How to prepare your website for the new academic year

With the new academic year now upon us, ensuring your school website is fully prepared for what the year has in store is incredibly important and there are a few things you can be doing that do not require a website designer or developer.

These improvements are important to truly showcase what your school has to offer but also very easy to do using your WordPress content management system, making them quick wins for instant gratification.

Change the images

Whether you opt for seasonal photos or just lovely picturesque school images, starting the new school year with the same pictures you had on the website last year doesn’t show a great level of care. So switch it up, add some new header images and watch your website transform instantly.

Tip: To make this a quick and simple task each term/season, it’s a good idea to have a file of unused images that are already approved for future use. Whenever you come across a great image add it to the file and it will save you time next time you refresh the site.

Copy review & updates

Depending on the amount of content you have on your site, this may or may not be a quick task however start with the most important pages first, the most visited or landing pages are a good place to begin. Update areas like the calendar, term dates and policies as this is often the information parents require at the start of the year.

If your last news story was at the end of the summer term, add a new story, this could be as simple as a friendly welcome back message. By updating the news page it will also refresh any news components you have around the website including the homepage.

Tip: It’s also important to pay special attention to current government guidance and information about safety measures, as you may need to put this on your site for parents to find.

Social posts

Post something for the new term/year on your social media channels. It will not only keep the channels current but if you have social media integration on the homepage of your website the dynamic feed will pull the updates onto your website.

Tip: Don’t forget to vary the content on your social channels, if you create the same post on each channel and all channels pull through to your homepage the posts/content will be repeated.

Remove outdated signposts, links or pop-ups and add new CTA’s

Remove any signposts, links or pop-ups that are outdated. A parent or prospective parent does not want to be directed to a past open day or end of year message from your homepage or landing pages at the start of a new term. Ensure the content is reviewed and you have a relevant CTA (call to action) for your website users.

If you have a question on anything we have mentioned above or would like to discuss more ways to improve your website, get in touch via our contact us page for a chat.