Thinking about a new school website? From outdated designs and cookie-cutter templates to information overload, there are many reasons to consider updating your website. After all, it’s the most important tool in your school marketing plan!
While you might be convinced it’s time for a new school website, you also have to convince everyone else. A new website can transform your digital presence — but it’s an investment of both time and money. If you’re having trouble getting budget approval for a new school website, consider these tips.
Get buy-in from school staff
First, meet with other departments at your school to get internal buy-in. While your marketing and communications team likely has the biggest motivation for a new website, others will benefit from it, too. Plus, they’re probably facing the same challenges you are when navigating your current site!
Your approach should be two-fold. First, focus on the big picture benefits like modern design, faster load time, accessibility, and lead generation. Everyone at your school will benefit from these improvements. Then, focus on how each specific department will benefit. Just as you would tailor your marketing message to appeal to different personas, tailor your approach to appeal to each department’s needs. Your admissions team, for example, will care more about integrated inquiry forms and a user-friendly website for prospective families than other features like athletic schedules and development forms.
This is also a great chance to gather feedback about your existing website or suggestions for the new site. By collecting these insights from other departments, you can show the school-wide impact a new website will bring.
Present your business case
Once you’ve garnered support and listed out the benefits of a new school website, it’s time to speak with your leadership team and persuade them to approve your budget request. You can use a business case to highlight your argument and outline all the ways a new website will help achieve your school’s marketing and enrollment goals.
Illustrate how your current website is preventing you from reaching those goals and the consequences of keeping things status quo. Be sure to include a breakdown of costs and any additional information about your website contract or vendor arrangement.
You will likely encounter some resistance — that’s normal! Change can be overwhelming. But, by showcasing the downsides of keeping your current site, you can help your decision-makers see the value of a new site and sway them to approve the budget.
Show evidence
If you work in marketing, you already know the power of a customer testimonial. Why not use it to get budget approval for your school website? If you already have a website vendor in mind, ask them for a list of happy customers that would be willing to serve as a reference. You can give this list to your decision-makers or speak with the customers directly to hear how their school is benefiting from a new site.
It can also be helpful to compare your current website to your competitors’. See what your neighboring schools are doing and identify their websites’ strengths and weaknesses. Once your stakeholders see how a new website can help you crush the competition, it’ll be easy to convince them for budget.
Provide examples
Last but not least, show your stakeholders the type of website you want to build! You can use one of your references as an example. Take a peek at their website beforehand and identify a few key features and functionalities that you love. Then, walk through the website with your decision-makers and compare your current site to theirs. Emphasize the features you’d like to replicate on your new site with a brief benefit of each.
Additionally, you can book a demo with the Digistorm team to see a few examples of our customized school websites.
Next steps
You’ve garnered buy-in, presented your business case, shared references and examples. Now what? Once you get the green light to move forward with your approved budget, it’s time to choose your website vendor and bring your dream website to life.
Part of the Veracross family, Digistorm is a trusted provider of K-12 school websites. Our award-winning school websites help schools stand out from the crowd and make a great first impression with their communities. Interested in learning more? Watch this on-demand webinar for a sneak peek at our custom school websites.
