- Take a look at St. Clair Colleges’ website. In relation to visuals, what would you propose to St. Clair College to improve/enhance this new website to effectively market to potential incoming students. Please provide 3 recommendations and justify your answer with detailed reasoning. (9 Marks)
Based on what we have discussed and what I have learned about visuals in relation to web content there are three things that I would change about the St Clair College website to improve/enhance the website to effectively market to potential incoming students.
Use authentic images: My first recommendation of what I would propose to St Clair College to improve/enhance the website for potential students is to use authentic images. After looking through the St Clair website I felt that it was lacking relevant images that showcase the college, the students, the programs and relevant images that reflect the experiences of what it is like going to St Clair College. Instead of using authentic images the college has used mostly low quality stock images and I find that there is just an overall lack of visuals on the website home page.
The reason I would propose this to St Clair College is that by using authentic images they would be able to showcase the college in a positive light and use visuals that represent a fun campus and student life. A specific element of visuals that I would use to market to potential incoming students is to capture images of the campus and events such as sporting events. In one of our class discussions we talked about how students look for school spirit when choosing post-secondary and we went on to discuss how we didn’t understand why the college doesn’t highlight major events on the website and major wins like the men’s basketball team being the OCCA champions. The school spirit at the basketball games is something that I think would be very beneficial to be captured and displayed on the website that would effectively market to potential students.
Some other forms of authentic images that I feel would effectively market to potential students are imagery provided by students to showcase the college from their perspective and images that highlight and resonate with the interests of potential students such as career-focused images or campus events.
Make the website more engaging: The second recommendation I have based on the college’s website in relation to visuals is that I would propose to the college to make the website more engaging to potential incoming students. From looking at the St Clair website it is not very visually captivating and has no visual elements that are immediately engaging to potential incoming students which is especially important because of the short attention span that people have when browsing the internet. The way that St Clair College could make its website more engaging to potential incoming students is by considering incorporating interactive elements within the website, specifically the landing page such as videos, infographics and animations.
The main reason why I think incorporating engaging elements such as the ones I have mentioned is because based on what we have learned about visuals, viewers spend 100% more time on pages with visual content. Using engaging content on the website in the form of videos, infographics and animations is a very beneficial way of splitting up content and blocks of text to create a more visually engaging website.
The type of content that could be shown using these elements that would appeal to potential students are things such as college campuses and facilities, student life, and activities that would give incoming students different ways to see the college other than just images. Also adding videos on the landing page will increase average page conversion rates by 86%. Overall by making the St Clair College website more engaging through the use of videos, infographics and animations they will be able to capture the attention of potential students and encourage them to take action or explore the site further.
Add student experience: The final recommendation of what I would propose to St Clair College to improve/enhance the website for potential students is to add student experience to the website. Something that potential students are looking for especially when looking for a college is the opportunities that programs will provide for them and help them find their future careers. Showing proof of potential students and what they have accomplished is something that incoming students are likely going to be intrigued by because it helps build trust and credibility.
Because visuals are so important to a website my recommendation would be to add different visual elements to the program page such as student success stories, testimonials and charts or graphs about the success of certain programs. By sharing these different elements on the website, incoming students are more likely to see the social proof of the college’s value and what they would be able to provide to them.
By adding student experience to St Clair Colleges’ website they will be able to market to potential incoming students by showing them the opportunities the college can provide as well as building trust and credibility with real success stories. By using these different elements in the form of visuals such as images, infographics, statistics and video the college will be able to provide incoming students with confidence about their decision in choosing St Clair College. Overall adding student experience to the website is a great way to showcase the college’s thriving and active community that has a large network of supporters, graduates and alumni.