School advertising
Effective internet advertising for independent schools
What’s difficult about schools on search engines?
Most schools have a website and their key search phrases will have been submitted by the web developer to the major search engines. However, it is a stark fact that more than half of schools will NOT appear on the first page of google (or the other majors) if you simply type in “independent school + the county (or nearby towns)” - let alone other search criteria. Why is this? Firstly, it’s a real science to get organic search positioning for a school (which can also take years) Secondly, there is huge competition (ie paid search) for many of these terms you need to promote. So, there is always a lot of “noise” ahead of you on the search engines. The chances are that 80%+ of parents you would like to find your school by internet search will not find it.
Why are our bespoke online campaigns different?
It’s so much easier and effective to take a campaign on one of our websites, particularly www.best-schools.co.uk where our lead schools are generating more than 2,000 referrals per annum. Many features of our bespoke advertising are unique.
Location
A huge proportion of parents start a search by location. We list all independent schools for free – but that does not necessarily get you noticed. Parents can search our sites and find schools by their name, their location or their academic ranking. BUT, what if they lived in a town 5 miles from your school? What if you were located in Yorkshire and wanted boarders when most parents search on the Home Counties for boarding schools? They probably will not find you. However, with one of our bespoke promotion campaigns, we will make them find you. Thus, we construct banners which will appear when parents search on a particular location. For example a search on Surrey will throw up 130+ schools and if you are number 89, there is no chance they will get that far. But, what if you are No 1?
USPs
Many parents search “methodically” but the truth is they will get diverted if they see effective straplines. We can give you 3 to 6 revolving straplines with different messages. For most schools, we sit down and design those straplines to reflect their unique selling points. They need to be big, bold, pithy and relevant. An eye catching revolving strapline optimised for 10+ extra locations can increase your traffic by more than 500%.
Positioning
Your school needs to be seen in the right place. We have 6 different sections and 12 different league tables. If you want to attract candidates for the International Baccalaureate, we are the only site to list all independent schools offering the IB plus their results. If you are a girls only boarding school, you can go in the boarding school section containing all the girls boarding schools, but we would also put you in the co-ed boarding section, because some parents with girls will still consider you.
Profiling
You will also get a profile of the school to draw out the USPs, illustrate with pictures and hyperlink to your site
Tickertape
We have a tickertape on best-schools where you can announce your open events or special holiday courses
Traffic analysis
You will get a password access to an extranet where you can study and analyse your traffic. It will show which pages it came from. We can discuss changing straplines if you need something different.
How much does it cost?
Prices range from £30 to £120 + VAT per month per school site with prep schools and Scottish schools getting a 50% discount. Designer banners may cost extra.
Let us quote you on a campaign to suit your needs. Most exercises cost less than the acquisition margin in one pupil’s fees.
Contact us on 0845 226 28 20 to discuss
( Please note that we have temporarily closed www.sixth-form.com to further advertising to avoid diluting the responses to the many colleges who have already purchased campaigns)