You can start by knowing what your site should include. Here is a checklist for evaluating school websites from the free “School Website Planning Guide.”
It’s important to point out that these days, it’s no longer okay to ignore social media. You can’t have a killer school website unless you provide visitors with many opportunities to engage via your popular social media channels. Some additional elements you will find in a killer website are exceptional brand/design consistency, sliders containing the most current priorities, and featured videos.
Now that you know what a site should have, look at your school website and see if these elements are present. If they are not, turn your site from so-so to sensational by incorporating any missing elements.
Next make sure you avoid mistakes. Steve Williams, co-founder of Campus Suite which helps schools unify their communication, says to avoid these 7 fatal mistakes.
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Go check your website for these mistakes. If they exist, fix them.
You know what your school website should include and what mistakes to avoid. Before jumping in to redesign your school website, it is helpful to take a look at some well-designed sites to give you an idea of where you are headed. To do that, you can look at WebAward winners for “Best School Websites.” Here are three to get you started: Granite Bay High School Website, Mentone Girls' Grammar School, Glenelg Country School and here are 10 more.
Once you’re done, nominate your site for the 2016 WebAwards by completing this form.
So, what do you think? Is your school website killer? If so, share it in the comments? If not, what elements is it missing and what mistakes are made? Can these be remedied? Is anything getting in the way? Where will you start? Share your ideas, insight, an inquiries, in the comments.
