By Laural O’Neill

PRCC Public Relations

POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Pearl River Community College is taking the need for stellar online functionality to heart with the launch of a new website. The new website has improved the user experience while showcasing all that The River has to offer.

Visitors will find a completely different layout to the previous one in this new and improved version. All information is placed into main pillars based on the audience with sections including: About the College, Academics, Future Wildcats, Current Wildcats, Life at The River, and PRCC Athletics. Even subpages such as Class Schedules have a crisp new look that is easier to navigate. 

“The evolution of the digital student increased our desire to create a more mobile-friendly, easy to navigate, digital experience for our students,” said Candace Harper, Vice President for Enrollment Management & Business Services. “We know that this generation of students, alongside the convenience of the internet, fundamentally changed the way students seek out institutions of higher learning.”

Over the past year, PRCC has worked alongside Mpressed to create a website that is easy to manage while presenting a seamless user interface for the public. Pages are set up for optimal navigation for visitors to find the information they need quickly.

“We felt it was time to give the website a new fresh look while also working on the functionality of the website,” said Assistant Director of Digital Services and Webmaster Richard Gleber. “With the redesign, we have given both our prospective Wildcats and current Wildcats their own spaces to find the information that is important to them. We are excited about the new fresh look and enjoyed working with Mpressed throughout the planning, design, and implementation phase.”

Digital marketing experts expect the average visitor on a website to form an opinion in as little as 15 seconds. Loading speed coupled with the streamlined pathways to information provides the exceptional experience desired from the new PRCC website.

“Research shows we have a very brief moment to capture a student’s attention and stand out from our competition,” said Harper. “Our website is the most important consumer tool we can provide with more than 92% of students researching a college website as part of their decision-making process. 

“Through focus groups of high school students, college students, non-traditional students, and employees we learned that students want minimal text, key points, more engaging graphics, and an experience with accessibility that appeals to the modern-day student.”

It’s important to note that with the new and improved layout comes a change in location for many pages, so formerly bookmarked pages may not take users where they were previously used to.