Your school website is the silent salesperson – it’s working 24 hours a day to sell your school when you clock off. That’s why you must make it work hard for you.

To ensure it is showcasing your school in the best light, we’ve gathered a few tips to help you spruce up your site for 2020 and to continue engaging parents and smashing that Ofsted target out of the park.

 When users land on a website, there are basics they expect to find. Aside from the overtly obvious including contact details and a little bit about your school or nursery – there are other things you can implement to ensure every user finds the information important to them and highlights your school in the best possible light.

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Spend time on your navigation

Slimming down your menu options to the essential pages can help users navigate your school website with ease. Multiple menu options can unnecessarily complicate your website and confuse your users.

Making the website as user-friendly and as easy to navigate as possible, should be a top priority for your school.

Focus on what makes your school or nursery special

Ofsted reports and other school achievements should take centre stage on your school website. After all, this is what makes you stand out. If you’ve got an outstanding maths program or are a school that embraces innovative technology – you should shout it from the rooftops!

You need to place all the interesting information about your school on your homepage if you can – this is what can encourage parents to explore your site further. If you don’t capture their attention within 15 seconds, you can lose them for good.

Include useful content

Not only should your school website have all the latest news updates for parents, but you should also try and offer actionable advice to keep parents coming back to your site for more.

 You can create a section filled with useful resources for parents – from advice about helping their children with their homework to helpful revision tips to prepare for tests and exams. You could even share advice to help their child improve their reading or writing skills at home. Content like this can help you build a personal connection with parents.

Use amazing photography or promo video

High resolution professional photography will really make a huge impact to the overall look and feel of your website. You could have the best website design but having low resolution photographs taken with a tablet or smart phone will not show it in the best possible light. A short promo video can also really showcase how amazing your school is and is a great advert for prospective parents.

Keep your website simple

We’ve already discussed the importance of simple menu navigation, but this should apply across your entire site. Filling every inch of your website with copy or imagery means users don’t know which part of your site to look at first.

You should guide the user through your site with ease. Not only is a simple, clean website design timeless (so you won’t have to keep updating it). But according to computer software company Adobe, 58% of users will skim articles if they’re constrained by time – which, let’s face it – most parents are!

Are you looking to update your tired-looking website and ensure it is Ofsted-compliant? Are you looking to improve Parental Engagement in 2020? Then Look no further! We’ve got a package that’s perfect for you. Contact us today and speak to one of our design team  30-day free trial.