A professional website for an accomplished team
About Hatch College Advising
About Hatch College AdvisingAfter retiring from their long careers in education, Mark and Anne Hatch weren’t ready to fully retire. Creating Hatch College Advising feeds their passion for education and allows this married couple to work together.
Mark spent many years as a high school college counselor and retired after 23 years as VP for Enrollment at Colorado College. Anne spent her career as a middle and high school English teacher and is a published author and editor. This couple has the expertise to help kids choose, apply for, and get into a college that fits their needs.
The need for a website
Anne had been coaching students in writing their college entrance essays for a couple of years, and Mark had helped a handful students so far. Before they came to me, they had established their LLC, what they would offer and how they would offer it.
Mark and Anne were starting to get referrals from clients and needed a website to show their services, display their credibility, and create a way for people to contact them. They needed to clearly communicate all of the great guidance included in the college counseling package.
Why Hatch College Advising chose Harmony Website Design
You may have noticed that I share a last name with Mark and Anne Hatch, so you probably guessed that they already knew me. I’ve been married to Mark’s brother for over 20 years, so you can say they know me pretty well.
We still took the time to discuss their website needs and make sure I was a good fit for their website design. I recommended our basic website package which can be described as an online brochure. Although it’s called a package, the basic website includes search engine optimization and a customized design. All of our websites are expandable and we discussed the possibility of adding a blog and other pages as their business grows.
The distinct pieces of the Hatch College Advising website
Here are a few of the key phrases Hatch College Advising is appearing for after just a couple of weeks
Search engine optimization
Mark and Anne had already bought the domain, hatchadvising.com. During the discovery phase of our website design process, we do keyword research and we recommend using keywords in the URL if possible.
We found the phrase “college advising” was an appropriate key phrase for their business, however, they had already been using their email addresses at hatchadvising.com and didn’t want to re-establish their emails. So we chose to optimize for “college advising” directly on the website and I think that will still be beneficial.
Branding photography
One of my favorite things about the Hatch College Advising website is the use of original photos. Not many of my clients take my advice and engage in a brand photography session, but they took me seriously. I think it makes a huge difference in their website’s professionalism.
The benefits of your own photos on your website are:
- People recognize you when you first meet them and feel comfortable with you sooner.
- You don’t have the same photos on your website as other businesses do.
- Original photos can boost your search engine optimization if they are optimized.
Another fun aspect of this website’s photos was that I went to a college campus to take a shot based on what they were looking for on the homepage. We just couldn’t find the exact stock photo they wanted. (If you can tell me what college this is, I’ll buy you a coffee!)
Clear organization
The College Application Timeline PDF can be printed to refer to during the process
The amount of information that Mark and Anne gave me started to feel like a lot for the size of the website we were building, although it was all really good information. I decided to keep all of it, but it needed to be organized well in order not to confuse website visitors.
To keep the website clean, we decided to put some of the “deeper” information into downloadable PDF format. For example, the Comprehensive College Counseling Package download offers descriptions of each service involved in this package. The College Application Timeline is another great download that students and parents can print to keep track of their process. Every download is branded with contact information to keep Hatch College Advising top of mind.
A website built to grow
Mark and Anne are just starting out, so they don’t have a lot of testimonials. Eventually, we will add a page for testimonials because they do such great work!
We also plan to add a blog to the website in the future. Remember, I told you that this couple can write and have a lot of information to share? The blog will be a great way to share more helpful information with high school students about college admission. Blogging also shows their credibility and can add key phrases that people are searching.
Additional services provided by Harmony Website Design
With Hatch College Advising being a new business, they needed a logo. I created this logo with the H representing a building with pillars. I chose colors based on what Mark and Anne liked as well as what I thought felt appropriate based on my process of choosing website colors.
From the logo, we created business cards, letterhead, a Zoom backdrop, and more. I gave them a style guide so they can be consistent with colors and fonts, and I used these styles in their PDF downloads on the website.
Clearly conveyed benefits of working with Hatch College Advising
Mark and Anne already knew that parents would be the ones visiting their website on behalf of their high school students, and they knew what their selling points were. So we speak to parents in our website content. We recognize how complex the college search process can be and how parents want their student to make great choices.
Most importantly, parents can have peace of mind knowing Mark and Anne’s expertise. They know what college admission officers are looking for, about tons colleges around the country, all of the steps necessary in choosing and applying to a college, and much much more.
The results
I think this website turned out as professional and refined as Mark and Anne are. It’s clear and easy to follow, presenting their two services clearly on the home page, as well as making it clear that they provide some other services. I’m ready to hire them for my son!
Take a look at their website for yourself at HatchAdvising.com.
