Guide: Writing Effective Program Landing Pages

This guide provides tips and ideas for writing effective program landing pages for majors, minors and certificates. A landing page is simply the first or "home page" for a program.

Functions of program pages

• Briefly educate people about the discipline, industry and degree (whether they apply to Wayne State or not).
• Inform and attract prospective students to Wayne State.
• Serve program information to current students.

Consider your audience

• Program pages will vary by audience, e.g., undergrad vs. grad, young adult vs. older adult, current vs. prospective student, but it's important to envision the audience that you want to capture.
• Be especially mindful of assuming what students (prospective and current) should know (within reason).
• It's safe to assume that prospective graduate students have some level of program or industry knowledge, but keep in mind those who are exploring potential academic and career paths as well.

What to include on program pages for majors/certificates

1. Describe what the program is and what skills/experience students can expect to earn and be prepared for.

Example: Students majoring in {program name} will be prepared to...

Example: Wayne State's online master's in environmental science will prepare leaders with the knowledge needed to influence policies and practices addressing complex environmental challenges from pathogen transmission to climate change.

Example: The field of sociology offers a range of research techniques and theoretical lenses that can be applied to important social topics such as health and illness, gender, race and ethnicity, inequality and globalization. A major or a minor serves as helpful preparation for students interested in professional careers such as law, medicine and public policy as well as academia, government, politics and the non-profit sector.

Example: What is public administration? Public administration encompasses various types of work in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Traditionally, the field works to advance management and policies so that government can run more effectively and efficiently. The field has now expanded to include the private and nonprofit sectors; from local to federal government, HR departments and budget offices to program managers and donor relations officers, public administrators work to administer programs that directly benefit the public.

2. Share what's unique about Wayne State's program.

The program page is a prime opportunity to pitch to prospective students if and before they ever inquire for more information or visit campus. With so many institutions to choose from, it's important to share the advantages of taking this program at Wayne State and in Detroit.

Example: Wayne State offers a broad-based Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology that brings a cross-cultural knowledge base and unique methodological and conceptual tools to bear on understanding the transformations, problems and interconnections of contemporary societies. The discipline is divided into the fields of cultural, biological, linguistic anthropology, archaeology and applied anthropology.

3. Describe who/what type of student the program is for.

Students will explore these pages to get a sense of if a program is right for them. Adding a brief snippet that speaks directly to this will help students gauge alignment to their goals and interests.

Example: The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) is for those students who wish to follow a career in the sciences and/or those planning to enter post-graduate professional schools.

4. Answer the question, "what can I do with this degree?"

• This is the career section of a program page where you can discuss skills acquired, career options and paths
• The section doesn't have to be titled "what can I do with this degree," but should answer that question in simple and brief language
• Remember that the career insights window will appear at the bottom of the page (by default) with occupations, salary and industry data. So avoid listing that here and focus on supplemental information that the career insights do not cover
• For interdisciplinary programs whose scope is broader than what career insights might offer, some additional context discussing career paths and opportunities is helpful

Example: Graduates with a degree in {program name} will be"¦

Example: The online M.A. prepares students to enter management positions in environmental science or advance their careers in environmentally related fields and can also allow students the opportunity to later pursue a Ph.D. in related fields. Online courses enable students to continue their studies while working and contribute to the growth of their workplace.

5. Mention any notable program rankings or accreditations.

Does your program hold a ranking (e.g., U.S. News & World Report), accreditation or some type of recognition? Be sure to mention this as it will add to what's unique about the Wayne State experience.

Example: Located in the Department of Political Science, Wayne State's M.P.A. program is NASPAA accredited and the oldest in the state of Michigan.

6. Match any minors that would pair well with the program.

• Minors are a CLAS requirement and, when paired appropriately with degrees, they can greatly enhance a student's experience and range of opportunities.
• List any minors (including those outside of CLAS and your department) that would pair well with the program or potential career paths and share the advantages of doing so (see a list of CLAS minors).

7. Resources and help for current students.

While our program pages should lean towards prospective students, they're also used to communicate select information to current students. Whenever possible, really specific information should be communicated via Canvas, listserv and/or a supplemental Warrior Site/blog in order to keep the program page within a reasonable length.

A department's undergrad and grad landing pages should include information/resources that apply to all undergrad and grad students, respectively, regardless of their specific program, e.g., B.A. vs. B.S. This includes things like advising forms, honors program information, etc.

If a program has specific information for its students apart from the other programs, such as an M.A. handbook, forms, etc., this content should go on that specific program page (e.g., Master of Arts in Sociology). This is most often the case with graduate programs as requirements and curriculum vary from program to program.

What to include on program pages for minors

Create a page for each minor program

Many minor programs do not actually have a dedicated page and instead just link over to the bulletin requirements. This doesn't sell and inform very well leaving the student with little information beyond the title of the minor.

Instead, create a dedicated page for each minor using a lite version of the elements included on the pages for majors:

• Describe what the program is and what skills/experience students can expect to earn and be prepared for.
• Describe who/what type of student this minor is for.
  • e.g., "this minor is for students interested in/passionate about _______."
• Answer the question, "what can I do with this minor + degree?"
• Discuss the value of adding a minor in general (and this minor specifically).
• List careers or areas of study that this minor would help support.
• Mention any notable program rankings or accreditations.
• If applicable, share what's unique about this minor program at Wayne State.
• Majors this minor might pair well with (within CLAS or in other schools/colleges).
• Do not list requirements (we link to the Bulletin for requirements instead).

Note: Since minors do not earn degrees or typically lead to careers themselves, any career-related information here should be tailored accordingly.

Reminder: While we want to promote CLAS minors, be mindful to include any major or minor at WSU that would pair well with a particular area of study.

Things not to do

Do not list program requirements

Avoid re-writing program requirements that are already listed in the bulletin. By default, every landing page includes a link to the program's requirements. This ensures a single source of information and avoids potential discrepancies between the bulletin and the program page that will confuse students. The only exception for listing requirements here is for additional content that goes beyond what the bulletin covers or in rare cases, a correction to inaccurate bulletin content.

Do not post class schedules and courses

Do not publish term schedules or list available courses. This content becomes quickly outdated and is too difficult for departments in general to maintain. Do this instead:

• For a current schedule of classes, link to the registration portal.
• For a list of available courses (with descriptions), simply link to the bulletin for that department/program.

Exceptions: In some cases for interdisciplinary subjects where the content for the schedule or available courses is not available in a single source (e.g., bulletin or registration schedule), we've granted exceptions with a special page set up to accommodate those. Contact the CLAS Marketing Team for more information.

Schedule of classes: We're aware that the current schedule of classes/registration system has been a burdensome experience for many students and faculty who want to easily display available courses or the semester schedule. We're actively working with the Registrar's Office and Web Communications for a longer-term solution to this.

Help is here

While you should do your best to follow the guidance here and provide all of the content that you can, remember that the CLAS Marketing Team will proof/edit/massage any program page-related content. The more you can provide, the more we'll have to work with as you're the experts of your programs. However, we don't expect you to know marketing speak or write as a professional copywriter would.