceptional value for money. With a single purchase (keep en eye out for sales!), institutions gain access to the Divi theme, visual page builder, and a suite of other Elegant Themes products and services, including 24/7 customer support. This all-in-one solution eliminates the need for expensive third-party tools or developers, allowing universities to allocate their resources more efficiently. Of course, universities may need external help from digital marketers to set up and customise Divi components into the desired final website. However, the cost of such a project is much less than the cost of building another type of website.
Divi Visual Builder
With the rise of platforms offering drag-and-drop functionality, creating stunning websites has become more intuitive than ever. Let’s delve into what the Divi Visual Builder offers to its users.
Intuitive Drag-and-Drop Feature
At the heart of Divi Visual Builder lies its intuitive drag-and-drop feature. Whether you’re a seasoned web designer or a novice, building a website is as easy as clicking, dragging, and dropping elements into place. From text and images to buttons and forms, everything is seamlessly integrated, allowing for effortless customisation.
Real-Time Editing
One of the most impressive features is the real-time editing capabilities. As you make changes to your website, you can see the results instantaneously. This allows for a more dynamic and efficient design process, eliminating the need for constant previewing and toggling between tabs.
Seamless Page Creation
Creating new pages has never been simpler. Whether you’re adding a new section to your existing website or starting from scratch, you can quickly create custom pages using pre-designed layouts or build them from the ground up. With the ability to duplicate existing pages and save custom layouts, you can maintain consistency across your website while streamlining your design process.
Modular Design
Divi Visual Builder adopts a modular approach to website design, allowing users to add or remove modules with ease. Whether you want to incorporate a new feature or streamline your layout, you can simply drag the desired module onto the canvas and customise it to suit your needs. This flexibility enables you to create truly unique and personalised websites without any coding knowledge.
Often when I work on making websites with Divi, I’m working on a layout that the client has previously approved. However, if the client wants to incorporate a module that’s used in a different layout than the one approved, it’s very easy to make that happen. Basically, I keep one page empty where I load the other layout and from there I just save the module to the Divi Library. Then, I go back to the original page I was working on, with the approved layout, and just insert the module where I want it. With the Divi Library, you can save any custom modules, layouts and even entire pages.
Dynamic Content
Creating dynamic content is a breeze. Whether you want to showcase your latest blog posts, highlight student testimonials, or display your upcoming events, you can easily add dynamic content modules to your website. These modules pull content from your WordPress database, ensuring that your website is always up-to-date and engaging.
Responsive Design
In today’s mobile-centric world, responsive design is non-negotiable. Divi Visual Builder ensures that your website looks and performs flawlessly across all devices, from desktops to smartphones and everything in between. With intuitive controls for adjusting layout and styling options for different screen sizes, you can create a seamless user experience for visitors on any device.
Example Layouts and Modules
I already mentioned that Divi comes with many pre-made templates and modules that are included when you purchase it. If you have some ideas that you can’t find in the available templates and modules, you can try designing your vision from scratch or you can also find paid modules, layouts and packs on Divi’s marketplace (they also do sales on these!).
Now, I’m going to attempt to share my visions with you in creating a page using example layouts and modules. I need you to try your hardest to visualise what I’m trying to convey, okay?
Research Group
This layout should serve as the digital front door to a research group at a university, providing visitors with an overview of its mission, resources, and key members.
For the mission section, you can use the clean-looking and nicely structured ‘About’ page from this library layout pack. You can also add a resource section from the same pack by using the ‘Resources’ page. For highlighting the key members of the research group, you can use the ‘Person Module’.
University Department
A well-organised resources page is essential for a university department, offering valuable information to students, faculty, and collaborators.
To start with, you can use this high school layout and the ‘Departments’ page to showcase the different departments at your university. To display course offerings, you can use this simple and colourful, yet effective ‘Courses’ page from the online learning courses layout. Incorporate Divi’s ‘Call to Action Module’ to direct visitors to application portals or additional details.
Project Showcase
Universities are hubs of innovation, with numerous research projects underway at any given time. Divi allows you to create dedicated pages for each project and/or group them all under a single one.
Provide a project overview using the ‘Project page’ in this layout pack aimed at simple designs. This layout showcases progress updates while you can add a media gallery using the ‘Gallery Module’ or ‘Video Module’.
There is so much you can do with Divi so don’t feel limited by the layouts and modules I suggested – I barely scratched the surface with these. And remember that each of them can be worked on and tailored to your university branding, style and design.
GA4 and GTM Event Tracking
Conversion events lie at the heart of effective tracking and optimisation strategies. By defining specific actions that indicate user intent or progress towards a goal, universities can gain invaluable insights into user behaviour and optimise their conversion funnels accordingly.
In the context of a Divi website, conversion events can encompass a wide range of actions, including form submissions, button clicks, video views, and more. By strategically identifying and tracking these events using GA4 and/or GTM, you can:
- Gain deeper insights: Understand which actions drive conversions and which ones hinder progress, allowing for data-driven decision-making.
- Optimise user journeys: Identify bottlenecks and friction points in the conversion funnel, enabling targeted improvements to enhance the user experience.
- Personalise marketing efforts: Use data from conversion events to segment audiences and deliver personalised messaging and offers, thereby increasing engagement and conversions.
Implementing Conversion Events in Divi
Integrating GA4 and/or GTM into a Divi website to track conversion events is a straightforward process:
- Set up a GA4 property: Create a new GA4 property in your Google Analytics account and obtain the measurement ID.
- Install GTM: Install the GTM container code on your Divi website by inserting it into the header or footer using Divi’s theme options.
- Configure conversion triggers: Use GTM to create triggers for specific actions, such as form submissions or button clicks, and associate them with GA4 conversion events.
- Test and refine: Verify that the tracking is functioning correctly using GTM’s built-in preview mode, and iterate as needed to ensure accurate data collection.
Conclusion
Divi represents a game-changer for universities looking to establish a strong online presence without breaking the bank. Its user-friendly interface, pre-made templates, seamless WordPress integration, and cost-effectiveness make it the ideal solution for institutions with limited resources. By harnessing the power of Divi, universities can create stunning websites that attract prospective students, engage current ones, and showcase their unique offerings to the world.
Contact us at hello@nextlevelmkt.net if you are planning on creating a new website for your university and would like to find out more about how we build websites using Divi.