Back in the days when parents wanted to enroll their child in a school, they selected schools based on the reviews of other guardians and its infrastructure. In general, it was the performance of the students in academics that attracted more admissions, but we have long passed this phase.
Today, not only excellent academics but also the priority given to co-curricular activities in school are the essential criteria that lure a parent. They want an all-rounder school for their children.
Now the question arises how do they know about what a school has to offer?
This responsibility lies on the website of the school. How well they portray the activities and achievements of it. Does the site provide all the information that a parent is finding?
Parents search on google for best schools, then visit their websites. If it is not impressive and informative enough, it does not excite the parents, and they quickly bounce to other websites. These should be taken into consideration if a school wants to create an excellent first impression.
With the help of a good school management software, the look and usefulness of a school website can be improved considerably.
Following are the common problems with a school website:
School’s Website Taking A Time to Load
Ideally, it should take one second to load, more than 10 seconds users are bound to bounce. Nobody feels like waiting for an eternity for the website to load, yes it is an eternity when other websites display all the information within a few seconds. Make sure that the site loads quickly and allows smooth navigation. It gives users a feeling of control over accessing the data, and this is important.
Rickety Website
Build the website on a robust coding language and trusted source so that it is consistent with all browsers and provides the best security features. It should be compatible with smartphones, tablets, desktops, and laptops. The penetration of smartphones is far more extensive than desktops or laptops. So it is far more likely that parents will search for schools on their mobile phones. So the school website must customize and optimize appropriately on all devices with a data connection; this will also ensure its accessibility to all users.
Dull Website
If the school website is dull, it can never convince parents of tech-age that its education would be any better.
A website must be engaging and interactive with proper layout. It should not be tedious, slow, and monotonous. We have many tools to design comprehensive, attractive, and user-friendly websites. So why not use this facility to create a website in such a way that it compels the user to approach that school immediately.
Poor Architecture of Information
It is very annoying for users to search and hunt for a piece of information. Usually, the information is not adequately categorized and formatted according to the visitors of the site. It makes the task of finding the notice or data relevant to parents or user, cumbersome, and they leave the website frustrated. Information about the school should be displayed in a well-planned manner to make it easily accessible to the users. If the content is segregated prudently for particular groups of users, it will save much time and make the users happy with the school.
Incomplete or Wrong Information on the Website
Avoid this grave mistake at all costs. The last thing that a parent wants is some false information on the site of a school. Incorrect and unreliable information shows the irresponsible attitude of the administration and generates a feeling of distrust — not a good sign when they want to entrust the future of their children to the school. Every information updated on the website must be genuine and accurate about the school.
Redundant and Old Information
Many a time, schools forget to update the data after the creation of the website displaying the same mature content, and same old photos. They show previous facilities even though the school has upgraded its services, infrastructure, and academics. People believe what they see; if the website showcases old content and pictures of the school, then the school fails to convince parents that they have bettered and bolstered over time. It harms the school more than they know. Redundant information should not be displayed. All data and information about the school must be updated regularly.
Spelling and Grammatical Mistakes
Sometimes school websites have spelling, grammatical, and punctuation mistakes in their content. This is a danger sign for parents who want to send their children to learn the very basics of the language, grammar, and writing in this school.
If the school cannot be careful and stringent in these aspects, how can one expect them to guide and educate their child correctly? Check the website thoroughly for such silly yet serious mistakes and typos, get others to read the content, and scan the complete website, to prevent such disasters from taking place.
Social Involvement of School
Schools often miss out on informing the users about the connectivity they have with society and how they involve students to become responsible members of our community. A website of a school should have a good number of photos displaying the activities and events done for social benefits by the children. This makes parents proud to see their children actively contributing to the betterment of society.
Space for Parents
The school website often skips out the contribution made by parents in the development and smooth running of a school. Though parents have an indirect connection to the school, yet they play a significant role. Acknowledge their efforts by putting their feedback and testimonials on the school website. This small section for parents will make a huge difference. It will assure new parents that they will have an active and vital involvement in the lives of their children by collaborating effectively with the school. The enthusiastic participation of parents will ultimately enhance the performance and increase the reputation of the school.
Conclusion
Make your website with the same love and hope that you have for your organization. Put a sufficient number of photos showing the activities, events, and sports competitions organized in your school and also display media coverage. The design of the website should be professional, crisp, and clean. The excellent presentation leaves a lasting impression. It means investing the right amount of time and money at the right place to build a website for your school. The team of CAMPUSDEAN, the best school management system, gives this opportunity to develop and design the best website for your school.