How your school’s website looks and functions can attract or deter people from attending your school. If you’re looking to redesign your site or rebuild it from scratch, you’ll need to consider each design choice you make.

Ready to learn more? School is back in session!

Read on to learn 10 school website design tips to help you create a great-looking site.

1. Use A Warm Color Scheme

Whether you’re an elementary school, a training facility, or a college, it’s crucial that you create a warm, welcoming environment through your website.

This is best achieved through your color scheme. Warm colors such as reds, oranges, and yellows, evoke feelings of comfort and belonging.

2. Integrate Social Media

Your website can’t be your only web presence. To maximize your branding potential, you’ll need to make sure your school is on social media, as well.

Including social buttons encourages engagement, so include them at the bottom of each page.

3. Revitalize Your School Blog

Every website benefits from a blog, thanks to search engine optimization (SEO). As a result, you’ll need to come up with a content creation strategy.

Consider switching to a content management system (CMS) to make blog management easier.

In addition to your blog, you’ll want to write short blurbs about each program and course offering. Check out this article on a working at heights course to get a better sense of what we mean.

4. Avoid Overwhelming Your Visitors

If you’re passionate about your school, it’s easy to overwhelm visitors with too much information.

Try not to include too much, however, as large blocks of text can be intimidating.

Say what you need to say in as few words as possible.

5. Don’t Forget To Update Photos, Too

Your new school website design should include updated photos to better represent the current student body.

As you upload, remember to tag and label each image. Doing so will help your search results.

6. Prioritize Your Homepage

Your homepage is where visitors will spend the most time. As a result, it should become your priority.

All relevant info such as a basic introduction, contact information, and your school calendar should have a place on your homepage.

7. Leverage Student/Teacher Testimonials

Never underestimate the power of testimonials. The right story from a student or teacher can convince a visitor that your school is the perfect fit.

As such, you’re encouraged to feature testimonials on the homepage where they’ll get the most attention.

8. Take Your Time

Great school websites take time. Don’t rush yourself throughout the redesign process.

Take your time and make sure the final product is an accurate reflection of the school. It’s better to have a great site go live a bit late than let a sloppy site go up early.

9. Make A Fast First Impression

You’ll need more than great content to impress visitors.

The average visitor spends 10-20 seconds on a website, so if you don’t grab their attention fast, you risk losing it for good.

10. Leverage Your CTAs In Your Navigation

Using verbs in your navigation menu is a great way to encourage a call-to-action.

Words like ‘contact,’ ‘grow,’ and ‘learn’ are great choices that inspire the visitor to follow through and act on your suggestion.

These School Website Design Tips Will Make Sure Your Site Is Head Of The Class

A great school website design incorporates the needs of the visitor above all else. So as you go through the design process, remember what you’ve learned today and always place your visitors first.

Check out our web design archives for more great tips to help you create beautiful, elegant websites that your visitors will love.