If you’re wondering how to increase private K12 enrollment for your private school, you’re in the right place. In this post, we’ll take a look at 5 must-haves that will take your school website design to the next level, getting more traffic, inquiries, and sign-ups. This video below is from a webinar we held to educate schools on how to move people from visiting a website to scheduling tours. We’re certain this message will apply to your school too.
Best of all, you don’t need a huge marketing budget to dramatically improve the success of your school website marketing efforts. By the end of this process, your inner marketer will be jumping for joy.
Throughout the video, we will be referencing notes that our speaker uses to structure the whole seminar. If you find it useful to your endeavors, we encourage you to download it below.
Click here to download the speaker’s notes.
Read on to get a summary of this webinar for the must-haves that you can start applying to your school website today!
School Website Design Secrets to Book You More Tours
Want to book more tours for your private school this school year? Get excited because you are about to be privy to secrets that top-performing schools use to book more school tours!
The top five secrets we’ll be looking at are:
- Search Engine Optimization
- Clarifying your Message
- Having Great Photos
- Calling to Action
- Responsive Design
Fitting It All in Your School Website Marketing Plan
- First, we have the community, which is the people who live within driving distance of your school and have a school-aged child.
- Next, we need to get them to your website.
- Third, we need them to book a tour, which is going to be primarily on your website.
- Lastly, they sign up.
So how do we get them from step one to step two? Advertising and SEO (because that’s free!).
“Visit Us” (typically there’s a button on your website that says “visit,” “reply here,” or “shadow day,” and that’s how people book one-on-one tours of your school), and lastly, once they book a tour, is enrollment and payments.
Hopefully, all of the parents who sign up and become part of your school family are going to refer other families and start the cycle over.
So today’s training is going to focus on getting people from your website to booking a tour. For many of you, that will be a “Visit Us” button.
I should point out that Gradelink is a school information system as well, and there we have admissions, payment systems, and deferral programs. We also have a lot of parent communication within our parent portal and a lot of student success tools. If you don’t know what Gradelink is, visit gradelink.com/brochure and download a brochure! We do integrations with Apple, Office 365, Renaissance Learning, Star, Schoology, and others.
1. Leveraging Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is all about being found online. Some methods can be expensive (like pay-per-click), but here are free strategies:
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Plan your Google My Business profile
Claim your listing, add great photos, and write a compelling description.
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Separate Google Listing for Your School
Ensure the listing is distinct and not tied to other organizations.
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Get Good Reviews
Encourage positive reviews on Google, Yelp, GreatSchools, and Private School Review.
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Include Specific Keywords in Your Website Links
Use clean, readable permalinks for better SEO.
2. Clarify Your Marketing Messages
Pass the Website Grunt Test
In 10 seconds, can someone answer:
- What do we offer?
- How will it make your life better?
- How can you enroll or learn more?
If they can’t, your website needs to improve clarity.
State your message clearly and back it up with real stories of students who benefited from your approach.
3. Use Great Pictures
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Your photos should convey your clear message
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Go for candid photo shots
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Photograph different environments in the school
Use photos throughout the site that reflect joy, engagement, and your school’s personality. Showcase all campus areas and activities.
4. Why You Need a Call-To-Action (CTA)
Guide parents to take action: schedule a tour, contact admissions, or apply. Clear buttons and messages make a big difference.