Have you heard the expression: "the first impression is what counts"? Department websites are likely to be the first department contact of top prospective students and the main source of information for current students. Websites can also be an instrumental tool to keep contact with former students and increase the interconnectedness of the department. Also, having an appealing, informative and easy-to-navigate website is critical to gain recognition and academic reputation ranking. Advisors perform key roles in many of these activities and they can significantly contribute to the attractiveness of the department website. This talk is directed to advisors and administrators with minimal or no experience on website design. I will talk about my own journey on creating and maintaining my department website (https://genetics.tamu.edu/) and provide you with practical tips on how you can become more involved in the content and design of yours. I will also discuss multiple ways to create department social media presence and engaging content. After the talk, the audience will have multiple suggestions to recruit top quality students and provide current students access to career resources through developing content, design, branding/style, structure and language on their department websites. Presenter: Dr. Carol Vargas-Bautista