Having a school website is important, but the content on your website should inspire and excite your audience. This can be difficult for those who might not be as creative as others or who are not sure what type of content to create for their parents, current students, and potential students.
When you are creating a content marketing strategy it is important to remember your audience at all times. If you do not write a blog post or create a video to answer a question they might have, then it is likely that your content will not make the impact you are hoping for. In this article, we give some top tips on how you can create exciting content for your school website.
Take The Student’s Perspective
Who better to target than current and prospective students? After all, they will have the best idea of what it is like to attend your school, and are more likely to be the ones who are reading your content. Listening to how your students speak about your school will help you to use language that is authentic and that will resonate with your audience.
You could conduct interviews with students about what a school day is like, and use this video or audio content as part of a series, or you could use testimonials of students and have a “Student Life” page where prospective students can go to find out more about the school from their perspective. You could also use this material to create blog posts that answer student questions about what a normal school day or after-school activity entails.
Keep Articles Informative
Writing blog posts and articles for your school website not only helps to boost its search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts, it can help to inform your students and provide them with solutions to their problems. When you address student questions in an informative manner, prospective students and parents will return to your website as a resource during their journey with your school.
Making this valuable information easy to find and clear to understand will help you to encourage more applicants, as your audience will see that you are trustworthy and credible from the get-go. Your articles should address frequently asked questions from students and parents, and should answer these with the right information. Blogs or newsletters can be helpful in providing an insight into the culture and ideals of your school, too.
Be Insightful With Infographics
Many students learn better with visual resources, and the same can be said of their parents. Infographics are an ideal way to tell a story using visually appealing graphics and information, and they can be an effective part of your school website content marketing strategy. You should remember to tell a cohesive story using your infographic, and not simply rely on statistics and numbers.
You can enhance your infographic by providing calls-to-action in some sections, such as encouraging a parent to book a tour of your campus when telling them about the size of your grounds. Potential students could be asked to sign up for a newsletter on an infographic that teaches them about the different after-school activities that are on offer.
Get Creative With Content Sources
If you are unsure of where to look for content ideas, you could look at the content that current students are already producing. For example, if you have a student-run newspaper, you could publish some of the articles written by students onto your school website, or you could publish a video made by a student for a project.
Some departments might have internal newsletters that have helpful content for students. You can look into repurposing this for your school website in order to answer specific questions about each department. If you have an alumni magazine or a prospectus, you can repurpose some of this content and use it on your website too. Be sure to reword and change it rather than just simply copying and pasting the content.
Don’t Use Jargon
If your school has certain terminology that is used on a daily basis, it is best to avoid using it too much as it could alienate prospective students. Alternatively, you could have a Glossary page which explains all of your terminology, which can be useful for improving website traffic and your SEO rankings, too.
It is best to not use too much jargon that could be confusing for new students as it might cause them to look at another school. You could opt to have a portal or page on your school website that is specifically for current students and parents where you can easily use a language they are familiar with.
Excite And Educate
Your school website content should focus on your readers and not solely on your school. After all, these are the people who will be consuming your content. Be sure to keep your articles informative and use insightful infographics. You can look for content in creative sources, but remember not to use too much jargon.
If you are in need of a sound content marketing strategy for your school website, speak to Edumedia today to find out what we can offer you.
