5 Ways to make your school website effective for current parents

by Emil Willis

Designer, Blue Apple Education

Websites are a key tool for any school, but many focus their efforts on how it attracts new students and staff, and tend to forget that it can be a key communication tool for existing parents too.

Here are 5 simple steps to follow:

1. Think like a parent
The most important factor to bear in mind with your website is to think like a parent. It’s very difficult to put every parent in the same box, but consideration of their needs and wants will ensure your website is an effective communication tool for parents & guardians.

Make sure your website content is relevant for parents. Frustrations will arise and interest lost if the content on the website isn’t up to date, relevant or easy to navigate.

2. Let your website speak for you
The idea is to get parents eventually to look at the website first rather than calling the school for information. Content such as the latest curriculum information, the school calendar, school news, class pages, galleries, extra-curricular activities and how parents can help their child at home, are what parents look at frequently, so make sure the information is always up to date and helpful. Having these will decrease the time taken answering phone calls, will reduce the amount of photocopying that needs doing and will save paper too!

3. Mobile Friendly
The majority of people now prefer to use their mobile to browse the internet instead of their desktop computer. It’s important that your website is optimised for mobile just as much, if not more so, than desktop.
 4. Bite size information that’s easy to find
An effective website should have easy to navigate sections with clear, short titles. Key information needs to be accessible in three clicks or less, otherwise people will not take the time to look for it, and all your hard work creating a page will go to waste.


5. Make sure it looks and sounds good!
Above all, your website needs to look good. The last 4 points are all valuable, but we all judge a book by its cover and guess what...your website is your school’s cover. A visually unappealing website with bland content can switch people off. Make sure you incorporate beautiful photography, video and powerful stories that will engage parents and get them singing your praises.

Blue Apple Education are School Communication and Design Experts. We believe each and every school is remarkable and unique in some way. We see it as our duty to unearth what this is, and to convey the essence of this both beautifully and convincingly. Please feel free to comment below about which elements of your school’s communications and design you feel could be improved. Or get in touch...we’d love to hear from you: hello@blueappleuk.com or 0330 223 0766.