Schools in digitalJust like any other business, schools need to navigate their way through today’s ever-changing digital landscape to get themselves noticed. And raising the profile of your school and having a strong strategy for increasing entrants starts with a high performing website. Your website showcases the school to the outside world and highlights the image you want to convey to your target audience.So understanding how your school should be using its website and other digital assets to grow its online presence is absolutely critical in today’s competitive marketplace. The impressions your visitors form on your school’s website in those first few instants will stick with them, giving them a sense of what it would actually be like to be a student, employee, parent or community partner. Therefore, you need to make sure you’re immediately capturing the true spirit and ethos of your school with a website that’s not only welcoming and engaging but functional and informative. Benchmarks for schoolsBut it’s hard to measure the success of your website when you don’t know how you fare against other schools. Here’s some benchmarks for website landing pages so you can make meaningful comparisons between your results and those of your competitors:Lead generation conversion rates According to the Unbounce Conversion Benchmark Report, higher education had some of the lowest overall conversions rates of any industry looked at. In fact, 42.1% of marketers in the industry reported at least one page that converts less than 1.1% and saw an average of 1,734 missed conversions in the last quarter. So with a best conversion rate of 11.5% and median conversion rate of 2.6%, if you can get anywhere around a 5% conversion rate for your landing pages, you’re doing really well. Furthermore, if your page has a conversion rate above 11.5%, you’re already beating 90% of your competitors’ pages.

Credit: Unbounce Conversion Benchmark Report

And the best way to make sure you’re landing pages are converting? By employing strong digital marketing strategies to work with your website. Strategies for schoolsHaving a digital marketing strategy is an important part of any school’s growth plan. Digital marketing isn’t just about attracting new students - it can also streamline your communication channels so you can remain competitive and relevant to a growing online audience. Here’s some of the digital marketing strategies that schools can use alongside their website to engage your audience:

1. Email marketing solution: Email marketing is a marketer’s go-to digital strategy and can be one of your school’s most powerful tools. Offering valuable content in exchange for your subscriber’s valuable time, email marketing lets you simultaneously reach a vast audience whilst also speaking one-on-one.
2. Managed Facebook page: Social media can serve schools well if done correctly. It’s the main way younger people communicate so by having a strategy to communicate with them a school is more likely to engage their interest, gain their buy-in and nurture commitment. It’s also effective for engaging parents and stakeholders.
3. Search engine optimisation: SEO is critical for any school’s success, ensuring your website appears in the Google search results for not only your school name, but location related searches and specialised services such as after school care clubs, specific programs and more.
4. Analytics and reporting: Analytics and reporting can be the difference between the success or failure of your digital marketing efforts. So if you want to see a higher return on investment, analysing your digital activity is vital to the ongoing success of your school.

To learn more about optimising your digital assets for online success, have a chat to Bang Digital today.