Branding goes beyond your colors and school logo, of course. It is inclusive of the entire customer experience and includes everything from your school website design and layout, your school social media interactions, and your mascot to how your staff answers the phones. Your brand is that cohesive identity that you want to solidify in your customers’ minds. It requires establishing a look and feel that supports your brand goals consistently and avoids variations that will dilute or even disintegrate your brand identity. So, let’s talk about how to use school mascots and logos to contribute to your cohesive brand identity.

School Communications Scoop

School Logos and Mascots Done Right!

Competition and choice in education have changed everything. The neighborhood school is no longer the only game in town. In fact, online schools have made being in the same town not even a requirement. This means school leaders need to continually make the case for their school and find ways to stand out from all the competition.One important strategy is to create and manage a consistent brand for your school. How do you do that? Begin by creating and using a branding guideline.

Creating School Brand Guidelines: what school leaders should know about branding

Your school website is only as effective as your users think it is. If parents complain that they can’t find what they are looking for, there’s a problem. We could claim user error—that they just don’t know what they are doing—but if there is a problem, it is our problem and we need to own it. So, what can we do to make our website user-friendly for all? For starters, we can analyze our website. Google Analytics is a great tool designed to help us do so.

Using Google Analytics to Improve Your School Website

Okay, you are a school administrator and schools are serious business, right? Professional and no-nonsense? Well, I agree with the professional part, but I think some schools (whether it is established by the school culture, the HR department hiring policies, or maybe the school leader) may want to consider factoring a little joy into the mix. It isn&apos;t an either/or proposition because professionalism and happiness are not mutually exclusive.

School customer service matters...especially those initial interactions

Managing your school’s social media can be a challenge. To make your posts engaging and effective is even more so. But, there are some basics you should know and use with school social media strategies. In this blog, you’ll learn five steps to get it right.

5 Steps to Craft the Perfect Social Media Post

Many school leaders struggle with how best to manage their school’s website(s). Often they decide to go with the status quo—what they are accustomed to is good enough. At least until parents or the governing board complains that it isn’t as effective or informative as it should be, or maybe it is a flat-out embarrassment. Then it becomes a top priority if for no other reason than to eliminate complaints. So, if one of those scenarios describes your situation, or if you want to avoid the drama and set up strategies to provide a website that continually serves your parents and community well, let’s look at what constitutes best practices in school website management.

School Website Management Done Right

Every few years, schools decide they need to update or redesign their website. Sometimes it is because there has been a change in administration and they want to put their own “stamp” on things. Sometimes it is because someone thinks they should update their school’s brand image. But the best reason is that you want to improve the experience your website visitors have when they visit your school’s online presence. If you don’t make that your primary goal then the effort will be a waste of time and money.

School Website Redesigns Done Right

Unless your school is a boarding school, you are hoping to attract local students. That means you need to show up on the local internet searches parents might use to research local schools whether private or public. If your school doesn’t show up in their search, you are missing out in a big way. Learn how Google My Business can help your school and your enrollment!

Pick Me! Pick Me! (How Google My Business can benefit your school)

Okay, okay, we know it has been a tough year. What we need for this new school year is a restart, and we hope you’ll rise to the challenge by doing just that. While students return to full in-person learning and you scramble to help students who may have fallen behind catch up, this is a perfect time to institute some marketing strategies to increase your enrollment (and encourage any lost students to return to your school).

Marketing Your School with Strategic Communications

Often when we consider our various target audiences, we don’t consider the ones closest to us—teachers, staff, and administration. These important people are your “internal publics,” and marketing to them is one of the most important things you can do. 

Internal Marketing: Critical School Communications Strategies

Are parents in your community really using your website? If they are, you’ll want to make sure you know what they use it for most often so you can stay on top of those services. If they aren’t, then you’ll want to know why so you can make changes to better serve them.

Are Parents Using Your School's Website?

Most schools outsource the design of their school’s websites. Very few schools have the skill sets among their staff members to get a professionally designed school website with effective layout and navigation. But, there are content management systems that provide templates and editing software to use. Sometimes these are sufficient. But very few supply you with the staff to keep your site current, professional, and informative on a day-to-day basis, which is what really matters, right? Consider another option: you can let School Webmasters become your trained staff of professional webmasters for as low as only $189 a month. 

School Website Management: It May Be Time to Get Some Help!

You certainly don’t need to overhaul your school’s website every year, but you do need to make sure you&apos;re presenting your school in the best light by keeping up with current website trends. Your school website is the key component to all of your digital marketing efforts and often the first impression prospective parents have of your school and your values. So how do you know when it’s time for an update? 

It might be time to update your school's website if...

There are always leaders and lemmings in the world. Of course, you want your school website to be viewed as an asset and representative of your outstanding educational services. But often, unbeknownst to many respected educators, their school websites are lemmings, or worse, they are losers, and the school administrators are not even aware of it. Find out how to fix your school website!

School Websites: Leader, Lemming, or Loser?

Your School Communications Scoop covers topics and best practices for K-12 schools. Whether it is tips for improving school customer service, strategies on how to market your school, or ways to use your school website and social media to build a respected school brand and increase enrollment, you'll find proven, effective advice from the experts at School Webmasters, LLC.

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School Communications Scoop

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