mtmconsulting has recently completed the design and build of Aldwickbury School’s new website: www.aldwickbury.org.uk.
Our schools marketing consultant Joe Faulkner recounts the process for the design and construction of their new site.
“Aldwickbury contacted mtm in 2009, with a number of issues relating to their existing website at that time: they found the visual look of the school website to be a little old-fashioned, they had difficulties adding new stories, photos and content, and had received a number of comments from users experiencing problems with pages loading. There was also a suspicion that their school’s SEO may be enhanced in a new website.
I went along to an initial meeting at the school and was instantly struck by the lovely building, grounds and the warm and welcoming atmosphere, none of which the school’s existing website had prepared me for! We spent a couple of hours talking about the schools perceptions and experiences with their website and what the main aims for the new website ought to be. In addition we discussed the school’s marketing aims and the groups they were most keen to attract.
On finishing the meeting and returning to the office, mtm got to work. We put together a proposal for the school outlining what we felt we could offer and the prices, and once this was accepted we started to put together some mock-up homepages. A little while later and we had reached a comfortable understanding of the visual layout that would best suit the school. At this point came the design of the content pages, back-end and CMS systems and the additions such as photo galleries, dynamic calendars, and parents’ area.
Aldwickbury were "thrilled" with their new website
Because we felt it was essential that the school would be able to use the site easily, we decided to custom-build the content management system. This was done so that the functions that the school would use every day would be close to hand and easy to find, while more complex operations would be possible to the experienced user. Aldwickbury said a number of users would add content so we aimed to make the system really intuitive and user friendly.
Once the bones were there, we edited or rewrote the existing content for the site to make it more consistent and search engine friendly. This was done by our experienced in house copywriters. A few tweaks later, and the site was ready for testing – undertaken over the February half-term. We then went on to launch the new site over the Easter weekend.”
The school’s marketing co-ordinator has said “We are thrilled with the look of the new website, you have all been very patient and I am sure we have driven you to distraction with all our requests”.
The new site seems to be working effectively, with analytics recording up to 400 unique visits each day.
To discuss how we might help your school’s website to work better, or to develop an educational SEO or social media strategy for your school, please contact mtmconsulting.
