Types of Academic Websites for Faculty and Researchers

Website designer for academics, Jennifer van Alstyne, shares 6 types of academic websites for you. Whether you’re designing your own website or collaborating to have your website done for you, Jennifer hopes you find this article on The Social Academic blog helpful for you.

If you don’t have one yourself, academics often know a friend or colleague with a traditional personal academic website. People typically think of an academic website as a portfolio that includes the academic outputs you care about, your research, teaching, leadership. There’s many ways to be intentional about how you show up online. Sometimes that results in a different type of website.

Hi, I’m Jennifer van Alstyne, a website designer for academics. I help faculty and researchers get confident when you show up online. While I started out just designing websites in 2018, I now help folks with their share their story. Websites, social media and bio writing for academics too. Together we explore ways you can connect with people online that fit your goals and lifestyle. Want to chat about working together? Schedule your Zoom call.

Websites are by far my favorite way for professors to get intentional with your digital image. While there’s lots of resources to help you with your website project here on The Social Academic blog, this article is specifically about types of academic websites you might consider for yourself.

Questions this article answers

What type of academic websites are there?
Do I need more than one website as an academic?
When do I want to have a personal academic website and a research lab website?
I’m a full time faculty member, and also have a business. Do I need separate websites?
What if I want a done for you academic website?

Subscribe to The Social Academic blog.

The form above subscribes you to new posts published on The Social Academic blog.
Want emails from Jennifer on building your online presence? Subscribe to her email list.
Looking for the podcast? Subscribe on Spotify.
Prefer to watch videos? Subscribe on YouTube.

Types of academic websites for faculty and researchers

Personal Academic Website
Research Lab Website
Research Group Website
Research Project Website
Consulting Website
Business Website

Personal Academic Websites

What sets a personal academic website apart? The focus of this website is you. What ties the elements of your website together is you as a person. So it’s great if your personal academic website feels like it represents the authentic you.

Personal academic websites may answer questions like: who is this? What do they research? What do they care about most? Where are they sharing their research (e.g. publications, speaking, resources)? What are they like as a teacher or mentor? Where can I connect with this person online? Is this an aligned person to collaborate with? How do I get in touch?

Personal academic websites typically share things like your bio, a photo of you, research, publications, speaking, contact info, and social media links. You can have a 1-page personal academic website. I’ve also designed personal websites with 25+ pages. So it’s okay if you want to take up a little bit more space, to invite people to explore what you put energy into sharing with them.

Personal Academic Website Resources

Work with Jennifer

Research Lab Website / Research Group Website

Research lab websites are sometimes required to be internal (hosted on your university’s servers). But many of the labs who come to me for research group website design find that their university-based website has limitations to sharing their research. It may be limitations with the design or format. But it may be that you can’t share important data or engaging resources with people because of the requirements of that space.

Research lab websites tend to answer questions like, what is the research focus of this lab? What’s their current research? Who is on the team? Is this lab recruiting lab members? What’s life in the lab like? Are they recruiting for studies? What research outputs can I explore from this lab? How do I get in touch?

What should research lab directors include on their lab’s website? These websites often include a space for the Principal Investigator(s) and team. There’s often an About page with the lab’s mission and values. From current projects to research outputs and community partners, these websites can adapt to fit your group’s needs.

Lab and Group Website Resources

Work with Jennifer

Research Project Websites

Research project websites answer questions like: What was this research project or initiative about? Who led this project? Who was on the project team? What outputs should we know about? How is this research supporting people / the community? Who does it help most? Who funded this project? How can I get in touch if I have questions about this project?

I met a professor who had 5 research project websites and still felt like he didn’t have an academic hub to call home. Research project websites are often easy to get funded, and sometimes an expected part of funded research outputs. They’re often finite, in the sense that when the project ends, the website is pretty much static. It’s a repository of information helpful for people for years to come, yay. It’s okay if you feel like that’s not quite what you want as your digital presence as an academic or researcher.

Business and Consulting Websites

Some academics have a separate website for their business, consulting, or clinical work. While this looks different for everyone, the focus on this website is on the service(s) that person offers. The audience of the website is more specific to folks considering those services. I chat more about academics with these websites in the next section.

Subscribe to The Social Academic blog.

One website to rule them all?

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, a Lord of the Rings joke, haha. I was watching Billy and Dom Eat the World last night on Amazon Prime. They were so cute that somehow this joke felt like the right analogy. But your website isn’t dark at all. Really it’s a power for good. And that’s my hope for you, that it invites aligned people to engage with what you’re open to sharing about yourself and your research.

When you Google yourself, what do you find? Some people feel like with the search results that come up when they Google themselves, there’s no ‘right place’ to send folks. Maybe their bio coming up is out of date, like if their research focus has evolved, they’ve received a promotion, or even moved institutions.

While faculty profiles are the right answer for some folks, it’s okay if you feel like that’s not quite adequate for your hopes for your online presence. Some academics want to share more than the space allows. Some research profile formats are quite rigid, limiting what can be included. It creates a uniform look, I get it. It’s also okay if you want more.

One of the things faculty share they want most is an academic hub. The website many dream about brings together all the parts of you scattered across the internet. Is that you? Cool! You may find this article on 35 page ideas for your website for academics helpful for you.

While a single website that’s a hub for it all makes sense for some people, what’s right for them may not be quite for you. For instance, some folks prefer a combination of the websites above.

This can look like having personal academic website with a page specifically for your research lab. Or, for paid consulting or speaking if that’s something you take on.

Academic website combination examples include:

Personal Academic Website that has a page for your research lab
Lab website that has small section for the PI specifically (beyond a bio page)
Personal Academic Website that has a consulting page

Many of the Principal Investigators I work with choose to have a personal academic website and a research lab website. And some have both a research lab (that they lead) and have co-founded a research group (co-PIs, collaborative). Multiple websites for academics is sometimes the best fit.

Having multiple websites might look like having

Your personal academic website YourName.com
Your research lab website, YourLabName.com
A research project website (with your co-collaborators) ResearchProjectName.com

Faculty may have new goals or have research where starting a business is the natural outcome. Sometimes their business is supported by their university’s business incubator program.

When I started The Academic Designer LLC back in 2018, I didn’t realize how many professors have a formalized LLC. Sometimes that structure of a registered business is needed. Professor clients have shared they created their business to protect personal assets (like their home), intellectual property, and even to seek research funding.

Or, for an academic or researcher that also has a business?

Your personal academic website YourName.com
Your clinician website, YourPracticeName.com
A research project website (with your co-collaborators) ResearchProjectName.com

I began drafting this article for you after finishing up a website project with a public health professor. She loves my VIP Day service because we get a big transformation done for her in just 1 day. This VIP Day was a continuation of our 4th website project together. Now she has a personal academic website, research group website (just enhanced with new videos and materials), a research project website, and a mini consulting website.

While you can have just 1 website that meets all of your needs, for some faculty the best fit is multiple websites. What works for one professor may be inspiring, but it’s okay if you need something a bit different. You can personalize your website to meet your goals.

P.S. Even if you want all the websites, I often recommend you start with 1. Which is a priority for you first?

I’ve got resources to help you on The Social Academic blog. Here’s the faculty website resources for you specifically. Some of my favorites include

Photography, Hair, and Makeup, an interview on visual branding for academics with my favorite team, Melissa McClure and Amanda Thorne
Author websites with HR Hegnauer (did you know I’m a poet? HR and I met while I was at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder, Colorado)
35 page ideas for your academic website
Guide to research lab websites and research group websites
How to make your personal academic website, a step-by-step guide for folks who want to do it yourself

It’s also okay if you’re like, “I want a website, but I don’t want to do it on my own.” I’m here to help folks like you who want support, who want their website designed and set-up for them.

You can schedule a no pressure Zoom call to chat about working together on your website project. Choose your time today. I promise to help you in the right direction for you (even if it isn’t working with me).

Want to hear what it’s like to work with me on multiple website projects? Please check out the new featured interview on The Social Academic with Dr. Makella S. Coudray. We worked together on her personal academic website + research lab website + lab logo + branding materials. It was so much fun. And, meaningful for Makella’s life.

Check out testimonials from my professor clients.

Whether we work together on your academic website project or not, I hope that your website is meaningful to your life. You deserve an online presence you’re proud of. Thank you for reading this article on The Social Academic blog.

Subscribe to The Social Academic blog.