As a proprietor, you need a school website that will accomplish two things:
- Make it easier for prospects to enroll in your school
- Keep your existing clients updated about activities going on in your school.
To accomplish these, you need a website that fits into your overall customer journey. Wherever your clients or prospects may be coming from, when they arrive on your website, they should feel welcomed and quickly and easily take the actions that made them visit.
A key way to accomplish this is by using navigation menus and call to action. In this post, we discuss five website must-have pages. We will also tell you why they are important for your school website.
Five Pages Your School Website Should Have
1. Landing page
We describe this as the initial point of contact between your business and your web visitor. It can be your home page or any other page. As the reception of your brick and mortar office, it is the welcoming room. It can either make the prospect want to hang around and learn more or send them straight to the close button. Unlike your reception, there will be no one to stop them, there is no receptionist whose warm smile might make them want to give you a second chance.
So, you have to make your page speak for you. Use colour, design and well-placed texts to get and hold the attention of the visitor and direct them to take action. But more importantly, use your knowledge of why the visitor is there to preempt and answer their questions. We took a deep dive into updating your website pages here.
2. About Page
This is a very important page to your school website because before a child is left in your care, the parents/guardians would like to know something about you, your school and your guiding philosophy. How are they sure they will get academic and moral excellence from your school?
Your About page will tell them. You can also use your About page to talk about the staff, what are their educational qualifications, what is their background, what are your current students saying about them. A well-written About page that infuses the elements of story-telling will quickly convert a prospect to a client and have them clicking the “Admission” link.
3. Facilities
Closely linked to the about page is the Facilities page. Nigerian parents are very interested in the extracurricular activities that your school offers as it gives them bragging rights. They also want to know what extra classes you offer which are outside the traditional curriculum. For example, does your school offer diction training? Ballet? Chess? Swimming? You need to list the facilities you offer and explain whether they are optional or compulsory. PRO TIP: Making these activities optional is often a better route as the client feels more ‘in charge’ of decisions they make.
4. Blog
Yes, you need new clients, but you also want to retain your old customers. Giving them something to look forward to each week, talking about what new offers your school has, events you are part of and how you are keeping their wards happy is a great way to make your parents proud of their choice.
So, create a blog page as one of the five must-have pages for your school website. You will also find that a blog page helps you rank on google as your school will show up in searches based on the keywords that you use on your blog. You may enjoy reading our post on how to come up with blog ideas if you are confused about what to write about.
5. Contact Page
Some prospects just visit your site to get your contact information. A dedicated Contact page which lists the various ways that your school can be contacted is a must-have website page. You may also list your social media contact accounts on your Contact page as some may not be aware you are on social media and would be more comfortable contacting you on that medium. Be clear about where and how they can find your school, including a Google map if possible. List your telephone numbers and mobile lines. If you only wish to be contacted within a specific time, list that on your page as well.
What Next?
Now that you know the 5 must-have pages for your school’s website, you can optimise your site to attract your target audience. Don’t forget to add a link to the web-hosted admission/registration form as a CTA on all pages. Some schools have simply asked parents to come to their school to register, this is a way of losing a majority of the 46.2% of Nigerians who visit your site to learn about your brand.
Also, ensure that your website is:
- Well designed
- Responsive
- Searchable
- Secure
- Loads fast
- Has quality content
- Has clear call(s) to action
- Optimised for search
Slvr Wlf can help you build that awesome website that will convert visitors to clients in three easy clicks. Why not book a free consultation with us today or request a quote?