Our new website
Why and how we developed a new Royal Society of Chemistry web presence
James Stevens, Royal Society of Chemistry
25 years after the invention of the world wide web, it has become ubiquitous. Whether we use it to access and share information or to connect and network with others – our lives would look quite different without the internet. But the immense changes that have taken place in the digital world in the last two decades have not only changed the way we make use of the internet. For organisations like the Royal Society of Chemistry it has also opened up new ways to communicate with much wider audiences, to share knowledge and information more efficiently and to offer our community the tools to connect with each other.
Time for change
Over the last ten years, our websites have been successful in helping us achieve these things. For example, each month more than three million visitors access our books and journals online, and more than 4,000 teachers and students make use of the educational resources on Learn Chemistry every day. We welcomed more than one million readers on our Chemistry World website last year, Education in Chemistry recently launched a new mobile-friendly website and our award-winning structural database ChemSpider continues to attract users.
However, we recognised that our main website had become somewhat neglected during our work on so many other digital projects. Feedback from our users, including many of you, told us that it was difficult to find information and navigate our website. Its design and technology had become dated, it did not correspond with the latest international standards on usability and accessibility, and it did not meet the expectations and needs of our audience.
So last year, we decided to completely re-develop our www.rsc.org website, with the main aim of making it more user-friendly and easier for anyone to find the information they are looking for. To help us do this, we spent a lot of time learning about our users’ needs. We began by analysing our existing content to find out which pages people used, what topics are popular and which pages were outdated and no longer useful. We also investigated the types of visitors who came to our website and invited representative visitors to attend workshops to help us better understand what they were trying to achieve. Only after this extensive research and analysis did we begin looking at the design, structure, technology and content of our new website.
Technology that puts users first
We wanted to make sure that our new website works for those who want to use it. This involved gaining a deeper understanding of how users interact with our website and the different types of devices – from desktop computers and tablets to mobile phones and watches – they might use to visit our site.
“Our new website has been designed to offer our users the same experience no matter how they access it,” explains Ian Parry, Applications Developer at the Royal Society of Chemistry. “Having a responsive website design means that our website will now display at a suitable scale and resolution for each variation of device and browser.”
Andrew Wiseman, Royal Society of Chemistry Applications Manager, adds: “We knew we wanted to support visitors on multiple devices, which meant pages would have to work on the smaller screen sizes. At the same time we wanted to use large, eye-catching images for those browsing on desktops.” To help us achieve this, we have put in place robust technology that makes sure all visitors can easily access and use our website.
The right content in the right way
The content on a website is its reason for existing. To make sure that our website provides value to its users, we need to make sure that we provide high-quality, engaging and relevant content. “This project was as much about what type of information we offer on our website and how we organise it, as it was about technology and design,” explains John Igoe our Digital Content Manager.
He continues: “Our old website held 35,000 pages of content. And our users regularly told us that they found it very difficult to find what they were looking for. To make it easier for audiences to navigate our online content, we have refreshed the type of content we publish and reorganised it on the new pages.”
Instead of following internal departmental structures, our content will be organised in a way that puts the user first. So whether someone is interested in news, ways to participate in our activities or the latest events – our new format and website navigation will make it easier for anyone coming to our website to find what they are looking for.
Growing our community
Connecting people with the chemical sciences and growing our community are two of our strategic priorities. Our new website will help us to achieve these goals by making it easier for you to renew or upgrade your membership and for new members to join.
“As part of this project, we have created refreshed pages that will make it much easier for potential new members to find the membership category that is the most appropriate for them,” explains Carys Hayler, RSC Direct Marketing Manager. “It will also be much clearer what documents and information you must have ready to complete the sign-up process. We hope that this more user-friendly process will encourage more new members to join, expanding our community and increasing networking opportunities for existing members.”
Continuing improvements
The launch of the initial part of our new website this summer will form the foundation of our work on the website. We will continue to develop and improve other areas of the website, including an improved events section and improved pages for our Local Sections, Divisions and Interest Groups, which will be updated and developed by working with the members involved. We will keep you informed about the progress of this work.
In the meantime, we are keen to hear your thoughts on our new website. So if you have a few minutes to spare, please do take the time to answer the questions in the pop-up feedback form on this page.