(aka St. Clair College) is a website I find myself on most of the time as a student, although I wouldn't say it is my favourite- or really even close for that matter.
First lets start with the pros:
The college website is successful in showing its 'artsy' and creative side- which highly appeals to me. The colour scheme is consistent and the viewer is able to recognize this green as the schools colour. The website template used works well and is easy to navigate throughout all the various pages.
I noticed recently they created a banner on the right side of the screen that changes every few seconds to show different events and other content that may relate to the student or viewer. Here they invite viewers to take place in the schools contests to win an iPad (a great idea considering the hype of iPads these days) as well as joining their Facebook group as a way of becoming more viral among the social network.
Another great idea I see in the site involves its navigation menu. By stating areas for different individuals such as "For students,"
"For Parents" "Allumni" and "College board and Staff" a viewer can make an easy choice as to decide what pages they will visit, therefore not wasting their time with pages that won't pertain to the viewers interests.
On with the good...in with the bad.
While the site is visually appealing (as I said before) St. Clair does a horrible job in keeping up to date. The visuals on the homepage is the same as when I first enrolled at the college. The same people doing the exact same thing every time! They should mix it up a bit and add different graphics- maybe something that actually relates to school, like students at the school or the different campuses- something that will relate more with the target then a bunch of people posing.
I also went on other college websites. Senaca college has other sections and editorial content such as news. This creates more interaction with the viewer and holds them onto the site longer. St. Clair could do something like this. They could also expand on the advertising of the college to potential students since they are kind of like a "brand." They have competition...they have strengths...and they have to sell themselves, so why not?
Another faux paus I see with this site is that if you came on to find something in particular...you're in trouble. There have been a few instances where I couldn't find what I was looking for and ended up having to ask another student for help- and I became really frustrated. You would think "Opt out Cheques" and grad photos would have a somewhat high importance to be displayed somewhere in the home page. Not in this case. But thankfully my friend found it =)
Visit the St. Clair college website at www.stclaircollege.ca and let me know if you have my back on this.
