In class, we were given the task to create content that could be optimized and that would demonstrate SEO strategies that we have learned in class in relation to the Grove City College website. The website is out-of-date and not truly answering student pain. My group explored the majors and degrees page. We worked to craft content that not only answered their pain, but also that allowed for GCC to come along side the students and guide them in their decision making process.
Quiz
For example, we created a quiz. This was like a personality quiz that would match student answers to the majors offered at Grove City College. We also created blog posts around the quiz. This not only allowed us to provide more information to students about these type of quizzes, but we also linked to other sites. This way, we were encouraging backlinking and making our site more authoritative.
Podcast and Video
Additionally, we wanted to make the page more engaging, therefore we created a podcast and a video series. The podcast would be with current students that came in undeclared or that switched their major and their journey. This would help to give reassurance to prospective students that they do not have to have everything figured out, and there are students like them still trying to know what God has in store for them. The video series would be with current grads and would highlight what they are doing with their major. A common question we found is “What can I do with this major?”, and this series would show a day-in-the-life of someone who graduated with this degree.
Layout
Lastly, we improved the overall layout and the individual major pages. Before, the majors were just listed and the individual pages were overwhelming and text heavy. We changed this to first be picture oriented so that it was less overwhelming. We also made the major page to be broken up using text, video, images, icons, and blog posts.
4 Responses
I like how you described the page made within the class to show the different features of it and how it all works. The quiz function is a nice way to find out what a person is looking for and their characteristics. Very creative!
Its always funny when my design classes try to talk about the difference of good and bad websites, because Gcc will inevitably come up in conversation, I’m glad that you tried to show how to improve as much as you can.
Emily, your page with your group was fantastic! I think you guys did such an amazing job on making sure it was prospective-student friendly with a lot of call-to-actions. Great job!
I really liked your website! I know that I personally would love having a good place on the website to learn about the different majors offered. I also liked how you included the day in the lives and some insights on what people could do with each major after college.