Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

First Impressions

  • By Shannon O'Connor
  • 06/01/18

College Planning & Management routinely features articles on the importance of the first impressions your campus makes on visitors and, in particular, potential students. When prospective students—and their parents—are shopping for where to spend their higher education dollars, what they see and experience when they first walk onto campus affects their choices. With this in mind, CP&M shares information from experts offering advice on creating appealing entry points, from signage to landscaping to building façades and more.

Your campus has another front door, however. I know, because I spend a fair amount of time on college and university campuses across the country… without leaving my office. How so? I visit your websites.

I routinely scan college and university websites in search of news stories and press releases for both our print and electronic publications. Upon landing, some of your websites offer sweeping drone-captured videos of expansive campus landscapes, while others show bold, eye-catching fonts, graphics, and appealing photography of students actively engaged in learning and college life. A few are a bit bare-boned, providing basic text, headlines, and a selection of menus and links. These are few and far between, however.

The first impression your institution’s website provides may be all it takes for potential students (or journalists) to linger, click through, and learn more, or go scouting for other schools. Research shows it takes about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about a website that determines whether they like the site and whether they’ll stay or leave, and that 38 percent of people will stop engaging with a website if they find the content or layout unattractive.

What message does your online “front door” deliver to first-time visitors? When was the design of your website last updated? How does it compare to those of other institutions that may be recruiting students who are also looking at your school?

There are a number of websites available—including the Web Design Degree Center, the Webby Awards, HubSpot, WebAward, and more—that profile or give honors to websites they consider the best. Those are good places to do some research to see how your website compares. Your website is your digital front door. If you make a winning first impression online, chances are you’ll increase the number of potential students who set foot on your campus.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management June 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Construction Begins on New University Research Vessel

    Boat-building company All American Marine recently announced that it has begun construction on a new catamaran research vessel for the University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) in Port Aransas, Texas, according to a news release.

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.

  • USC Launches Major AI Initiative After $200M Gift

    The University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Calif., recently announced that it has launched a “transformational” new AI initiative thanks to a $200M gift, according to a news release. The project will leverage AI toward breakthroughs and innovations in subjects like the health sciences, business, security, and the arts.

  • Lawrence Group Announces Three New Hires

    Integrated planning and design firm Lawrence Group, based in St. Louis, Mo., recently welcomed three new staff members, according to a news release.