{"id":10749,"date":"2022-06-21T16:54:09","date_gmt":"2022-06-21T20:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ladybugz.com\/?p=10749"},"modified":"2025-12-01T13:07:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T18:07:09","slug":"score-an-a-on-your-school-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ladybugz.com\/score-an-a-on-your-school-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Score an A+ on Your School Website"},"content":{"rendered":"

How much do you need to know about an industry to create a winning school website? <\/span><\/h3>\n

In a competitive field, it\u2019s worth it to do your homework if you want to jump to the head of the class. The point is that you\u2019re bound to get a failing grade unless you understand and create messages for distinct audiences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What do I mean? Before you jump into designing, writing content, and developing the functionality of a website, it’s critical to know who you’re writing for\u2014their demographics, psychographics, interests, values, and \u201cpain points.\u201d In the same vein, it pays to understand each industry\u2019s competitive landscape has its own characteristics, such as the number and size of competitors, strengths and weaknesses, drivers, and barriers to entry. Without doing your homework, the school\u2019s website\u2019s messaging, content, and all the other crucial elements will be mediocre at best\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Okay, enough with the school metaphors. Let\u2019s see what this looks like.<\/span><\/p>\n

Private Education School Websites: Considerations beyond the Corporate World<\/h2>\n

Yes, there was a reason for the school analogy and here it is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What if you work in a sector outside of a typical for-profit company, such as an independent school? Well, it’s not much different than in the corporate world. The most pressing challenge for a private school is keeping enrollment full year after year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A school website<\/a> in this space needs to address the concerns of parents who are willing to pay many thousands of dollars to provide the best educational experience available for their children. It\u2019s a highly competitive environment, with choices including residential versus day schools, religious schools, coed versus single-gender schools, interest-based schools, and so on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Case in Point: Refreshing a Special Education School Website<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s get even more niche-specific by looking at one of our recent special education website clients. This independent residential special education school for boys is located on a beautiful campus in New Hampshire. Its maximum enrollment is 44 boys in grades 6-12 with severe emotional, behavioral, or academic challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n

Believe it or not, this environment is even more complex than the larger family of private schools, with competition coming from all directions and students having a broad spectrum of education-related challenges. We can break down these issues in several ways, including the four below.<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Audiences must sift through a whopping <\/span>114 special education private schools<\/b><\/a> in Massachusetts.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. If parents want a residential school, they need to sort through <\/span>more than<\/span> 63 residential therapeutic schools<\/span><\/a> in New England (some single-gender, some coed).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Boys-only SPED schools are especially competitive, with boys being<\/span> twice as likely to be labeled with a learning disability and more than three times as likely to be called emotionally disturbed.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Another source of competition is in-district programs offered by public schools, especially if the state won’t fund private school tuition.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Sounds confusing, right? Imagine the frustration of audiences sifting through this web of SPED schools to find just the right match.\u00a0 <\/span>And there\u2019s yet another layer to consider.<\/span><\/p>\n

    On the other hand, the special education school can set higher tuition rates for private payers\u2014parents who don’t get tuition funded by the state. As a result, the school not only wants to increase enrollment overall. It also wants to increase private payers higher than its current level of 30%.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Residential School Website Design<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n