How to optimise your school website

You might have heard of the term SEO, otherwise known as search engine optimisation. SEO is the practice of optimising your website for the benefit of a search engine, such as Google. When someone searches for a query such as ‘school dates in the UK’ — relevant search results come up. The search engine prioritises results they think best match the user’s initial search.

 

To optimise your site might sound technical, but there are a handful of things you can do yourself to help boost your site’s visibility in the search engine. And optimisation doesn’t just help you in the search engine — it helps improve your parents’ experience of your school website too.

So improving your website is two-fold — a better experience for your parents and carers and better visibility in the search engines.

We promise our tips aren’t too technical — learn more below.

 

Compress your images

 

Uploading a large image file to your school’s website can slow down the loading time of your page. Forty-seven per cent of users expect a web page to load in two seconds or less – if you make them wait longer, they’ll probably give up and look for answers elsewhere. We’re all busy people – compress your images to make your page load faster.

You can use this FREE image compressor to ensure your images are as small as possible, without losing quality.

 

Create a Google My Business listing

Creating a Google My Business Listing is straightforward — and it’s free! Creating a listing can help boost your school’s presence in the local community. When a prospective parent searches ‘primary schools near me’ or ‘school in Liverpool’, for example, your school will show on the map as a business. 

When your school name is searched for, your listing comes up on the right-hand side of the Google results, just like ours does.

 

 

 What does this mean for your school?

  • Visitors get a snapshot of your school – they can read reviews of your school without leaving the page
  • Your website and other important information is available immediately to the user – you can even post relevant news and blogs onto your listing, further enticing parents to read about your school
  • They can get your contact information instantly, clicking on the phone number will call your school directly — making it easier for prospective parents to get in touch with you.

Set up a free Google My Business Listing here.

 

 

Get professional help

 

At Parentapps, we pride ourselves on our ability to make your school stand out. Our expert web team are on hand to help you bring your unique selling points to the forefront and wow prospective parents.

You need a website that’s mobile-friendly, easy to use, and most importantly, effortlessly showcases the best your school has to offer.

 

Check out our varied portfolio of school and nursery websites.