Five Tips for a Better Catholic School Website

What’s the secret to creating the perfect website for a Catholic school? There are a lot of factors that can make or break a website, and so much depends on the mission and culture of each individual school. Elements like content presentation and mobile friendliness, however, are universally important. Read on to find out more about those crucial factors and to explore other ways to improve your school’s online presence.

No matter how large or small your school, staff, campus, and budget are, the very best asset offered to every student who learns there is the Good News of the Gospel. Catholic education has a lot of great selling points, but none better than the one that simply doesn’t need to be sold at all: its Christ-centered mission. Catholicism sets your school apart — celebrate that with the content and voice of your website.

How easy and intuitive is your site to navigate? How many clicks does it take a visitor to find contact information, mission statement and “fast facts” like enrollment and class sizes? Does your site have a prominent search window? Even simple choices like font and color scheme can impact the usability of a website. What are the load times like for your pages, and how can you lessen them ? Make sure your design gets a refresh every few years to avoid getting stale and ensure that your written content is reviewed and updated with every school year. Finally, ensure that your website is set up to optimize its ranking in Google search.

These days, thanks to the 56% of web users who access sites on their mobile phone, it’s imperative that a website be mobile-friendly. Check to see if yours is using this link. To make sure users are able to easily and effectively access your site using mobile devices, you’ll want to make sure that the website has a design that responds well to different screen sizes, as well as an adaptive server.

They say dress for the job you want, not the job you have, and the same principle applies here. Check out the sites of a school whose enrollment and mission you want to emulate. And just like a real estate agent runs comps for houses on the market, research the websites of schools that compare to yours in terms of budget, demographics, enrollment, and values. View them through the lens of a prospective parent: what compels you, piques your interest, and makes a positive impression?

What’s the latest in design, content, and user experience for private school websites? Sites like CampusSuite and FinalSite have some interesting examples of current trends like bold, creative color schemes and purposeful storytelling.

If you’re ready to tackle your website,  but need a little help, see what LPi can do for you with our easy-to-use yet powerful website builder WeConnect! Looking for more web-focused content for your Catholic community? Visit the "Web and Social Media" section of our blog!

Updated 3-11-2024