- 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 local domestic students.
Based on class learnings on the importance and the relevance of visuals in web content there is plenty of opportunity for St Clair Collage to improve their website to domestic students. Since we know the audience, we need to understand what is important to this audience in order to develop the goals for the content, so that the images are tailored to the wants and needs of this audience. Local domestic students care about affordability (tuition, fees, scholarships), career opportunities (Internships, aprenterships, success stories, workshops jobs), campus atmosphere (student life, vibrancy of the culture, sports, clubs, and lastly facilities and amenities (gym, sports centers, class sizes, parking).
The first change I would suggest would be to include visuals on student culture/actual students who have been to St Clair. The human brain receives processes and response to visual images 40% better than if there where not images. On the collage’s website they should create a visual portion to showcase current domestic students, and their stories. This is supported by MIT research which shows that a student’s feeling of belonging initially connects with their perception of the college (MIT 2023). For my proposal, this suggests that by St. Clair College displaying visuals such as images of relatable students or student testimonials, it directly influences the emotions and feelings of local students about how the college understands and supports them both before and after registration. This is because tailored visuals reflecting the diverse range of students applying and can significantly impact registration. When students see someone they identify with represented on the page, they’re more likely to feel motivated to register. For local students, seeing relatable visuals communicates a message like, “That’s me,” or “I want to be there,” prompting them to process the message and respond by taking action, such as registering for an open house or a program. Considering that 40% of learners respond better to visual information than text, it’s crucial for St. Clair to develop a website section featuring visual elements of current students. This also will provide representation for a diverse range of programs, the visuals could represent the nursing program, than the welding program, and the business program. The conclusions of the MIT said “Stop telling students they belong, show them instead that they belong” (MIT 2023). Representing current students will model the idea that St Clair is for those local domestic students. The visual should stand of their own but should be complemented with copy or audio-visual material to highlight their experiences, allowing for students to hear the experiences from their peers, and learn form one another. Peer to peer influence accounts for roughly 75% of young adults decisions (NIH 2021). Visual of students have the power to influence resonate, motivate, and evoke a response when leveraged towards local domestic students on the St Clair Collage website.
This suggestion is not only backed up by research but is backed up by well preforming collages and universities in the industry. For example, Harvard has a gallery in the first fold of the website that allow incoming students to see peers who are just a a little further ahead then they are. Brown University does a similar approach however they their images are more audio visual which aids in the personalization and authenticity of the message that is being communicated to incoming students.
Harvard: Brown:
Humber Collage:
Humber Collage for example also has a decision devoted to showcasing current students and their stories so that the reader can pick the person that resonates with them and engage that that visual.
All this to be said St Clair has content on their website for local domestic students, however it’s archaic and has limited to no images that relate whatsoever to the needs, wants and inclusion of local domestic students. This can very well be a make-or-break experience that students have with St Clair happening at the subconscious level. Immediate uninterest and lack of images means to message is being received which in turn makes the local student feel unvalued and like this collage will not be a good fit for them. This also could translate into featuring visuals for current students and post graduates on their website.
The second change I would suggest is highlighting career pathways. As mentioned earlier, featuring current students, helps local students visualize themselves in that role. However, what’s equally important, especially for the 18-24 age demographic, of locals, is knowing the type of career or job they can expect after graduation. Visual reassurance of their career. Research shows that attending a local college increases the likelihood of students remaining in the local workforce (Detroit News, 2021) which outlines one segment of the incoming local students. Therefore, showcasing college graduates who have stayed local is crucial on St. Clair’s website, as it will resonates with a large audience of incoming local students. Additionally, incoming local students may also desire career preparation for future relocation. Both segments represent potential paths students can take when they partner with St Clair Collage. This is why visually representing these options will speaks directly to the needs and desires, fostering trust in the collage and its preparation process for their future. Based on the MIT report, college websites must show, not just tell, when making a claim. Psychologists at Williams College, state that 93% of communication is nonverbal and that visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text (Williams College, 2010). This implies that for local students, the college has approximately 13 milliseconds to capture their attention with a visual message that conveys St. Clair’s commitment to students’ futures, offering both local and broader career opportunities. Generally, collage students don’t attend collage just because, they prefer and are motivated when the collage is positioned to help them reach their goals of becoming a electrician, or engineer, or a graphic designer. The visuals could also include text to support the image messaging such a proving details and graphics to showcase the statistics to help the students through the decision process. The visuals are the main motivator is demonstrating the collages commitment to the careers of all attending local students. According to the U.S Department of Education, who ran a evaluation of collage websites and their effectiveness. Content made up the number 1 spot for ranking the importance of a collages website and representing data through graphics ranked 7th most importance in collage website characteristics. They can break up the career’s sections into different visual segments, for example trades, to healthcare and diploma to undergrade programs, to name a few, Leveraging the sales funnel perspective, local prospective students know of St Clair, and as a result the collage needs to demonstrate that through their offerings, they prepare students the best for their future careers. Including career oriented/ preparational visuals of where past students will help motivate the incoming students to move down the funnel past just the interest category and into the decision category. Visual like the ones mentioned above will be pivotal in archiving this tailoring to local students and enhancing the collages website.
Beyond the statistics, a quick look at the industry suggests that having visuals that correspond with the educations levels/career types. Having options to explore the different career routes, gives ample opportunity for the reader to see something that resonates and decide to respond to the cue and register for the school.
Stanford for example has a section of their home page that showcases the different avenues of careers available which is exactly what incoming local students care about when deciding whether to stay local or look at schools beyond their region. The University of Victoria, also has these elements that showcase to prospecting students the categories of offering, communicating that there are undergrad and graduate groups that than future get broken own through segmentation. This example below shows how the visual correspond with the content, and tailoring the visual experience for the incoming students. This translates easily to targeting local students who can be segmented based of the visual that appeal to their lifestyle/prospective career.
Sandford:
University of Victoria:
The third change I would suggest is for St. Clair to highlight the amenities and services they offer. Currently, this content is buried three pages deep within the website, leaving prospective local students unaware of the offerings available to them. This suggestion is based on both personal experience and statistical data. As a member of the St. Clair brigade, I give local students tours around our facilities and inform them about the amenities and opportunities available. Emphasizing these features is a key aspect of our training. However, it’s shocking to note that none of what I’m taught to highlight about St. Clair’s campus is represented on the homepage, which serves as the first and most crucial point of contact for students.
According to Inside Higher Education, students at two to three-year colleges consider facilities and amenities 16% more than those at four-year universities when choosing an institution (IHE, 2022). This underscores the significance of amenities for local students in their decision-making process. The same report indicates that two-thirds of students consider campus facilities in their college decision (IHE, 2022). While campus facilities may not be the sole deciding factor for local students, they play a crucial role in influencing their decision to register. This aspect is currently lacking in St. Clair’s website visuals and could be integrated to enhance engagement and communication about the college’s offerings.
The types of visuals I would suggest include a sliding gallery of images specific to each category, which also link to pages where students can engage more deeply. For instance, sports-related visuals could feature various sports teams, while other amenities could showcase the gym, classrooms, and tech labs. These visuals could also include students actively participating in these environments, aiming to evoke relatable emotions and inspire local students to experience the amenities themselves.
This approach allows prospective students to visualize what life could look like if they attended the college, effectively communicating the story of St. Clair College in 2024 and what it means for that local student. Given that visual images increase retention by 42% and 40% of students respond better to visual information (as per class content week 8), it’s clear that communicating the story of the opportunities and amenities at St. Clair will optimize the experience of the website for the prospective student.
To further highlight the facilities to local students, featuring photos from aspects of influence like the Nexus Center, sports plex, or the health building would give them a better idea of the campus and how these offerings cater to their personal needs in terms of community, career, and education. While local students may already be familiar with St. Clair, utilizing visuals provides an opportunity to redefine the college as one that offers amenities and opportunities that enhance the day-to-day life of each new student, making it easier and more enjoyable.
A few examples of institutions that have done this well are Wayne state and Bates University. Wayne state provided visual on what each aspect of the collage opportunities and facilities would be like. Bates university provided icon visuals to direct the student to pages of relevance so that they can explore more .
Wayne state
Bates University
Another notable university, UCLA, which utilizes dynamic visuals that users can interact with. This is important as it helps communicate the culture and opportunities available, such as sports teams, gym etc. These dynamic visuals tell the stories of relevant students, allowing local students to resonate with the images, and visualize themselves in similar situations, while also highlighting the facilities that enable these events to take place. Incorporating similar interactive elements into St. Clair’s website would boost its effectiveness in sharing the college experience and available opportunities to local students.
UCLA:
Or lastly the examples can be taken from St Clair’s own handbook. The image below can be found on a sports and amenities page that showcase the collage’s offerings. more can be done to communicate the story and messaging of the visual but at first glance, these would be more effective than the lack of any of any impactful visuals.
Note: there is a lot more that is important to prospective local students such as financial aid, scholarship etc. however I chose what I believe to be the most important visuals to include on the collage’s website at this time.