In my opinion, St Clair College’s website lacks a lot of visuals, and I don’t feel like they’re effective enough whatsoever, and it definitely doesn’t make me want to keep going through other pages to seek more information.
- First of all, their homepage should instantly attract eyes and stand out, but it just seems so bland and plain to me, the main pano picture is literally just a picture of the building which doesn’t even capture the actual beauty of St. Clair College’s main campus, it’s just a close up of entrance which doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing whatsoever. And then the rest of the pictures on the homepage are literally only logos or pictures that have a dark filter over them because the words over them are showing more over the pictures, and then the rest is just a bunch of text. So I feel like they’re really missing out on the opportunity of putting a lot of different visuals on the homepage so it’s more attention grabbing, it’ll make students want to keep scrolling to see more and then it will also help them build an emotional connection because they can think to themselves, “that that could be me one day”, if St. Clair were to show pictures of students hanging out on campus, studying together, eating lunch together, or a professor teaching a class. These types of pictures would create more emotion rather than just having a picture of the building. And another good idea that they could do, is that they could have a section on the homepage which shows different videos of current or past students that have been part of St Clair college, and their experience and what they gained out of being a student from there, because those type of videos show authenticity and trust because then students or other people that are looking into applying will potentially get more motivated or consider applying even more by seeing that students like them have gone there and gotten what they wanted and had a great time, met great people, and had awesome experiences.
They could also definitely include a section on their homepage about their sports because St Clair college is pretty big for sports and they could showcase pictures of students playing in the different sports they offer, their competitions, or pictures of the trophies and rewards that athletes have won, because these pictures create excitement and inspiration because it shows relationships and connection between teammates and the memories you create. This, in my opinion, would be really effective and also just show St. Clair College’s proudness for their student athletes. I think it would also be very effective to add a pano slider of pictures somewhere on the homepage as well, of candid pictures of students doing things on campus, hanging out with each other, or studying hard in class or in the labs. the reason why I think this would be a very effective idea is because I think St. Clair College lacks these type of pictures on their website, yes they have a couple but when I went through other pages, I feel like there’s a lot of pages where they could have these type of pictures and they just simply don’t, or the pictures just look fake and not authentic.
It’s really important to have these types of pictures to try and show authentic and realistic pictures of current students at the college because this builds more trust rather than using pictures that look like they were taken off Google. If they lack this (which they do), then when students look at this website, it’s going to look boring and too professional and informative rather than inviting, exciting and like you’re taking the next step into your future. When people are looking into applying to a school, they’re envisioning themselves in the programs they are interested in or at the campus they are looking into, so showing pictures of students at the school can make the people visiting the website envision themselves as the students in the pictures. And not only should they only add pictures of young students, but also older students because not everybody that applies for St Clair is someone for a shot of high school, and obviously also of course making sure to include all types of ethnicities and races because this lets everybody who visits the website feel included and it helps build more connection towards the school and also within themselves because this is something that can really to people visiting the websites picture themselves in these pictures and in these situations which can create excitement and motivation to want to go to the school.
2. The “Apply Now” page is one of the most important Pages other than the homepage on the entire website because it’s where students go when they’re almost 100% sure that they want to commit to the school. But this page honestly feels so empty. There’s a short paragraph, two green buttons for a call to action, and one singular banner photo. That is literally it, there is no energy, no emotion and no content that actually encourages or excites someone to take action to fill out the application.
A better approach to fix this page and enhance it would be to make it more personal and motivating. For example, the college could add short video clips of real students talking about their experience at St Clair, such as what would make them choose it, how they felt when they applied, and what it’s been like since. this kind of visual storytelling can create connection and Trust and it would make a huge difference for domestic students who want to hear people’s stories before they apply. if you think about it, it’s kind of like looking at reviews on a page before you buy something, the only difference is that instead of buying something you’re applying.
They could also add a “Why choose St. Clair” section on this page with real student stories, Professor stories talking about what they love about teaching and small details that show the school’s authenticity. They could also include a small gallery of application day or orientation day to show them what it would look like when it’s their time to go to their orientation and what they can expect. Instead of just using plain boring text, they could also include a short motion graphic guide that highlights the steps of the application process visually, so it makes it easier and clear to understand, which motivates to apply even more because it can show that the process is quick and easy. From class, we learned that visuals trigger emotion and memory and that people process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. So, instead of a basic block of writing, showing people’s real faces and voices would leave more impact and actually motivate readers to want to apply. This type of content also builds a lot of trust and reliability, which are key factors when students are unsure or nervous about applying. It will also help St. Clair College stand out from other schools by having content that is attention-grabbing and exciting.
3. Another page that is lacking visual content is the student services section. This page is really important, especially for new or incoming students who are looking for support. But as of now, the images feel super basic, like stock photos you could find anywhere. There’s a picture of a hand holding a flower, a group handshake, and someone writing on a form. These pictures don’t actually connect at all with student life, and they don’t reflect the services being offered.
Some things that I think they could do to improve this page would be to use real photos of actual students that match the services being offered. For example, mental health services could show a quiet, comfortable space on campus or a student talking to a counsellor in a safe, relaxing environment. For Accessibility Services, they could show a student getting one-on-one help, and for Campus Care, they could use photos that give off a warm and supportive feeling. Right now, the pictures feel random and don’t really connect with the services, so using more personal and real pictures would make students feel more seen and understood. Something else I could do is that they could also change the colours of the photos or the backgrounds to match the feeling of each service. For example, soft and calming colors like light blue or beige would work better for mental health services because they feel relaxing. Brighter colours like yellow or green could be used for services like career help or Student Success since those are more positive and energetic topics. Using the right colours makes each section feel more personal and focused, especially because colour is a big factor when it comes to visuals and content. Using the right colours can actually make a big difference since studies show that using consistent inappropriate colours can improve brand recognition by up to 80%. This is because colour can create associations and influence how people feel and respond to content.
4. Another thing about SCC’s website is that it’s a lot of written information that feels kind of overwhelming, especially on the program pages, which are just a bunch of big blocks of text. Of course, there’s a lot of useful information but it kind of just looks overwhelming and boring to read, especially for someone who’s just trying to quickly compare programs or figure out what the right path is for them. The way their information is laid out right now might actually push people away if they’re not in the mood to scroll through long paragraphs and find information. Me personally, I’ve never gone through St Clair College’s website even when I was looking to apply because it just seems like an excessive amount of information that isn’t laid out and in an aesthetically pleasing way that can help encourage people to want to keep scrolling or that just keeps leading them to more and more information because they’re easily guided.
Something they could do to fix that is to use more visuals like icons, charts, CTA’s that lead to other pages, and infographics to explain things more clearly and break things up easier. For example, instead of writing a full paragraph about Co-op opportunities, they could add a small icon beside each program that offers it so it’s easier and quicker to see. We learned in class that visuals help break content into smaller chunks, which makes it easier to process and also go through the info. People don’t always want to read a bunch of information; they want to scan through and find the most important information easily, and a strong visual helps with that. Plus, visuals improve understanding by up to 400%, so it’s not just about the looks; it actually helps people get the information that they need quicker. For students trying to decide between different programs, a few clear visuals could be what helps them finally choose and it also respects their time by not having them to stay on the website for longer than they have to be because they have to scroll through all this long information and not being guided properly because it lacks visuals.