4 Website Mistakes Small Schools Make

Jan 13, 2020

Hi there, 

This week I attended some conferences where all the buzz was around small schools refreshing and rebuilding their website.

Schools either had just finished the process, were in the thick of it or knew they needed to do it ASAP.

Listening to the conversations, I realized that some small schools were making big mistakes when it came to planning and building their website. 

And so I thought I'd share with you four mistakes that'll cost you $$ and time in the future in the hopes you won't make the same ones.

1. Small schools hire someone else to build their website.

Why is this a problem? Because it makes you reliant on others. And it costs a lot of money. Now more than ever there are easy drag and drop website platforms that even your least tech-savvy employee can manage.

With the changing market your site needs to be constantly updated and redesigned to meet your consumer's needs. If you're hiring out this work to others you're going to be shelling out lots of $$ not only for the design but the redesign and any changes you need.

Do your school and your budget a favor and keep your website in-house!

2. Schools design a site or choose a platform that doesn't support video or makes it difficult to incorporate video.

Video is the future! It's the easiest way for people to connect with your school.

Schools need to be posting authentic, heart-of-the-school videos all the time. These aren't just that professional video that you have on your homepage. These should be used in vlogs and on all of your pages.

If you have a website that either slows down when you upload too much video or else doesn't allow you to easily incorporate video into each page, you're kicking yourself in the foot. 

3. Schools design a site that isn't user-friendly and doesn't meet the needs of current and prospective parents needs.

You can design the most beautiful website in the world but if your customers (current and prospective families) can't locate the information they need or find it difficult to navigate then you've just got a very expensive piece of web art.

Think about your customer's user experience and what they most need and remove all barriers that might get in the way (hint: lengthy admissions forms and calling to schedule tours are big ones!).

4. Schools create websites for educators, not customers.

We're all passionate about your school's mission and the educational philosophy behind academics. But one of the biggest mistakes schools make is writing like educators.

They include lengthy descriptions using "insider" language instead of writing short, to-the-point content for customers. Put away the paragraphs and instead focus on video and photos to tell your story.

When you do include written content, write like your parents. Use the words they use to describe their child's education. Less is more! 

Want to learn more? Check out this video to avoid these common website mistakes. 

Enjoy!

Aubrey

Founder, Easy School Marketing

#privateschool #schoolmarketing #easyschoolmarketing 

#independentschools

P.S. Connect with me on LinkedIn - I'd love to hear about your favorite tips!