- 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)
With what I have learnt about visuals so far and why they are so important to people and what we do, there are many ideas and elements I would suggest St. Clair to include so that they can effectively market to potential incoming local domestic students.
First, I would suggest updating to authentic images that are relevant. In class we learnt that “a picture is worth a thousand words” (Briscoe, W9 – The Power of Visual Content (W25).pdf, Slide 5), meaning that one good image can convey an idea, tap into an emotion and communicate with the user almost instantly. When browsing their full-time programs section for example I found that a lot of images were stock images. With our program, the image representing what we stand for is a computer with data driven shapes and symbols on it. Being in my second year into the program I know that it’s much more than this. This has also been the same image for years as it was what I saw when I was deciding on the program. To me, this image didn’t convey emotion or make me feel enthusiastic because its plain and I wouldn’t want to imagine myself sitting Infront of a computer every day. When learning about the incorrect use of visuals in class, we learnt that “content creators should always avoid in content design: pictures that are obviously stock photographs.” (Briscoe, W9 – C – Importance of Visuals (W25).pdf, Slide 18) St. Clair should use photos of current students in the program to create a genuine and relatable feel for local domestic students. This makes not only St. Clair but the program feel more welcoming, and it can be as easy as showing the third years in the NHL conference room. This brings attention to the program and St. Clair can leverage this with many other programs where they still aren’t including real students in their real working environment. They should leverage this approach across all programs so that these possible new students can feel a natural connection to others around their age interested in the same thing they are. College should look fun and interesting because if not they will choose a school that provides fun, enthusiastic and educational programs with a good environment. Pixelixe blog states that “it takes merely 50 milliseconds for users to form an initial judgement about your website, which can determine whether they’ll linger or leave.”[i] For St. Clair, this can be the difference between a student contributing 4000$-10 000$ in tuition a year to them leaving the website, finding more engaging visuals on a rival’s website and choosing to attend that institution. Real student representation is important because potential applicants want to ensure they can picture themselves at the college immersing in an enjoyable college experience. Attracting local students shouldn’t just be about giving them information it should be about creating meaningful connections that will help with decision making. First impressions matter and if we know that “web pages with great images on them can get up to 94 percent more views than those with no images, or dull and boring ones”[ii] why wouldn’t St. Clair strive to invest in real, high-quality images of current students to foster emotional connections, improve enrollment rates and spike interest?
Secondly, I would suggest implementing more icons and infographics. These tools can be used to communicate information quickly and efficiently. Simple, engaging and digestible visuals break down complex ideas and help users almost instantaneously find what they are looking for. This will help these potential domestic students with navigation. For example, when they are looking at campus locations, there could be a simple map pin so that they can easily find where the different college campuses are in correlation to where they live. This pin can direct them to the campus address, transit routes, parking options and more. This would ultimately make it easier for students to find the different campuses on the St. Clair website, then determine how far they will need to commute in the near future. Kom Unique has found that “you can easily adjust the size of icons to fit different screen resolutions and device types.”[iii] And that “they can represent various concepts, actions, or features, making it easier for users to comprehend and navigate a website.”[iv] St. Clair can leverage this by using universally recognized symbols so that these potential students can quickly scan, something we already know users on the web do. Studies show that “94% of first impressions are design-driven, meaning the aesthetics and usability of your site are key to capturing attention and trust.”[v] This means that effective icons can play a role in capturing attention, making the website look and feel more interesting so that the key information they are looking for as soon to be college students can be found with ease. Overall, icons will help key information standout such as admission details or program listings so that students can make informed decisions. In terms of infographics, St. Clair is a heavily text-based website, which isn’t to blame since they need to deliver prominent and important information. It could be better and easier to digest which is why I would suggest that they use infographics. In class we learnt that “infographics can improve website traffic by 12%.”(Briscoe, W9 – C – Importance of Visuals (W25).pdf, Slide 3) This tool is key to break down complex information. Local high school students are looking for a seamless as possible experience from high school to college and if they cannot engage, understand or explore the website to their best ability it will make this process much harder and stressful. Infographics can help benefit local domestic students in many ways but specifically in simplifying the admission process. College applications can be dauting and confusing and although most of the application is through OCAS, St. Clair can do a better job at leading students here and preparing them for the next steps. I would suggest creating an infographic that follows the following order:
- Research programs and admission requirements
- Prepare any necessary documents
- Complete the online application
- Monitor application status
- Receive and Confirm offer of Admission
- Pay Tuition Deposit
- Get ready for enrollment.
In each induvial section there could be a short paragraph to further expand on key information, making it easier for students to understand and feel confident about choosing St. Clair College. Research shows that “infographics can increase engagement by up to 650% and are 30 times more likely to be read.”[vi] Including infographics across key pages would be smart and relevant to what St. Clair stands behind as a brand. They are here to welcome and get people enrolled therefore they need to “keep it super simple,” (Briscoe, W9 – The Power of Visual Content (W25).pdf, Slide 46) a principle we learnt to follow in class for imagery. If users can understand key details and can be drawn to visually appealing aspects, they are far more likely to make informed decisions about their education and future at St. Clair College which would drive a higher enrollment and engagement for these local domestic students.
Thirdly, I would suggest shifting their focus to showcase community engagement. High schools already highly focus on community engagement, and they emphasize this greatly through their websites, social media platforms and more. These students have spent 4 years of their life involved with a community of their own, therefore it would make sense to provide them with engaging videos showcasing the new family they will be part of while still being involved within the local community they know. We learnt in class that “82% of people prefer watching a video to reading social media posts.” (Briscoe, W9 – B-The Power of Visuals (W25).pdf, Slide 11). St. Clair can highlight its own involvement within the Windsor/Essex community to attract the local students in the area. Currently, on St. Clair’s website, they have text-based areas that touch on community resources, community events with few pictures, but nothing else on their main landing page that ties into an authentic community feel. To check out the sports you have to leave the St. Clair College website and go to the SSCA website to even see fun and engaging pictures, which not many students may know to go there. By making a community section on their main website these local students can easily recognize the kind of community they will be part of and will be able to visualize themselves at St. Clair before they attend. This visual aspect would be compelling and relatable for potential students. Research shows that “video content is 50 times more likely to drive organic search results compared to text-based content.”[vii] For St. Clair this is everything. They want students coming to their website to explore and enjoy what they have to offer, ultimately boosting engagement and attracting more prospects. Videos are important in terms of visuals as they are an effective way to capture attention, evoke emotion and provide an immersive experience. Studies have found that “viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it on video, compared to 10% when reading it in a text.”[viii] This proves that video is crucial for users to remember, and if St. Clair leverages videos they can have a higher chance at being remembered in the mind of these potential students. A strong sense of community is important for many students since college can seem intimidating and overwhelming. By enhancing visual storytelling and incorporating real student experiences with a prominent community section, St. Clair College can create an inviting and relatable digital presence that local students will want to be part of.
[i] The Impact of High-Quality Visuals on Website Engagement. (2024, March 10). Graphic Design Tool and Creative Automation Blog. https://pixelixe.com/blog/impact-of-high-quality-visuals-on-website-engagement/?utm_source
[ii] Author, V. (2018, May 15). 6 Reasons why Visuals are important for your website – the Visual communication guy. The Visual Communication Guy. https://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/2018/05/15/6-reasons-why-visuals-are-important-for-your-website/
[iii] The pros and cons of using icons in web design — KOMUNIQUE. (2023, August 28). https://www.komunique.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-icons-in-web-design?utm_source
[iv] The pros and cons of using icons in web design — KOMUNIQUE. (2023, August 28). https://www.komunique.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-using-icons-in-web-design?utm_source
[v] Swd. (2024, December 4). Why Web Design matters: 94% of first impressions are Design-Driven – Shropshire Media. Shropshire Media. https://shropshiremedia.com/2024/why-web-design-matters-94-of-first-impressions-are-design-driven/
[vi] Kumar, N. (2025, January 30). Infographics Statistics & Facts For 2025 (Updated Data). DemandSage. https://www.demandsage.com/infographic-statistics/
[vii] Wood, N. (2025, February 17). How to use video content for SEO in small businesses: A Step-by-Step guide. ByteSizeMe. https://bytesizeme.co.uk/video-content-for-seo-in-small-businesses/#:~:text=According%20to%20studies%2C%20video%20content,also%20making%20Google%20take%20notice.
[viii] Council, Y. E. (2017, July 13). Council Post: How to incorporate video into your social media strategy. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/yec/2017/07/13/how-to-incorporate-video-into-your-social-media-strategy/
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