As the intern for CollegeGroove Educational Consulting, I helped with all aspects of the business, including branding, providing print materials, and proofreading admissions essays. The majority of my time was spent in SquareSpace, where I developed a professional, streamlined website to advertise the college counselor’s services.
Designing the Site
Since I was entirely in charge of the site’s visual design, I got to decide which pages would go where, how they would be laid out, and how to effectively combine text with images. Studying the websites of other consultants proved helpful. They all followed the same general format—a homepage, a ‘Why Me’ page, a page detailing the services offered, and a ‘contact’ page.
I selected a slate blue and rust orange color scheme (as you can see, I really love that combination), chose a pair of complementary fonts, downloaded some free stock images, and got to work. SquareSpace’s interface is fairly easy to understand, but when I ran into an issue I couldn’t fix, YouTube and Reddit proved helpful.
The website I have created is sleek, aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate. Notably, each page contains a link where visitors can book a free consultation.
Keeping it Professional
Designing a website isn’t just about creating strong visuals: I also had to develop a professional tone. College counselors work with high school students, but they must appeal to parents when advertising their services.
The college counselor provided me with long sections of copy, which I edited into short, easy-to-digest paragraphs to avoid overwhelming site visitors with information. I also translated them into convincing, customer-facing language.
On the home page, for example, the text sympathizes with parents, pointing out how stressful the process can be. Then, it reassures them that working with a college counselor will make the process more enjoyable. It also speaks to parents’ desires to ensure a bright future for their children.
