Imagine a world where prospective students can seamlessly explore programs and faculty profiles, where alumni can effortlessly connect with their alma mater, and where educators can share research and resources with global audiences. This vision of an interconnected, user-friendly, and dynamic online ecosystem is precisely what higher education institutions are aiming for. And Drupal, with its robust capabilities and adaptability, is emerging as its trusted content management system (CMS) in turning this vision into reality.

Drupal is one of the most secure, scalable, and flexible open-source CMS solutions for educational websites.71% of top colleges and institutions trust Drupal for running and maintaining their website efficiently. Whether it is managing traffic loads, running multiple sub-domains, managing heavy content libraries, securing sensitive student information and materials, faster content delivery or creating a personalized experience. You can do it all through Drupal.

Let’s learn about the unique ways in which Drupal can help redefine your digital journey and how Altudo, a Drupal partner, can help create a roadmap to successful Drupal migration.

Explore here in detail what makes Drupal the most preferred open-source CMS for your website.

A closer look at Drupal’s digital experience solutions for your higher education website

Drupal owns 19.1% of the US higher education market, and it is only possible due to Drupal’s highly supportive, scalable and flexible architecture. Out of the entire market share, it is mostly the very large and large institutions that rely on Drupal for its myriad of benefits that make managing complex requirements easier.

Let’s look at some of these unique features that make Drupal the top choice for many esteemed institutions:

• Flexibility and scalability

  Drupal's flexibility stems from its modular architecture. It consists of a core system that provides essential CMS functionality and a vast ecosystem of contributed modules. Site builders and developers can extend and customize Drupal by adding or creating modules to meet specific project requirements. For instance, universities can easily incorporate modules like course catalogs or alumni directories to create customized websites. This flexibility allows higher ed institutions to tailor websites precisely to their needs.

  While also known for its scalability, it helps websites that anticipate growth. It can handle high levels of traffic and content volume. You can optimize Drupal's performance through techniques like caching, load balancing, and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). Moreover, as your website grows, you can scale your hosting infrastructure to accommodate increased traffic and resource demands.



• Robust security

  Education websites have critical information like student records, alumni data, sample papers, important announcements, legal certificates, all of which underscore the importance of building a secure website.

  Drupal takes security seriously and has a strong reputation for it. The Drupal security team actively monitors and addresses security vulnerabilities. Security updates are released promptly when vulnerabilities are discovered.

  The CMS includes features like input filtering, user roles and permissions, and session management to help protect against common security threats.



• Multisite management capabilities

  Drupal offers multisite capabilities, allowing you to manage multiple websites from a single Drupal installation. Universities with diverse departments or campuses, each needs its own website. Instead of installing separate Drupal instances for each site, you can use a single Drupal installation to replicate code and modules while maintaining distinct databases and content for each department's microsite.

  This approach streamlines maintenance tasks, significantly reduces overhead, and guarantees uniform branding and functionality across all sites. The university's main website, departmental sites, and campus-specific sites can all share core features and updates, ensuring a cohesive online presence while saving time and effort in managing numerous individual installations. Drupal's multisite management empowers educational institutions to efficiently manage their web ecosystem, offering both flexibility and consistency.



• Ease of accessibility

  Drupal places a strong emphasis on web accessibility. Any disability must never stop a student from learning or a teacher from sharing knowledge. Thus, to make your institution open to all irrespective of their disability, the CMS is designed to comply with different standards. These are World Wide Web Consortium guidelines (W3C), ATAG 2.0 (Authority Tool Accessibility Guideline) and WCAG 2.0 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards.

  As a result of accessibility compliance, Drupal for education websites can be easily used by especially abled students, staff and non-staff members.



• Supportive community

  Drupal has a vibrant and supportive global community of developers, designers, site builders, and users, working 24*7 to ensure smooth functioning of Drupal websites across the globe. The community provides valuable resources, such as documentation, forums, mailing lists, and local user groups. This community-driven support network is a significant advantage when troubleshooting issues, seeking advice, or finding solutions to challenges.



• Personalizing experiences

  Drupal offers powerful personalization features that allow you to deliver tailored content and experiences to your website's visitors. You can segment your audience based on various criteria, such as website user roles, behavior, location, or preferences. Then, using Drupal's personalization modules and tools, display your customized content, recommendations, and user experiences.

  This capability is particularly useful in higher education for delivering personalized major and minor degree recommendations, short-term courses, campus news, or admissions information to different user groups, such as prospective students and alumni.

Learn Altudo’s way to help you migrate to Drupal CMS

Transforming your prestigious institution to provide digital excellence, immersive experiences, and seamless processes is Altudo’s expertise. Explore all your tech upgradation goals you want to achieve whether website migration services, integration, or content management, we will help you fulfil them.

Here are some of the FAQs based on how to successfully migrate website to Drupal:

• What are the key considerations for a successful website migration to Drupal?

  Altudo begins with a thorough analysis of your current digital landscape. Our team evaluates your existing content, functionality, and user needs to create a website migration blueprint tailored to your institution.



• How to ensure a smooth transition and minimize downtime during migration?

  Our experienced Drupal developers ensure that the transition from your current platform to Drupal site is smooth and error-free. We handle every aspect, from data transfer to ensuring that the new site mirrors the brand's voice and ethos.



• What kind of post-migration support and maintenance services to consider?

  Post-migration, our relationship doesn't end. We provide continuous support, ensuring that your Drupal site remains updated, secure, and in tune with the evolving needs of your institution. Our 24*7 round the globe service offerings allows us to provide consistent support in your digital transformation journey.

  We also believe in empowering our clients. Altudo offers comprehensive training sessions to your IT teams, ensuring they're well-equipped to manage and modify the Drupal site as needed.




• How can I improve the loading speed of my Drupal website?

  Altudo goes beyond just website migration. Our team works tirelessly to optimize the performance of your Drupal site, ensuring fast load times and a seamless user experience.

Conclusion

In embracing Drupal for education websites, institutions set themselves on a path toward digital transformation, enhanced user experiences, and streamlined processes. Altudo's Drupal CMS services can be your guiding light on this journey, ensuring that all your website visitors get a seamlessly personalized user experience, along with the information available within seconds

Altudo, a certified Drupal partner, can help you successfully and seamlessly migrate to Drupal CMS with the help of substantial Drupal service offerings like Drupal web development, migration/upgrades and much more. Our learned and experienced Drupal experts can guide you about what best suits your higher education website and how to benefit from the extensive Drupal capabilities. Our experts are also there to support your post-migration to help you continuously improve your website performance and enhance your digital experience at large.

So why wait, connect with us at marketing@altudo.co and design your smooth transition journey with our team of experts.