Life beyond the homepage

Many schools we speak to focus a lot of attention on the design of their homepage, but tend to not give that same level of attention to internal content pages.

Yes, having a visually striking homepage is important, but neglecting or failing to give the same level of attention to the remainder of your website pages is a big mistake.

Here are some key focus points to consider when approaching internal content page design for your school website.

Understanding the user’s journey

A user journey is the path a user can take on your website to get to a specific destination.

Understanding the user’s journey will allow you to plan your content and guide your visitors in the right direction.

For example, if your school website has a sixth form section, then your website should signpost to this area, with a design and structure relevant to this audience group.

Avoiding dead ends is also important – try to implement techniques to keep your visitors to stay on your website, such as directing users towards a blog area or media gallery.

As a result, you will see increased session durations, which could result in more visitors converting.

Introduce design elements throughout the whole website

Incorporating unique design elements throughout the website will help to create a distinctive and memorable experience.

This means that your website’s colour scheme, font, navigation, and content must all follow a consistent pattern and layout.

This strengthens your school’s brand and makes the content on other web pages more appealing to visitors.

Page templates and builders can be great at enabling a quick upload of copy or content, but they can also provide a repetitive experience.

Adapting the layout and changing the structure on certain pages can keep the user entertained and encourage them to move through the website.

Be sure to use a flexible web technology

The technology you decide to build your website on may have a huge influence on the design of your school website.

Certain technologies can seriously impede a website design, by not allowing certain features or styles to be implemented.

Choosing the right technology is crucial to allowing the creativity required to showcase your school online.

If you’re not sure on which technology to choose, there are plenty of external specialists who can help provide an overview of the platforms available.

Lasting thoughts

In order to leave a lasting impression and provide a memorable school website experience, it is vital that your creativity does not stop at the homepage.

Creating a consistent look and feel throughout the website can take more time and effort.

But the end result is a website that offers an engaging user experience, which may prove the deciding factor when parents shortlist potential school options for their child.