Having lots of website visitors is great. But one of the jobs of your school website is to attract prospective parents. If visitors aren’t taking the next steps to enrolling, then it’s time to pay attention.
Visualise the parent user journey as starting from the moment they land on your website. It ends when they leave or ‘convert’. (Conversion is a marketing term for the action you want them to take. For many organisations, this is a sale – but for a school, conversion works better.) If your website isn’t delivering results, it’s time to analyse where the parent’s progress breaks down.
Free tools like Google Analytics hold a treasure trove of website data. This includes the bounce rate – what percentage of people leave a page within seconds of landing on it. And how long they’re spending on each page. This can give you some great starting points. Here are a few more tips you might consider:
Where’s the starting point?
What percentage of visitors starts on your homepage? What percentage lands on other pages, maybe because of a particular Google search? Although it’s called the homepage for a reason, it’s worth considering what other ‘routes’ are in use. Then make sure they help you to make a great first impression.
Unblock dead ends
Each page on your site should lead the visitor to the logical next step. Check your site to make sure there are no dead ends, such as in the news section. This is also quick to fix through some additional links or a call to action.
Ask a question
People are in a hurry. Why not include a very simple form with the chance to ask any questions, rather than hunting through the site for answers? It can help you build up a mailing list (if you wish). And it’ll show you what people want, but can’t find on your site.
Research, logic and empathy are vital when it comes to boosting your site’s user journeys. Qualities you’ll find in spades on the Blue Apple Education team. If you’d like some expert help, please get in touch.
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