Digital University Marketing & Communications

Monotype, Web Infrastructure, & AI Search Visibility Session Highlights:

Presented by Scott Troxel, James Tombs, Sravi Garikipati – University Marketing & Communications

UMC Brand & Monotype Font Updates:

Scott Troxel, Senior Director of Brand Strategy

Scott provided important compliance reminders regarding typography licensing and introduced new additions to the UMC team.

• Monotype Font Compliance: Monotype fonts are no longer approved for use across university websites due to strict and restrictive licensing practices. Campus teams must use official brand fonts listed on brand.utah.edu.

• Substitute Fonts: The University of Utah does not approve substitute fonts. Units using non-approved fonts for public-facing sites are responsible for securing and managing their own licenses.

• New Team Member Introductions: UMC welcomed Chelsee Niebergall (Content Editor, Marketing & Brand Strategy Team) and Emma Koa (Social Media Specialist, Social Media Team).

Development & Web Infrastructure Updates:

James Tombs, Associate Director of Design & Development

James shared technical progress on the ongoing web infrastructure migration and solutions for form email deliverability.

• WP Engine Migration: Approximately 60% of university sites have been migrated from legacy AWS monolithic structures to WP Engine, with 100% completion targeted for early 2027.
• Infrastructure Benefits: The modular setup gives each site its own environment (Production, Staging, Dev) with automated daily backups, server-level Cloudflare security, dynamic auto-renewing SSL certificates, and improved site performance.
• Formidable Email Deliverability: To resolve email delivery issues caused by security restrictions on the new server environment, UMC collaborated with UIT to deploy a dedicated, validated email sending domain.

Mastering AI Search Visibility:

Sravi Garikipati, Associate Director of Digital Research & Operations

Sravi presented an actionable framework for transitioning web strategy from traditional keyword rankings to becoming the authoritative answer for AI search engines.

• Shift in Search Dynamics: AI overviews use "query fan-out" to evaluate multiple related subtopics at once, shifting focus from single keyword ranks to comprehensive topic clusters.
• The Continuous Optimization Loop:
  1. Listen (Search Console): Identify demand by monitoring impressions, CTR, and search intent.
  2. Prove (Google Analytics): Analyze user post-click behavior through engagement rates, exploration paths, and key event actions.
  3. Improve (UMC Theme): Structure pages using core UMC theme widgets (accordions, cards, split sections) to answer four essential questions: Where am I? What do I need to know? Why should I trust this source? What should I do next?
  4. Repeat: Track performance consistently over fixed time windows to refine page structure.
• Implementation Strategy: Start small by selecting 5–10 high-value pages, establishing baseline metrics, and optimizing them into authoritative answer engines.

Resources:

Request Analytics/GSC Dashboards: umcsupport@utah.edu

University & Brand Resources

• Official Brand & Typography Guidelines: https://brand.utah.edu/branding/typography/
• Digital Community & Meetup Recaps: digital.utah.edu/meet-up

Support Questions:

• UMC Support Email: umcsupport@utah.edu