Outstanding Website

Our target audience is prospective parents (35-45yr olds)/students (11-15yr olds) and potential/existing donors. The redesign of our website is a milestone with three main focuses: admissions focus to attract potential families, advancement focus to incentivize giving back to our shared community and a data focus to digitally optimize our platform to realize and further curate content that attracts the most traffic. Our website employs the “choose your own adventure” concept. Each individual page is linked to other web pages of (potential) interest under “learn more” or “more ways to connect”. The idea is that each audience member selects their own journey based on where their interests and passions lie. Utilizing blog posts we share Midland’s story through personal stories from students, alumni and faculty, while also maintaining a positive visual appeal. Our overarching goal was to put the student experience front of mind - selling directly to the student, rather than the parent. “I LOVE all the videos. It was great to hear the students talk about what makes Midland special,” said a current parent. We’ve also put a focus on SEO strategies to help with website visibility. Since our Oct. 2021 launch, we average about 2k visitors to the site a month, just from organic search. Our blogs and content across the site are big factors in drawing in traffic. Our site has attracted users from all over the U.S. With these tracking mechanisms, we can now establish a baseline moving forward for tracking admissions and donations.

Contributors:

Director of Advancement & Alumni Relations:	Charis Adams
Marketing & Communications Associate:	Christine Chan
Director of Admission & Financial Assistance:	Cierra Rickman
Former Marketing & Communications Lead:	Shona McCarthy
Former Admissions Associate:	Lydia Felty
Website Design & Development:	Pixels & Digits Solutions Inc.
Graphic Designer:	Ben Johnson
Videography:	Lure Digital
Photography:	Grey & Elle
SEO Optimization:	Cardinal Digital Marketing

MIDLAND SCHOOL

Website: midland-school.org

Location: United States

About the Agency:

Midland’s curriculum merges college preparation with experiential learning. Using the extraordinary resources at hand - 2,860 acres in Santa Barbara County, a near 90-year-old culture of responsibility to community and environment, and a committed faculty - we develop personal agency in our students. Midland cultivates the belief that it matters what we do, and we actively engage students in their high school journey, both within and outside the classroom.