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Don’t Be Invisible: Hacks to Boost your School’s SEO

Boost School SEO

Boost School SEO

In the era of 21st century learning, it’s important for schools to maintain a strong online presence. Having a strong SEO (search engine optimization) can help your school appear first in an online search. The first step is to create a top of the line website to engage students and parents, but it doesn’t stop there. Optimizing your site’s appearance in search engines will ensure that prospective families can find you. Here are 4 easy things you can do to make sure your school gets seen online!

  1. Content

    1. Make sure content includes keywords
    2. If you’re working in html, put page titles in heading 1 format that includes keywords

  1. Caption action

    1. Do you have videos on your site? Provide a transcript, as this will increase the number of keywords that the website contains. This can also be done with images. Make sure you post a caption with each picture. Search engines can’t interpret visual content (yet!) but they can certainly read text.

 

Boost School SEO

  1. Promote low-engagement content

    1. If a page or article is not getting as many clicks, post on soc
      ial media about it. This is a free way to harness your community to drive traffic to your site, improving its SEO.

  1. Make it mobile.

    1. Make sure your website is responsive to different screen sizes and can be accessible by smartphone.

With the implementation of these strategies, your school’s search engine ranking will improve! Still sound overwhelming? iClass provides a fully integrated website and mobile app solution with SEO included. 

 

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#MondayMotivation: Lead Like A Pirate

Motivation to lead

With Back to School season around the corner, it’s time to start reflecting on classroom leadership. We have heard the phrase “Be A Leader.” It’s fairly common, actually. Most people would rather be considered a leader than a follower. In schools, it is imperative that the administrators and teachers are leaders. The creators of Lead Like A Pirate, Shelley Burgess and Beth Houf, saw that effective leadership had many facets and introduced a new system of leadership training. They want you to lead…

 

Classroom leadership like a pirate: a pirate ship on the ocean with stormy skies above

 

…like a pirate.

So what exactly does that mean? What does it mean to Lead Like A Pirate?

The purpose of being a pirate leader is to make schools amazing with engaged students and empowered educators who know they are making a difference. The goal of being a pirate leader is to create a school environment where students are knocking down the doors to get in, rather than out. 

 

Do you have what it takes to be a Pirate Leader? 

Passion – both personal and professional

A willingness to Immerse yourself in your work

Good Rapport with your staff, students, and community

The courage to Ask and Analyze what is and isn’t working

The determination to seek positive Transformation

And the kind of Enthusiasm that gets others excited about education

A man in a suit makes a thumbs up.

To learn more about what it takes to Lead LAP, follow the conversation on Twitter (#LeadLAP), visit the website or read the book.

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Innovative Ways to Lower School Operating Costs

School website design in Dublin

1. Market Online

Instead of paying for expensive ads, try boosting your school’s SEO to generate traffic for your site. Choose a website platform with integrated SEO optimization to save time and money!  Additionally, take advantage of social media! Facebook, twitter, and even Instagram are powerful tools to get the word out about your school.


2. Go Paperless

Sending home paper newsletters can cost schools thousands of dollars that could be spent on other resources. Try switching to email format instead. Parents and benefactors can access news on the go, and your school will save money. With our website solution, teachers can use this strategy, too, and keep parents updated via an intuitive website.


3. Sponsorships

When hosting school events, partner with community businesses to cover the costs. Your school will save money and create valuable relationships with community members. Learn more about creating a community school here.


4. Meeting Management

Unnecessary meetings can significantly lower employee morale and productivity. Make sure meetings are only held when necessary or focus on planning a productive agenda for each meeting. With a few tweaks, meetings can be a time that everyone looks forward to!

5. No More SMS Messaging

Communication with parents is critical, but SMS costs over the course of a school year can be astronomical! By switching to an integrated solution like iClass, schools can instantly message parents through app notifications rather than SMS. This can save your school thousands of dollars a year!

 

 

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Improving Parent-Teacher Communication: Strategies that Work

Improve your Parent-teacher Communication copy

Effective parent-teacher communication is crucial to student success. Students who feel their parents take an interest in their studies are more likely to succeed academically. There are many strategies that teachers can use to develop strong relationships with parents:

 

Let Students Show-Off

Students love to share their school successes with their parents. Take-home folders are a perfect opportunity for them to do so. Leaving notes or stickers on assignments that are well-done is an easy and low-touch way to maintain an open and positive communication channel with parents.

 

 

Classroom News

Share a weekly update from the classroom featuring class activities, new concepts learned, and any important reminders for the next week. Students can contribute, too! The newsletter will help facilitate parent-student conversations at home. Parents will feel more involved in the day-to-day activities of the class and more supportive of you as a teacher.

 

Check out some editable newsletter templates here and here.

 

Move to Mobile

Nearly all parents have a smartphone, making digital communication the ideal strategy for teachers. With a mobile solution like iClass, parents and teachers can engage in 2-way, dynamic conversation. The platform allows teachers to send free, instant messages to parents whether a reminder, sign-up, or even an emergency situation. Parents can respond immediately and directly, without going to any third-party sites. This ensures that communication is efficacious and on-time!

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