Why Should I Send My Child to Your School?

In this overview of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for private schools, we take a look at what your readers see each time they visit your website. SEO for Private Schools - Part 1 explained some of the elements of SEO which have to happen behind the curtain. Now we are focused on the exterior or what your readers see and experience.

Message

What is your message? If you don't have a message, then how can your readers determine whether your school is a good fit for them and their requirements? I hear you saying, "Parents have to visit our school to truly understand what it is we do." That's true, but in this age of instant answers, parents make snap decisions based on their perceptions and first impressions.

So, right there on your first page, or Splash Page, as it is called, you need to make sure your message appears. Let me give you an example: A reader will first see the Title Bar at the top left of his browser. That's one place where what you do behind the curtain with meta tags is actually visible to your reader. Take a look at Andover's website to see how this works. As soon as the page comes up, the title in the top left corner identifies Andover as an independent boarding school. If that's not the kind of school you are looking for, you will know at a glance.

The next thing which puts your message front and center

In 2000 choosing a private school was at a crossroads. Back then you had the traditional ways of finding schools and finding out more about them. You asked around. Personal recommendations from family and friends were an important starting point. Indeed they still are. Then you contacted schools you knew about and requested a catalog or brochures. You could also buy a print directory of private schools, if indeed one was available. (I still have a vintage copy of The New York Times Guide to New York City Schools written by Grace and Fred Hechinger published in 1968.) And you could always hire an educational consultant. Researching schools was fairly labor intensive. It also took time.

It is remarkable how all that has changed in just a few short years. First schools adopted web sites as their primary means of reaching families world-wide. The transition from the printed materials to the digital media took time as there was a certain amount of worry about whether or not the web would reach families. As we adopted the web for just about all our day-to-day activities such as banking and shopping, looking for private schools on the web just made great sense. It is so easy and convenient.

Knowing what to look for and where to look

I think that the toughest part about finding anything on the web is filtering out all

As I have mentioned several times in other articles about choosing and evaluating private schools, you really must set foot on the campus in order to fully experience the school and what it offers. Visiting the private schools on your shortlist is really not optional.

Isn't it enough to visit schools virtually these days? Those professionally produced videos on the schools' websites are great. The students' YouTube videos reveal a bit of what life is like at their school. Right? Not exactly. These presentations are all professionally produced and edited marketing pieces designed to encourage you to learn more about their schools. After you do your in-depth reading of all the schools' materials, it's time for you to decide which schools to visit. You ideally will have 3 to 5 schools on your shortlist.

This video offers you a look at the Century Montessori School.

For example, let's say you had 8 schools that really appear to be a good match for your requirements and your child's needs. Then you should eliminate 2, preferably 3 schools from that larger list. This is especially important when you have selected schools located at a distance from where you live. Visiting 8 schools far away from home will be both time-consuming and expensive. Make that shortlist of 3 to 5 schools to actually visit.

The visits will take one of these forms:

Open Houses

Here is how an

Introduction

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a mystery to the uninitiated. It is one of those arcane sciences that webmasters everywhere have to be aware of. Unfortunately, the mention of SEO for the rest of us prompts most of us to start reading emails and texting friends. It's all so technical. The truth is that good SEO can enhance your marketing efforts. It can make your school more visible to the audience which you are trying to reach. Poor or non-existent SEO will bury your site so that it is practically invisible. So, ignore SEO at your own peril. At the least get your arms around the basics so that you can supervise your web management and design team authoritatively.

Basics

What is Search Engine Optimization? In its simplest terms, SEO is making sure that your site's meta tags and content are optimized so that parents and students can find your site easily when they type specific words into a search engine. For example, if you ask Google to show results for the words "private schools", it will oblige millions of sites that have something to do with "private schools". But be more specific and ask Google to find you private schools in Raleigh, North Carolina, for example, and instantly your search results will narrow and be more focused. That's the point of SEO. To make your Web site more visible.

10 years ago