As a school or educational institution, you are likely not looking to change anything drastic about your institution any time soon. However, there are some elements which you should change, and this includes updating your website. Relying on traditional website design might work for a time, but it is not conducive to continual growth, which is what is needed to market your school, university, or educational institution to the right audience.
When you are looking at school website design consider growth-driven design first. There are some problems you might encounter when you use a traditional website design approach. You will have a much higher upfront cost, which can be detrimental to schools with a smaller budget. You may also realise that the website is taking longer than usual to design, which could lower your applications from potential students.
Not sure about what route to take? Below we examine what the problems are with traditional website design.
Major Upfront Costs
A traditional website design can cost a significant amount of money, which while your school website is a sound investment, could be highly detrimental to your annual budget. This is usually paid upfront, which means that you are not easily able to pull out of the project without losing a large amount of money. There are no guarantees that leads will be generated by the website or that website traffic will be increased. These costs could be used elsewhere in your marketing strategy.
Time-Consuming Process
While every website design agency does take time to design, build, and develop a stunning, functional website for their clients, the process can take several months. This process can eat into the time you have set aside for other projects and marketing efforts. With a growth-driven design approach, the process is made much shorter and you can expect results sooner rather than later.
Possible Once-Off Project
Many website design agencies will offer you continued support with your website, some will not, which means that your school website might not be redesigned or updated for a year or more. This is because traditional website design is often only worked on until it is launched. After this launch date, your website might be left to simply sit online, especially if you are not implementing any marketing strategies. Even for a school website, it is important to have updated content and improved search engine optimisation tactics.
Guesswork Leads To Mistakes
Traditional website design is often based on the best practices of the agency. While this is not necessarily bad, the agency might not be taking the true needs of your users into account. For example, your school might have special needs division which needs the website to be more accessible either visually or for audio disabilities. Because many traditional website design agencies use their own best practices for their design, they might not look at user data and may not realise what your audience truly needs.
Usability Issues
When a new website is launched, everyone starts using it all at once, which means that there are often usability issues that can be overlooked. When you invest in growth-driven design, the website is continuously improved based on user daa\ta, which will help to reduce the possible usability issues that could occur. Traditional website design for a school website may not take into account the different users that you have, such as students, parents, grandparents, and other guardians.
Grow Your Website With Your School
Rather than choosing a website that might take months to complete and could be a once-off project, opt for growth-driven design. You will be able to make regular improvements based on real-time data and consumer behaviour, helping to grow your website as your school grows. If you would like to reap the benefits of growth-driven website design, speak to the Edumedia team today to find out how we can help you.
