What Makes a Good School Website? What Prospective Parents Really Need

A good school website should quickly help a prospective family understand who you are, what makes your school different and what they should do next.

It should be easy to navigate, accurately represent the school, work beautifully on mobile and make important actions such as booking a tour or finding enrolment information simple.

What should a good school website include?

• A clear homepage message

• Easy navigation

• Strong enrolment information

• Prominent calls to action

• Authentic professional photography

• Learning and wellbeing information

• Clear points of difference

• Specialist and extracurricular opportunities

• Transition and school tour information

• An excellent mobile experience

Your homepage should answer three questions

• Who are you?

• Why should I consider your school?

• What should I do next?

Lead with your strongest message, provide evidence and create obvious pathways to deeper information.

Make your point of difference clear

Your website shouldn't be interchangeable with the school down the road. Instead of only saying every child is known, explain how. Instead of saying you have a strong community, provide evidence. Specificity creates credibility.

Make enrolment information easy to find

A prospective parent shouldn't need detective skills to work out how to enrol. Actions such as Book a Tour, Enquire Now and Enrol should be obvious throughout the website.

Design for mobile first

Check text size, navigation, buttons, image cropping, page speed, forms, tour booking and downloadable documents. Test the actual prospective-parent journey from a phone.

Use authentic school photography

Authentic photography allows families to see learning, relationships, facilities, specialist programs, opportunities and community. Good website photography isn't simply attractive. It communicates.

Don't make every page too long

Use meaningful headings, short paragraphs, concise sections, strong images and clear calls to action. The objective isn't to say everything. It is to answer the questions visitors came to have answered.

Show the school, don't just describe it

Claims about community, teaching and engaging learning become stronger when accompanied by proof such as examples, photography, video, parent voices, student stories and program details.

What pages should a school website have?

• Our School

• Learning

• Wellbeing

• Enrolment

• School Tours

• Student Opportunities

• Specialist Programs

• Community

• News

• Contact

Should a school website include video?

Video can help families experience the personality of your school. Use it when it adds something that photographs and written content cannot.

How often should a school website be updated?

Update essential information whenever it changes and periodically review whether the website still accurately represents current programs, facilities, leadership, photography and enrolment processes. We recommend updating the photography every three years and layout every five years.

What are common school website mistakes?

• Unclear homepage messaging

• Outdated photography

• Difficult navigation

• Too much text

• Internal education jargon

• Buried enrolment information

• Poor mobile experience

• Outdated documents

• No obvious next step

How do you know if your school website is working?

Look at enrolment page visits, tour bookings, enquiries, form completion, mobile performance, frequently visited pages and user feedback rather than judging the site only by how modern it looks.

Your website should feel like your school

A good school website should provide an accurate digital introduction to the school and help the right families understand why it might be the right place for their child.

Planning a new school website? Explore School Presence Website Design.