- 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. Please provide three (3) recommendations and justify your answer with detailed reasoning. (9 Marks)
Based on class knowledge and discussions and after researching/ taking a deep dive on St. Clair colleges website specifically paying attention to the visuals they have on the website- below are the three main things I would recommend that they do on their new website to more effectively market to potential incoming local/ domestic students!
What they should do to improve these:
As I mentioned above most of the images on the St. Clair college website are bland, do not look appealing to a current college student (me) let alone a incoming student with huge ambitions for a great college experience- and honestly look nothing like the college as they look like they are stock images.
So to fix this I would highly recommend that the college revamps and changes a majority of the sites images to be original high resolution images, visuals and videos that actually show colleges real facilities and also depicts the real student life and programs. For example, I want to see the real academic settings, the real library, real events, real students getting academic support, I want to see students enjoying the campus amenities, and I want to see more about the school’s sports and competition teams. By integrating these things not only will it help depict a more authentic perspective to incoming domestic students but also will help them better envision themselves at St. Clair College + have a better connection with the images they are seeing.
Additionally, a fact I came across online stated that “Original graphics are the best-performing type of visual content. The same survey as above asked what types of content marketers thought performed best for them, and 43% pointed to ‘original graphics’ followed by, videos & presentations (33%), charts & data visualizations (31%), GIFs & memes (11%).” [i]– meaning St. Clair should start to integrate more original, more appealing images.
- Incorporate more interactive content, audience favoured content on the programs and courses pages:
Overall to help with St. Clair colleges new website for the program information pages (one of the most important pages (s) of the website)- as that’s where students will be looking to get all the information they need to know about the programs they are interested in/ will turn to determine if that’s they program for them if they don’t go to an open house.
To do this I would do the following:
- I would remove and get rid of the text heavy content and break it up with visuals that are original and authentically coney St. Clair college life + each individual program. As “Images tell stories faster than words and they are far more compelling”[ii] – (I would obviously still keep text but write in the F pattern & in plain language).
- I would replace the very generic/non-relevant stock images at the top of each program page and incorporate more interactive content and also authentic visuals that accurately show the actual St. Clair college students in the program, the actual locations where there education would take place and include images actual current students in the program thriving- to actually coney the college story to incoming high school students. Additionally, “We are now in the age of visual information where visual content plays a role in every part of life. As 65 percent of the population are visual learners, graphics are key to engaging audiences. Visuals summarize content into smaller, and easier-to-process chunks, and when you select the right visuals, they offer more comprehensibility than text-based explanations”[iii]– meaning we really should never use generic images especially at the college where we are selling a service and not a tangible product- as we are losing the opportunity to effectively communicate and engage with audiences- this is especially important when we are trying to sell something to someone- in the colleges case to students seeking further education.
- Additionally, I would include short testimonial videos from alumni/ recent graduates on each program page- talking about what the program got them, why they liked it etc.- as it will help with. This would be beneficial as “testimonials help convince prospective customers to take the next step, builds credibility & trust”- making it the perfect addition to add to a new St. Clair college website that is going to be used to effectively market to potential incoming local domestic students. Additionally, thanks to platforms such as YouTube and TikTok- we love short form content and reports say that “91% of consumers say they want to see brands share more online videos. A whopping 91% of them say they love video content and want to see more of it. “ [iv]
- I would incorporate infographics for program information pages & other college resources pages- In addition to adding visuals and bullets to get rid of some of the text–heavy sections on the page- I would add interactive infographics that visually convey and summarise some key visuals- to help make the information more digestible and engaging. Additionally, for web content – “Infographics increase web traffic by an average of 12%”[v]
The pages I’m referring to- programs and courses pages AKA the pages all incoming students spend the most time on:
- Incorporate visuals that speak directly to the aspirations and outcomes of prospective students by incorporating college student life aspirations and also highlight the outcomes of being a St. Clair student images to highlight the student benefits of attending St. Clair college: To help effectively convey/show what the St. Clair college student lifestyle/ experience is. This is important to do as most students only go to college/ University for “ The college experience, for the opportunity to meet new people and form connections with professors, peers, and other professionals in their field and also to increase their job prospects and earn a higher salary”.[vi]– meaning in the images we share on the new website to best appeal to the incoming college students aspirations and motivations of attending college- to give them value.
Highlight the Real, Authentic College Experience: by highlighting local authentic content- featuring real students- such as images of students gaining real employable skills and hands-on experiences, students enjoying the college experience + college extracurriculars such as our gym, sports games, gaming center, school events etc.- to overall better align the visuals mimic and match their aspirational outcome. By doing this it will not only be appealing to them but also will help them envision themselves at the college getting their dream college experience- which can also help create a sense of urgency for them to apply. This is especially important to emphasize in the college’s imagery, visuals and messaging because especially for local college students- from experience, I know many students can be hesitant to choose a local college to attend, such as St. Clair for locals to Essex County for example- because they feel like they won’t be getting the most out of there college experience- meaning it’s important to counteract that and touch on that pain point and show them at St. Clair you will have a great college experience and student life! Showing authentic and, in this case, local content also is extremely beneficial on web content and for this new St. Clair college website as people like to see local things- it’s human nature that proximity makes people more interested- as physiologically “we tend to gravitate toward, and trust, things we are familiar with as it enhances consumer trust and confidence in the brand” [vii]
Additionally, as I stated and justified above in addition to having a great college experience aspiring/ incoming/prospective college students want to get a good job after they graduate. So, on the website, I would include infographics and stats all over in addition to visuals showing/conveying the message of how you will get real employable hands-on experience at St. Clair College, I would also include infographics comparing St. Clair college graduates, post-graduating students obtaining a job in their field and St. Clair employment rates in comparison to other colleges.
[i]Oppelt, J. (2023, September 19). What is a visual identity and why does it play a crucial role in branding? The Branding Journal. https://www.thebrandingjournal.com/2023/05/visual-identity/
[i] Connell, A. (2025, January 1). 41 Top Visual Content Statistics for 2025 (Latest data). Adam Connell. https://adamconnell.me/visual-content-statistics/
[ii] [ii] Scott Brisco W9 – C – Importance of Visuals (W25).pdf (slide 5)
[iii] Scott Brisco W9 – C – Importance of Visuals (W25).pdf (slide 4)
[iv] Connell, A. (2025, January 1). 41 Top Visual Content Statistics for 2025 (Latest data). Adam Connell. https://adamconnell.me/visual-content-statistics/
[v] Scott Brisco -W9 – B – The Power of Visuals (W25) (slide 5)
[vi] Why do people go to college? (2023, February 16). https://www.careervillage.org/questions/660252/why-do-people-go-to-college
[vii] Parent, T. (2020, January 3). The science of familiarity. Stride Creative Group. https://stridecreative.com/the-science-of-familiarity/