Whether you’re planning the launch of a new ECE centre or your established centre’s website is in need of a refresh, here are 7 elements your website needs to reach your audience, inform them, build their trust, and encourage enrolments.
Educator Profiles
People research early childhood education centres online for one main purpose – to get a sense of which centre they trust to care for and educate their child.
Including photos and short profiles for each of your team members or educators can be hugely advantageous in helping to build trust. By actually showing your target market who you educators are and giving them a little information about them, their areas of interest and qualifications, you’ll give prospective families a sense of already knowing your team – and knowing is the first step to trusting.
Contact Details
We are frequently surprised by the number of preschools and ECE centres that fail to include all of their contact details on their websites!
While including an online enrolment form on your website is a must, don’t make the mistake of thinking this removes the need for prospective families to contact you via email or phone. Choosing an early childhood education centre is a big decision, and parents and caregivers will often want to contact centre staff to make an enquiry or learn more before committing to an enrolment.
Making it difficult or impossible to find a phone number puts up a barrier to families making contact – and this barrier can decrease trust. Make sure all of your centre’s relevant contact details are included prominently on your website – and are always up to date!
Online Enrolment Forms
It’s important to make the enrolment process as simple as possible for busy parents and caregivers, so be sure to include a functional and user friendly online enrolment form on your website.
Old methods of having prospective families request an enrolment pack via post, or downloading a PDF form to fill in, scan and email back are time consuming and frustrating for parents – especially in today’s digital world where users expect instant results. In addition, making your enrolment form process completely digital streamlines the process for your team. Win-win!
Location Map
Including your centre location is vital – and nowadays, so is the addition of an interactive map. Adding a map will allow caregivers to quickly discern where you are located – as well as see – in a matter of moments – how long it will take them to drive, walk or cycle to your centre from their home or workplace.
Your Philosophy/ Approach/ Inclusions
What makes your centre unique? What are its key selling points? What inclusions do you offer that could help parents decide your centre is right for their child and family?
Be sure to list these concisely on your website to help parents understand your offering and to increase enquiries and online enrolments.
Testimonials & Social Proof
Trust is a vital part of the research and decision making process for parents – and while you can inspire trust through the things you say about your centre, including real testimonials and feedback from other parents is priceless!
Similarly, research shows an increasing number of parents are turning to social media to help them make decisions around education. Reviews and recommendations from other parents via social media – and posts that position you as an expert – are social proof that your centre is a great choice.
If you have a Facebook page for your centre, be sure to link to it! You can also include a feed on your website of your recent posts, and use plugins to display all of your Facebook reviews on your website as testimonials.
Mobile Friendly Design
More and more parents do their research via their smartphones – which means your website must be responsive for viewing on mobile devices. Research shows users will leave a website within seconds if they have a poor user experience via mobile – and once they’ve bounced away, you may have lost them for good.
By ensuring your website is mobile friendly, you’ll provide a good experience for mobile users andincrease your chances of being shown in search results, since search engines favour mobile responsive websites.
Contact our team now to enquire about a new website for your ECE centre.