CREATING AN EFFECTIVE SCHOOL WEBSITE
We’d like to share with you a recent web project we delivered for a school to show the processes involved in creating an effective new website that a client was very happy with.
The Horizon School had recently gone through a name change and rebranding exercise and needed a brand new website which reflected this exciting change. Their existing site was a bit dated and not very user friendly in terms of finding content or working seamlessley across all device types (desktop, tablet, mobile). The client also needed a new website which would be very easy to update themselves moving forward. All in all the client needed an impressive new site which would showcase all this great school which has been reated good by OFSTED.
To create the most effective school website you have to understand the needs & wants of all who will use it.
As ever at the start of any project we like to work closely with the client to understand their needs, wants and aspirations with their new site, as well as understand any issues or problems with an existing site so that our solution will be a marked improvement. It’s also vital to gain insights into the needs of all other key users, such as pupils and parents.
After the briefing and information gathering stage, we always move onto site-mapping to ensure all essential content will be on the new site, as well as identifying any content from the old website which would be surplus to requirements. Content is alwasy king – but everything on a site should be of use – excessive content is off putting.
Content wise we try and focus on a positive angle and include a range of testimonials and also reinforce the benefits of attending the school throughout the website. Once content & a site-map is agreed it’s onto the wireframing & visualisation stage, to propose a suitable look & feel relevant to the school which is on brand and appealing to their audience.
Effective navigation is another key consideration to make a site very user friendly and as standard a site should work robustly on all devices, including mobile.
Finally once a site is live, the client is trained on how to update the site themselves and they always find it very easy and straightforward. We are pleased to say the Horizon School website was very well-recieved by the school.
“Beautifully designed websites aren’t important just because they look good, but because they promote your business or service better”
Reactive Wisdom