SIx ways to improve your website to get more students

Too much to do!

Organisations are under so much pressure these days to update their online marketing presence. The problem is that there is so much to focus on. Where to begin? Social media, paid ads, email marketing, blogging, etc. For many organisations, this can be overwhelming as they don't have the time or the resources to commit to doing it correctly. We are all aware of how important marketing has become for our work these days. However, most people neglect the most critical aspect of their marketing, and that is their website.

I have been looking at many organisations' websites over the years, and I am amazed that most of them are entirely outdated and do more damage than good. The purpose of your homepage is to set you apart from your competitors, to tell people who you are and why they should choose to work with you. It is your online digital business card. 

A poorly designed homepage will get you ignored, while a good one will do its job and get you more sales.

In this article, we will go through the critical elements of what makes a great homepage, and hopefully, by the end of it, you'll be able to get some ideas and apply them to your organisation's website.

What Makes A Great Website?

Essentially, it should be simple, uncluttered, and straightforward. Your homepage should not look like a lousy catalogue crammed full of offers and the latest news. It is the first impression, and you know how important that is. If you can't showcase that your organisation is different, your potential customer will only focus on your prices, and there will always be cheaper offers out there.

There are six fundamentals that every great homepage should contain.

It Has A Great Compelling Headline That Talks Directly To The Customer

Your headline should be something that will set you apart from other organisations.

In short, a great headline front and centre of your homepage is an essential element you need when designing your page. This headline should not be an offer! It should tell the customer two things: 

1. Who it is for?

2. What problem it solves?

If you can't describe what problem your organisation solves to your visitors in one sentence and it doesn't connect with their issues, you should rethink it. Your headline is your introduction! Don't jump into a sale before you introduce yourself!

It Has Trust & Authority.

Does your site show authority?

Where possible, it's always good to include reputable companies that you have worked with in the past to confirm authority and high value in your new customer's eyes. If you have worked with companies, put their logos here.

The more you can include on your homepage, the more effective it will be to establish yourself as an authority.

Include a Selection of Your Latest Blog Posts (if you have some)

Your homepage on its own generally doesn't change, which in the eyes of Google search engines may be bad for SEO. Including some of your latest blog posts will keep your page fresh and encourage the search engine bots to keep returning to your homepage and crawling your site for new information. This will significantly improve your rankings and attract new visitors.

Testimonials and Reviews

As with trust and authority, including testimonials from your existing customers will significantly improve social proof. This will add credibility to your organisation, removing any doubts and objections from your prospective customer and encouraging them to take action.

A Simple & Effective Design

The problem: the busier the page looks, the more overwhelming it will be for your visitors and the less likely it will be for them to take the desired action. If your homepage has too many separate elements, i.e. services offered or special offers, it will look very cluttered, and the primary message you want to convey will be lost.

In short, keep things simple; use two primary colours, a simple layout with a clear, large typography set that is easily read and consumed by your visitors.

Calls-To-Action (CTA)

Are your visitors clear on the action they need to take to move forward?

Again, this may seem like common sense, but it's surprisingly overlooked in favour of design and site layout.

In short, including a clear call-to-action on your page is essential, and not only for walking your visitors down a clear path. So what is your call to action? 

To call you? 

To take a trial? 

To download an eBook? 

Decide on the best next step for your organisation.

The best CTA for most businesses is the one that gets the customer on a call, so get them to book a call and set up a scheduler like Calendly (https://calendly.com/), so they can pick a convenient time to talk with you.

Conclusion

Try to include as many of these on your homepage as you can. If you don't have all of the elements, don't worry. Try to include them over time.

The main things that you should take away from this article are that your homepage should:

• Use simple, straightforward language free of industry jargon or terminology
• State clearly who is your customer and what problem you solve.
• Set you apart from other organisations by telling visitors how you are different.
• Have clear calls to action, telling customers what they should do next.
• Build trust by showcasing your testimonials/reviews. 
• Highlight your authority by showing which companies/organisations you have worked with in the past.

Have you ever wondered why students choose one language school over another?

In the past, pre-Covid, the deciding factors for choosing a language school were a combination of the price of the course and the school’s location. 

In the last 12 months, with schools moving online, the main deciding factor for choosing a language school now is online reviews. If you don’t have that many reviews, then you need to start collecting them now. 

Let’s go over why online reviews are crucial for your school now more than ever.

The Facts

Did you know that up to 90% of your students will check your reviews before they ever interact with your school? The latest studies have shown that people value reviews so much that they account for 67% of their buying decision!! So you see, getting reviews for your school is extremely important and will only increase in the future.

So here are the main benefits of having great reviews:

• They improve your SEO (search engine optimisation). This means the more good reviews you have, the easier it will be to be found online. Google wants to connect customers with businesses that have great reviews. 
• They establish trust. This is the point of reviews. 84% of people trust online reviews as much as they do a personal friend. The higher your review score, the more trust you will generate. 
• They generate more business: Great reviews = more stars = more clicks to your website = more business.
• Reviews are a great source of feedback, good and bad. Use the positive feedback as inspiration for describing your business. Student feedback can be used in your promotions very effectively. These opinions can help you to describe your courses better, etc. The bad feedback is valid and needs to be addressed. We live in an online world where we need to be completely transparent.

I know when I want to go to a new restaurant or stay at a hotel, join a new gym or go to a new hairdresser, I always read the reviews. They are usually what tips me over to actually choosing any particular one.

How do I get them?

It's simple! Just ask your customers to write a short online review about your school and let them know how important it is to your business.

What to keep in mind:

• Have believable customer testimonials. They have to be believable, sound authentic and be from real customers. 
• Ask often, don't just ask once and leave it at that! This needs to become a common practice, every couple of weeks. Motivate your teachers to help.
• Give your students at least 2 different platforms to leave reviews. Google and Facebook are enough.
• Respond to your reviews, good and bad. Google want to see that you react to your feedback. Never ignore any review. If they are positive then say 'thank you' and tell them you appreciate the feedback. The same goes for negative reviews: respond, be courteous and polite, acknowledge the complaint and respond in a mature manner. Never get into an argument, however tempting or provoking it may be.
• Timing is crucial! Let your customer get value from your school first before you ask; this will increase your reviews dramatically. Likewise, don't wait too long either! If they forget the value they received, then they most likely won't leave a review.
• If, by any chance, you have had a local celebrity coming to your school, be sure to use their photo and review as an endorsement. Put it up on your website.

Try to put yourself in your students' shoes. Reviews from your present and past students provide proof for them to see. One particular review might be all it takes to push someone from just thinking about using your school to actually becoming a paying student.

What to do next

Send an email to your students asking them to leave an online review on your Facebook page or on Google. It takes them just a few minutes and, if they really do like your company, they'll have no problem sharing their experience with others. 

You could do this in the following way:

Send out a survey to your customers, asking them to rate different aspects of your service. You can use this information to improve or tweak things to make your students happier. 

At the end of the survey, you could say, "If you are happy with our service, leave us a review on Facebook!", with a link for them to click. It's easy for them to do, and because they've just been thinking about your business while answering those questions, they're more likely to leave a review right there and then.

The purpose of these quotes is to drive people to your business. Pick and choose the best ones you get and put them on your website as promotion material for everyone to see.

If you need help with your school's marketing, check out our Digital Marketing course for Schools and Educational Organisations here