Search engine optimisation for school websites

The Internet is huge and with so many websites being created every day, how does a school make sure it’s site can be easily found?  Normally this will be quite straight forward.  Schools have relatively unique names and are known to their community so typing the name and location in a search engine will find the site quickly.

However for various reasons schools increasingly need to reach outside their community, and to people who do not know their name or where to find them.  People will be searching the Internet using much broader criteria and it becomes more important for a school to get itself to the top of the list of a search enquiry.

So, going back to basics, how do people find information on the Internet?  Well, typically by using search-engines.  A search engine indexes every website on the Internet by continually combing the net and collecting and storing (caching) information on them.  When an enquiry is entered into search engines like Google™ or Yahoo™ they produce lists of sites ranked in decreasing order of relevance to the search query.  The relevance and ranking are based on complex algorithms.  While searches normally produce masses of apparently relevant sites the evidence shows that users generally only look at the first three or four sites at the top of the list, and the top site can get up to twice the hits that the second site gets. 

So when a school wants to attract people who are conducting general searches for schools in an area or a specialization, the ranking can make the difference between getting a parental enquiry about a place for their child or being passed over without a look.  

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the dark and developing art of putting enough information in the right places on the Internet to ensure the site gets the highest possible score on the algorithm and thus a higher place in the rankings.

A search of “SEO” on Google will in itself produce millions of results and there is plenty of free advice about how to get your website to the number 1 spot.  Some of the techniques are purely mechanical like using appropriate labels, meta-tags and keyword density techniques on the website.  But the algorithms also give improved page ranking scores for sites that have been around longer, that load faster, that have regularly changing and new content, that have valid references from other sites and so on.  It becomes a challenge and an art to get your website at or near the top of the rankings.

A school’s web presence can be further improved by linking social networking sites like Facebook™ and Twitter™ to its website and using all the different media to inform parents and students and to promote the school and its activities.

To a busy Headteacher or member of staff this may sound like yet another chore.  But in reality it is quite an easy habit to get into, it becomes fun, and it really does put the school in touch with it students, parents and stakeholders.  Using the Internet becomes the normal method of communication and generally saves both time and money compared with the printed form.

Priory Woods School - how the Internet helps pupils with special needs

Priory Woods School and Art College is renowned as an all age community special school situated in east Middlesbrough providing quality inclusive education for pupils with severe learning difficulties and profound and multiple needs. It also enjoys Special Arts College status.

We were very pleased to be appointed to design the school’s new website particularly with the pupils’special needs in mind.   Our offering included a large free download archive of switch accessible software and talking books, and a Kids Only section containing a large collection of colourful and accessible online activities for pupils with and without special needs.

The school’s headteacher, Bernadette Knill said, "We hope that the newly designed website reflects our commitment to the arts. Since gaining Specialist Arts College status we are committed to developing opportunities for our young people to enjoy and be involved in a diverse range of creative experiences.  We hope that visitors to the website will take time to browse the site and look at some of the exciting activities our children have taken part in."

However, one of the pupils, Stephen Fisher, was having trouble using a mouse to scroll down his favourite video page.  His dad, Tim, contacted us to say that while he felt the new website was great, would it be possible to make a further modification to help his son?  We were able to make a change so that the page automatically scrolls to its main content while loading and now Stephen can easily access videos or other main content on any page.

Bespoke designed websites and school friendly content management systems are increasingly being sought by schools.  Only a few years ago many schools did not have a website.  Now they virtually all do, but there are still many who are not exploiting the richness the Internet offers.  A website is no longer just a nice-to-have showcase for a school.  It is an essential tool for communication and learning for pupils, parents, governors and the wider community.

New academies, free schools and the Internet

The Queen’s speech announced recently that all schools will have the opportunity to become academies, and parents will be able to set up free schools.  The Secretary of State for Health, Michael Gove, then wrote to the 2000 primary schools and 600 secondary schools judged outstanding by Ofsted, inviting them to apply and proposed a fast-track process that could see some becoming academies as early as September.

There is clearly a lot of detail to be worked up, both in the application process and in the intended outcomes and objectives that each applicant aspires to achieve.  But once an expression of interest has been made, schools will need to think about communications, both with their key stakeholders and their wider communities. 

Schools will want to make their case, stimulate interest, gather support, keep everyone informed of progress, address questions and objections, and ultimately, if they gain approval, keep the momentum going with information about how the school is continuing to improve and add value to its pupils’ education and attainment.

While academy status will see a shift of funding from local authorities to the direct control of schools, there will still be considerable financial pressure in the system and it will be important that communications are done as efficiently and cost effectively as possible.

The cheapest and most effective way of communication these days is via the Internet, using the school website as the main information channel, supported by e-mail and social network sites like Twitter™ and Facebook™.  

The best school websites are supported by purpose built content management systems (CMS) that are designed with schools in mind.  In contrast to the flat HTML type website designed by a helpful parent or governor, the latest CMS makes it really easy to keep a website up to date by adding or changing text, images, video and podcasts, as well as conducting on-line polls and surveys, or holding on-line forums.

Of course professional websites come at a cost, but bring with them functionality that pays for itself very quickly, while promoting and enhancing the new Academy’s image and reputation to the widest possible audience.

Sponsoring the PiXL club

e4education recently agreed to sponsor the PiXL Club, which is headed by Sir John Rowling.  It is a network of schools whose particular aim is to improve the results of children who are otherwise unlikely to achieve 5A*- C grades at GCSE.

The London Performance Collaborative set up the club with funding from the former DCFS (now the DFE) although central funding stopped in 2008.  However the PiXL Club has remained successful and popular with a growing membership of schools who happily pay a subscription, topped up through the support of a growing number of  private organisations like e4education.

For more about the PiXL Club check out their website at www.pixl.org.uk. 

Welcome

Welcome to the e4education blog.  e4education is one of the UK's leading specialists in school branding and marketing, website design, content management systems for schools, SEO and hosting.  Established in 2001 we have provided services to hundreds of schools in the UK and  around the world.


Our blog will give you news, views, advice and examples of how to enhance your school's reputation and communications through the Internet as well as by more traditional means.  Please feel free to comment on or contribute to any of our posts.  We enjoy discussion and we look forward to meeting you.