Your Higher Education Marketing Link of the Week… Xavier University: Home Page for 2 High School Classes… 20 September 2019

High School Student Competition Moves Direct to Xavier University Home Page

Xavier University Everyone knows that competition for new high school graduates will increase in the next few years, especially in the Midwest and Northeast. How to tell those students that you are really, really interested in them? One way might be home page attention that differs from anywhere else they might visit.

Xavier University does just that with a different home page approach to connecting with 2020 and 2021 graduates as soon as the home page opens.

This home pages builds on an earlier Xavier innovation… placing a large search box at the center of the page with a prompt to “Find programs, activities, and more…” Good to see that the search placement remains strong in this latest version.

The new links are clear for today’s high school juniors and seniors:

  • High School Class of 2020
  • High School Class of 2021

Xavier UniversityEach link leads to an offer similar to what you might find in a “search” mailing, each available to download as a PDF:

  • For the seniors, “College Essay Tips X-Guide”
  • For the juniors, “Path to College X-Guide”

While there is no special home page link for high school sophomores, Xavier does know that some people might start even earlier than the junior year. Thus, there’s an opportunity to note a 2022 graduation year on the short, simple form to download the PDF.

Writing right for the web… high contrast text is best

Attention to tactical detail is always important. The white text on gray background for the four “What you can do now” notes that open the PDF content for juniors is too low contrast for easy reading.

Update needed for “test optional” status…

A dated (or at least incomplete) advice note… Although Xavier recently announced it was becoming “test optional” and would no longer require the ACT or SAT, the junior guide still advises that it is “a good idea to take both” the ACT and the SAT. Time for an update.

Follow the Link of the Week…

See how one university gives prime treatment to two different high school classes when you visit the Xavier University home page.

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