Why good web design is important

A high-quality, functional website serves as a primary resource for current students and parents to find information on courses, extracurricular activities, and upcoming events. On the other hand, a poorly designed website with confusing navigation and an unclear message can turn off users and affect the number of applications a school receives. This is why it is imperative for schools to invest in their online presence and create a website that accurately communicates their vision. Listed below are the key features that make up a good school website.

Key features of a good school website design

1. Eye-catching Visual Appearance. A school website should capture the school’s unique personality through its design, including logo, colour scheme, and imagery. A presentable and uniform look creates a positive first impression and keeps visitors engaged with the content. Striking a balance between simplicity and complexity is essential.
2. User-friendly Simplicity. Avoid complicated and hard-to-navigate websites that can increase bounce rates. By removing unnecessary elements and keeping the layout clean, users will have a better experience consuming information. Streamline both backend and frontend designs for optimal results.
3. Engaging Informational Content. Provide a platform for students and parents to find information about events, news, extracurricular activities, and more. Regularly update the content and consider adding a blog to keep the website alive and engaging for all users.
4. Multi-device Responsiveness. Ensure your website is accessible and user-friendly on desktops, tablets, and smartphones. A responsive website allows the school community to access news and updates from any device and also improves Google search rankings.
5. Easy-to-use Content Management System. A Content Management System (CMS) allows schools to publish, edit, and update content easily and quickly. This saves time and effort for administrators and ensures that the website remains up-to-date with accurate information for students, parents, and other stakeholders. An easy-to-use CMS also ensures that the website’s design and layout remain consistent throughout the site. 
6. Smooth Navigation and Online Prospectus. Create an intuitive navigation menu featuring high-value pages like course catalogues and enrolment forms. Offer an online prospectus for easy access, providing a greener alternative to traditional paper-based prospectuses.
7. Intuitive Search Functionality. Implement a predictive search bar for easy and efficient access to specific courses or faculty information. This feature caters to prospective students who need quick access to the information they seek.
8. CRM and Social Media Integration. Track website visitors and store valuable data in your CRM. Integrate your website with social media feeds to provide real-time information and keep users engaged without leaving your site.
9. Compelling Design and Strong Layout. Showcase your school’s culture and brand identity through a coherent and elegant design. Feature real photos of campus life and use semantic HTML for improved readability and scannability. Emphasise your school’s programs and key services in the layout.
10. Useful Functionality and Showcasing Student Work. Incorporate useful features like online student applications and virtual libraries to enhance user experience. Showcase student work to foster a sense of community and motivation among students, while also attracting prospective students.
11. Events Calendar and Easy Contact. Include an events calendar that highlights upcoming activities and important dates, and facilitate easy contact between parents, students, and the administration through contact forms and instant messaging options.

Conclusion

A school website plays a crucial role in creating a lasting first impression on prospective students and parents, while also keeping current ones informed and connected. By following best practices, you can easily achieve these goals in a visually appealing manner.

However, it’s important not to overlook the collaboration between designers and web developers. This can help convey key messages in an aesthetic and functional way that’s optimised for your target audience and search engines. With good collaboration, your school can create a website that stands out and effectively communicates its unique qualities.

If you’re considering a new web design project for an educational institution, such as a school or college, don’t hesitate to reach out. Creativ Digital can digitally transform your brand and create a high-quality, functional website that accurately communicates your vision. With a strong, compelling education website, you’re sure to attract attention from your audience and achieve your goals.

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The study of Hasan and Abuelrub (2013) identified several usability problems on the educational websites of three universities. It included navigation, architecture/organization, ease of use and communication, design, and content. Since tons of educational websites are readily available online, all these things should be considered and adequately monitored to have enough traffic for your websites.

Tips to Improve Your Educational Website

If you’re worried about how you will be able to address all of these, we got you! Listed here are some tips on how you can improve your educational website.

Keep the Information You Share Accurate

A website’s accuracy is crucial, mainly if it’s an educational website, since even one error may result in several misconceptions and serious issues. Keep in mind that users, particularly students, come to your website looking for reliable information and assume that everything they discover has been fact-checked or validated.

You must carefully assess the accuracy of any content you offer as an educational website. This should be considered when publishing material on a website since digital content is easily accessible to everyone. Before publishing any material, you need to ensure that you and your team proofread it thoroughly, and if required, update it.

Keep the Information You Share Accurate

An educational website’s architecture involves several different factors. The reason it’s called “architecture” is that your website’s content is organized into a digital framework that enables viewers to go back and forth between pages.

A website’s design starts here, and it has an impact on the remainder of the design process. Users may get confused and frustrated by a design architecture that is random and unordered. It can be a little creative to impact the user experience. Because instead of spending time being educated on the information they need, they might spend too much time just navigating your website.

Use SEO With Your Content

Your educational website should be designed to draw in and keep a diverse audience. Additionally, the website must be discoverable online by internet users. This can be achieved by using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Search engines can better understand the essential keywords inside the text; thanks to a few background elements of website design.

Content has always been crucial to SEO. Since Google’s algorithm upgrade earlier this year, content optimization has moved beyond just keyword optimization. The experience your content provides and whether it benefits the end user now determine its worth.

Make Your Website Responsive

A responsive website can adapt to any device without human intervention. The typical user spends hours per day browsing a variety of websites. Hence, make every effort to differentiate your educational website design from any possible rivals.

Making your website responsive means having an excellent user interface. For instance, visitors are more likely to hover easily on the choices when the menu expands to display several subcategories in response to the mouse cursor being held over a list item.

Use Enough Images

Who would want to explore a website that has nothing but long texts? For your website design, useful material is crucial, but you should also make sure that each page has relevant and high-quality images.

The user experience stays exciting and pleasant if photos are used effectively to break up the quantity of informative content you have on a page. Consider including a variety of photos, as long as they are relevant to the text next to them.

Conclusion

All of these tips will work depending on how you want your website to look. Make sure to consider different factors. Is what is shown on your website exactly what you want visitors to see? Is it challenging to navigate? Is it challenging to view the website on a phone or tablet? It may take a lot of effort to improve your website, but if you want it to succeed, you must do so. Hopefully reading these tips has helped you!

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