The vast majority of people who type “ucdavis.edu” into their web browser are prospective students, and now the UC Davis homepage does more to tell them about what they could gain from an education here.

A redesigned campus homepage — and its hundreds of underlying pages — launched this week after two years of data analysis, interviews with users, A/B testing and more.

“We’re proud of the collaborative work that our in-house teams did to create this new design, which showcases everything we’re so proud of at UC Davis,” said Tristan Peery, web developer and interim director of Web Communications in the Office of Strategic Communications, which oversees the main campus homepage.

Heavy development work on the site began last fall, together with Information and Educational Technology’s professional web services team and Enrollment Management. The new site launched over the weekend and continues to be refined.

The new design also takes visual cues from last year’s Outgrow the Expected brand launch, using the same color palettes and watercolor-like design accents that have been rolled out throughout many other marketing materials around campus.

The spring “yield” period is when prospective students weigh their offers of admission and choose the university they’ll attend in the fall, and this season visitors to the new campus homepage are greeted by a large ambient video showing a variety of campus scenery, along with a map adorned with “in the middle of everywhere,” highlighting attractions in the areas surrounding Davis. Eighty percent of visitors to the campus homepage are prospective students, Peery said, adding that the website is meant to appeal to a national audience that may not know exactly where Davis is located. A forthcoming admissions blog will provide information and tips to help prospective and current students navigate the college journey, from application to graduation and even beyond to professional or graduate school.

Special attention has also been paid to underlying pages that detail everything from food options on campus to profiles of a diverse group of students. Another page lays out the process for visiting campus and provides tips like places to eat or stay. The new campus life page provides quick stats, upcoming events and ways students can connect with each other.

The campus News and Information page also received an overhaul in the new design, providing prominent links to stories from Dateline and UC Davis Magazine, as well as information for members of the news media. It also creates a permanent location for COVID-19 news and stories from the pillars that make up major areas of multidisciplinary expertise.